Russian Military Reform

NOTE: interesting if correct. Will have to await more details.


Russian Army Air Defense turned over to Aerospace Force command — sources
Its formations and units were previously both part of the Ground Forces and the Air Defense Forces of the Aerospace Forces

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The Russian Army Air Defense was removed from the Army chain of command and was turned over to Aerospace Force command, two sources close to the Russian Defense Ministry told TASS.

"Yes, it is so. This is the already accomplished fact," one of them said. Another source confirmed this piece of information.

TASS has no official confirmation for this piece of information.

https://tass.com/defense/1581853

The Russian Defense Minister announced that Russia would train more officers.

   "A phased increase in the size of the Armed Forces involves the training of more officers," Shoigu said during a conference call.

He noted that today in the universities of the RF Ministry of Defense they train in 280 specialties. At the same time, interest in engineering specialties has increased, which the minister associated with the operation of the latest models of equipment and weapons.

As Shoigu noted, the rating of popular educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense is headed by flight schools, command universities of the Ground Forces and the Ryazan Airborne School.

This year, the Russian Ministry of Defense plans to recruit about 18,000 motivated and trained students and cadets. At the same time, special attention will be paid to the children of military personnel participating in the special operation, as well as students of the Suvorov, Nakhimov and presidential cadet schools.

https://tvzvezda-ru.translate.goog/news/2023371315-3pii0.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB&_x_tr_pto=nui

In Russia, a large-scale information campaign is being prepared to recruit contract soldiers into the army. According to URA.RU, its start is scheduled for April 1, by the end of the year it is planned to attract about 400 thousand professional soldiers to the Armed Forces throughout the country. The relevant introductory materials have already been sent to the regions, the governors are doing preparatory work.

The need to make the troops more professional and increase the number of contractors in December 2022 was announced by the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu at the board of the department. Pointing to the growing threat from NATO, he said that the army staff should be increased from 1.15 to 1.5 million troops. At the same time, almost half of them — 695 thousand - should be contract employees. According to Shoigu's plans, by the end of 2023, the number of professional military personnel should be increased from 400 to 521 thousand people.

https://ura.news/articles/1036286412

A draft law on a gradual increase in the draft age to 21-30 years has been submitted to the State Duma. A transitional period with a gradual change in the "classic" age scheme of 18-27 is expected until 2026. From January 1, 2024, citizens aged 19-30 will be called up, from 2025 they will start with 20-year-olds. Men over the age of 27 who have not served in the military will be able to join the army "if they wish".

A draft law on changing the age limits for military service has been submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation . This was reported on the website of the lower house of the Russian parliament.

It is planned to raise the draft age of conscripts from 18-27 years to 21-30 years. The transition is planned in stages - until 2026. That is, in 2024, from January 1 to December 31, citizens of the Russian Federation aged 19 to 30 will be called up. From 2025, the draft will begin with 20-year-olds. In 2026, military registration and enlistment offices will already be waiting for Russians aged 21 and older.

At the same time, the bill provides for the possibility to serve "at will" - for 18-year-olds after 2024. In addition, citizens aged 27-30 years old who are in the reserve and did not serve "without legal grounds for doing so" will also "be able to do military service at will."

If the law is passed, then deferments from service will be valid "until their term expires or the grounds disappear."

As stated in the explanatory note to the bill, an increase in the draft age will free the military commissariats from the need to issue deferments to schoolchildren and students during their studies. In addition, the financial obligations of the budget for the organization and conduct of medical examinations should be “reduced” - in the amount of more than 639 million rubles annually.

The bill also applies to migrants from countries near and far abroad. If visitors become citizens of the Russian Federation under the age of 30, they will have to register for military service - according to Article 4 of the Federal Law No. 9 "On military duty and military service."

The amendment should enter into force on January 1, 2024.

Andrei Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense , specified that conscriptions in 2023 will be held according to the current rules.

The bill arose after the statement of the head of the Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu - at the end of 2022, he called for raising the draft age in the country. On January 12, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov , said that Vladimir Putin "conceptually supported" the idea, but "the details and design of the idea are from the Ministry of Defense."

Shoigu also recommended "allowing conscripts to switch to a contract from the first day of service."

Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee , noted that he saw no point in raising the draft age. According to him, the lower bar at 21 is “neither here nor there”, because a potential conscript at this age has not yet graduated from a university or institute.

At the same time, Klavdiya Bakumenko, head of the legal support department for clients at PryzivaNet, said in a conversation with the News.ru portal that raising the draft age will allow graduates of vocational schools and colleges to enroll in higher education until the age of 21 and receive a deferment. Now people with a secondary special education need to serve their service before entering a university.

At the same time, Bakumenko added, the new norms can reduce to a minimum the number of conscripts eligible for a deferral of up to 27 years for master's and postgraduate studies. Therefore, “the total number of men” who can be drafted into the army will increase.

https://www-gazeta-ru.translate.goog/army/2023/03/13/16390813.shtml?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en