- This story is breaking down, there will be more to follow.
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Vladimir Putin has called up another 150,000 men for conscription into the Russian army, the highest number in eight years.
This comes as Orthodox priests have been ordered to pray in church for the dictator’s victory in the war.
The recruits are between 18 and 30 years old and will be recruited between April 1 and July 15 amid their war against Ukraine.
Russia has promised that those forcibly enlisted for a year-long military service will not be sent to the conflict zone in Ukraine.
But some recruits have broken similar promises, and could also face action in border regions under attack by Ukraine such as Belgorod and Kursk.
Vladimir Putin has called up another 150,000 men for mandatory military service in the Russian army.
And recruits are often pressured to sign contracts as full-scale soldiers, meaning they can be sent to the front.
Russia traditionally calls up recruits in the spring and fall, and this is the first recruitment drive since Putin raised the maximum age from 27 to 30.
Ukrainian telegram channel Pravda Gerashchenko said: “It was possible to achieve such a quantity of fresh ‘cannon fodder’ thanks to an amendment to increase the conscription age.
“Russians between 18 and 30 years old will serve.”
The biggest recent recruitment comes as Putin – whose signing order was revealed today – is expected to demand a military offensive in the coming months to take advantage of a shortage of Western weapons in Ukraine.
Russian Orthodox priests received a written order to pray for a Russian victory in a letter sent to clerics by Metropolitan Gregory of Voskresensky.
The sentence criticizes that “those who want to fight have taken up arms against Holy Russia,” when it was Russia that unleashed the ongoing 2022 war against Ukraine.
The prayer asks God to “help your people and grant us victory through your power.”
Priests who do not say the prayer may face expulsion from the priesthood.
Patriarch Kirill’s ecclesiastical order was revealed by journalist and religious scholar Ksenia Luchenko, who said: “For the first time we see an official document regulating the church’s internal support for the war.”
More to follow.