The Russian parliament has declared that new Russian conscripts, who will be called up for military service in April, will not be sent to “new regions” annexed by Ukraine, TASS reports.

Andriy Kartapolov (left) with two other Russian generalsPhoto: Gavriil Grigorov / TASS / Profimedia Images

“Of course, they won’t [trimiși]. In general, there will be no conscripts in the new regions. By no means yet,” Andriy Kartapalov, head of the defense committee of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, said on Thursday, answering the question of whether young men who will be called up for military service in Russia will be sent to Donetsk, Luhansk , Zaporizhia or Kherson regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared these regions annexed by Russia at the end of September last year, although his armed forces do not fully control the territory.

Since then, Moscow has repeatedly insisted that any possible peace talks with Ukraine must begin with Kyiv acknowledging that these territories now belong to Russia by right.

Kartapolov also said on Thursday that the military administration will not conduct recruitment in these territories “until a special order, and conscripts called up from other regions will not be sent there.”

“The reasons are clear. A military special operation is being conducted there, they have nothing to do there,” added Kartapalov, a former general before entering politics and being elected to parliament on the lists of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

When asked how long such a regime would last, he could not answer

“When a normal situation comes, then we will return to the issue of the possibility of recruiting from these regions,” Kartapalov concluded.

Russia needs more soldiers for “new regions”

We emphasize that his statements refer to men conscripted for military service in Russia, and not to those who were conscripted as part of the “partial” mobilization ordered by Putin on September 21, which, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, has ended.

Russian law prohibits sending conscripted men into the conflict zone, but last year many Russian conscripts reported that they were put under enormous pressure to sign professional contracts or tricked into fighting in Ukraine.

Kartapalov’s comments came after Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its own assessment on Thursday morning that Russia was preparing a new recruitment drive for 400,000 soldiers.

The assessment, based on British intelligence reports, said the campaign would be presented as voluntary, so as not to provoke further discontent in the regions, but local authorities would likely have to resort to coercion to meet the “quotas”. drawn by Moscow.

The Associated Press also reported on Sunday that a new campaign is underway across Russia this spring seeking recruits to rebuild the army for the war in Ukraine.

“The ads promise cash bonuses and attractive benefits. Recruiters call men who meet the requirements. Admissions committees cooperate with universities and social services to attract students and the unemployed,” the source said.

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