Vladimir Putin drafts 150,000 'cannon fodder' troops as Russian casualties soar
The Russian leader made the move as his forces continue to lose scores of troops each day in his brutal war with Ukraine.
Russia has drafted another 150,000 conscripts into its army as Putin looks to bolster his forces amid massive losses in Ukraine.
It is the highest figure for eight years from the spring recruitment drive which began in April.
While the recruits aged 18 to 30 are not sent directly to the warzone in Ukraine, many will quickly come under pressure to sign contracts that will see them deployed on the frontline.
Critics say such conscripts are used in "cannon fodder" roles. The 150,000 figure - which has now been met - is set in a decree by dictator Vladimir Putin.
Russia's Defence Ministry said in a statement: "The spring 2024 conscription of citizens for military service is complete."
Last year, 147,000 were recruited but then the top age was 27. Putin raised it to 30 due to the need to recruit armed forces personnel to continue its aggression against Kyiv as battlefield losses mount.
Ukrainian forces strike on a building filled with Russian soldiers
Recent estimates from the West put Moscow's losses at over 1,200 troops per day.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence puts Russia's total combat losses between February 24, 2022 and June 2 this year at 509,860.
Kyiv has insisted its tallies are "approximate", and clarified in March that its daily tally of Russian losses included personnel who were injured, as well as killed.
Battlefield losses are notoriously difficult to verify, and Russia's own tally has continued to be a closely guarded secret.
Ukraine is also toughening its recruitment of conscripts for the war. Russia is also poised to block citizens liable for conscription from leaving the country.
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The Russian conscription boost came as a Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike hit a major plant supplying electrical equipment to Putins’s energy industry.
Footage shows a huge explosion and fire at the Korenevsky Low-Voltage Equipment Plant in Kursk region.
The Russian Defence Ministry had claimed to have shot down all 13 drones sent by Ukraine last night.
But it was clear that the Ukrainians penetrated the Kursk region to smash into the plant, which is seen as strategic to the Russian economy.
Firefighters were desperately seeking to bring the blaze under control.
"A Ukrainian copter [drone] dropped an explosive device on the low-voltage equipment plant in Korenevo,” said regional governor Alexey Smirnov.
"No workers were injured. The fire in one of the technological shops is being extinguished by fire crews from two districts.”
The inferno covered 5,400 square feet.
