Russia is starting its autumn draft. It promises recruits that they won't be sent to the front

The Kyiv Independent reports on the conscription of approximately 120,000 men into the Russian army. The call-up is scheduled to take place between October and December 2026. This is nothing new; the Russian Federation operates a system of mandatory basic military service, and a predetermined number of conscripts are drafted into the military annually.

Information is once again emerging from the government of the Russian Federation and its armed forces stating that conscripts will not take part in the war in Ukraine. Such assurances have been made by Russian decision-makers previously; nevertheless, a certain number of conscripts have ended up on the front lines. Furthermore, conscripts were involved in the fighting in the Kursk Oblast during the incursion into its territory by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The decree signed by Vladimir Putin stipulates that approximately 261,000 conscripts will be called up for service in 2026.

In the autumn of 2025, 135,000 conscripts were called up for service, while in the spring of 2026, 141,000 were drafted. In Russia, men aged 18–30 are called up for basic military service, which lasts for 12 months. In 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering the expansion of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to approximately 1.5 million personnel.