A man in military uniform stands in front of a poster promoting military enlistment in Podolsk, outside Moscow, 17 May 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / MAXIM SHIPENKOV
There has been a sharp rise in the number of Russians aged 45 and over voluntarily enlisting in the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, Russian independent media outlet Verstka reported on Wednesday.
Citing both sources in the military as well as in Russia’s State Duma and the Moscow Mayor’s office, Verstka said that older men now made up 50% of total military personnel in some areas.
One Russian Air Force officer based in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region said that 40% of those in his unit who had voluntarily enlisted to serve were “over 50 years old” and that “three quarters of the new ones are even older”.
A source at the Moscow Mayor’s office told Verstka that the number of older servicemen had begun to increase in August, adding that there were even some men aged 60 and over being sent to serve on the front line.
Another source from the mayor’s office said that in recent months, 50% of all new volunteers signing up to fight in the war were over the age of 45, according to Verstka.
Independently sourced statistics on confirmed Russian deaths in Ukraine published by Mediazona and BBC News Russian appear to confirm the trend. Since the beginning of 2024, 2,475 Russians servicemen aged 45 or older have died on the front line, according to the data, an increase of 18% compared to the figure from 2023, and three times higher than the number recorded in 2022.
