Putin orders largest autumn army call-up since 2016

Vladimir Putin has called up more than 100,000 Russian men for military service in what amounts to the biggest autumn conscription since 2016.

The Russian president wants to recruit 135,000 men aged 18-30 from October to December to routine service, which typically involves a year at a military base inside Russia.

Though military service is not necessarily a call to fight in Ukraine, which is known as mobilisation, there have been reports of conscripted men being sent to the front line.

Similarly, conscripts who complete military training face a higher likelihood of battlefield deployment.

Russia is facing mounting losses in Ukraine and pressure to maintain an offensive along the 1,000-kilometre front line.

One million killed or injured

According to the Ministry of Defence, more than one million Russian troops have been killed or injured over the course of the war.

In September 2024, Putin expanded the military to 1.5 million active soldiers, making it one of the world’s largest forces.

Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has increased annual conscription by an average of 5 per cent each year.

The latest is the biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016, and, combined with the 160,000 called up in the spring, means 2025 is set to be the largest total call-up since that year too.

Despite Putin claiming to be working towards peace with Ukraine, the move will widely be seen as a move to continue the war.

On Monday, the United States signalled potential authorisation for Ukrainian long-range strikes into Russia using American weapons.

Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s envoy, said on Sunday that Ukraine could receive approval for deep strikes into Russian territory.

Asked if Mr Trump had authorised such strikes, Mr Kellogg said: “Reading what [Trump] has said and reading what vice-president JD Vance has said, as well as secretary of state Marco Rubio, the answer is yes.”

“Use the ability to hit deep. There are no such things as sanctuaries,” Mr Kellogg said.

Mr Vance, the US vice-president, said on Sunday that the US was discussing whether to provide long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv, a request Mr Trump previously denied.

“It’s something that the president is going to make the final determination on,” Mr Vance said, adding the US was considering “a number of requests from the Europeans.”

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, dismissed the potential weapons transfer on Monday, saying “there’s no magic weapon” that could change the state of play on the battlefield.

“Whether it’s Tomahawks or other missiles, they won’t be able to change the dynamic,” he said.