Conscription

Russia needs a stronger deterrence to stop its aggressive moves on mainland Europe and a UK reintroduction of conscription would go some way to foiling Moscow’s predatory ambitions, Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Thursday.

Norway has become the latest European state to look again at its conscription programme, pushed by Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The UK should reinstitute military conscription of British citizens to act as a deterrent against Russia, a NATO ally has urged.

Denmark is more than doubling the period of mandatory service, calling up more young people, and requiring women to enrol for the first time.

Germany’s newspaper of record postulates whether Ukrainian men of military age should be encouraged or forced to go home.

To replenish its ranks, the Ukrainian government is struggling to find a balance between coercion and persuasion.

Govt strongly denies they are considering conscription even as military discusses how the Army is learning from “mission rehearsal” Ukraine.

A proposal to let foreign citizens serve in the German army is under consideration by Berlin. If approved, it will allow the Bundeswehr to build strength on the back of a recent announcement that conscription could return as the prospect of a grand “European army” looms on the horizon.

More than half of Germans of all ages – with one key cohort excepted – want to restore compulsory military service, a survey released Thursday reveals, as war on the European continent between Russia and Ukraine drags on into another year.

The British Army is now the smallest it has been in 200 years while in Germany the defence minister speaks of bringing back conscription.

President Zelensky reportedly told U.S. lawmakers that he is considering raising the military conscription age to over 40 years old.

Huge numbers of young Ukrainian men have fled the country to avoid being drafted in the army to fight Russia, a report states.

Explicit recruitment ad targeting women for the Ukrainian Army is Russian propaganda and not an official video, Kyiv have said in a statement. 

Scores of protesters gathered on the streets of Ukrainian cities on Friday to demand a cap of 18 months on mandatory military service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of volunteers are rushing to join the Russian military and fight in Ukraine.

Russia has legally increased the age for military conscription to 30 years old in a bid to bolster its ranks amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Russian President Putin signed a bill to allow authorities to issue electronic notices to draftees and reservists amid the war in Ukraine.

The British defence minister appeared to have an unguarded moment on Wednesday, before his office walked the comments back hours later.

Russia is preparing to widen conscription in order to shore up its military strength, according to British intelligence.

A growing debate is emerging in Germany as to whether military conscription should be reintroduced after it was abolished in 2011.

Women should be open to being conscripted into the military in light of the threat posed by Russia, Denmark’s defence minister said.

Taiwanese Foreign Ministry Joseph Wu told Sky News on Wednesday that China is growing “more likely” to invade as Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s domestic problems grow more serious.

China launched its largest incursion to date into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Sunday. 71 Chinese military aircraft entered the ADIZ in a span of 24 hours, 43 of them also crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial border between the mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the island-based Republic of China (ROC).

Polling suggests that only a minority of young, military-age Britons support their country’s role in the Russo-Ukrainian war, while a huge majority of much older Britons are in favour of it. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday denied reports that up to 700,000 Russians have fled the country to avoid President Vladimir Putin’s military mobilization for the war in Ukraine. Peskov admitted there have been some hasty defections, but insisted the number was much lower.

A man upset at being conscripted into Russia’s war on Ukraine opened fire at a recruiting office in Irkutsk on Monday, gunning down a recruiter at point-blank range.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration that he will double down in Ukraine by calling up 300,000 Russian reservists did not go over well with the 18-to-65-year-old men who might get called up. One-way airline tickets out of Russia to visa-free destinations skyrocketed in price on Thursday, and then sold out completely. Land traffic across Russia’s borders also picked up, although European news agencies disputed the most sensational claims of 20-mile traffic jams at Finnish checkpoints.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a partial military conscription in a speech on Wednesday in which he accused the West of “nuclear blackmail” and trying to “destroy” Russia.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s border guard agency says that about 2,200 Ukrainian men of fighting age have been detained so far while trying to leave the country in violation of martial law.

Lee Jae-myung, a left-wing candidate for South Korea’s upcoming presidential election, “voiced skepticism” on Thursday over suggestions Seoul should grant military service exemptions to members of “BTS,” a South Korean pop music boy band, Yonhap News Agency reported.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece will introduce an increase in military service for conscripts serving in the army from nine to 12 months, starting in May, as part of a program to boost the armed forces amid tension with regional rival Turkey.