Putin's Dad Army: Russian Leader Raises Maximum Fighting Age to 70 to Make Up for Devastating Loss of Troops in Ukraine
July 20 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Vladimir Putin raised the maximum age to fight in the Russian military to 70 this week in an effort to make up for the devastating loss of troops his army has suffered in Ukraine, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come as Putin’s war against Ukraine approaches the 17-month mark, the Russian leader – who himself happens to be 70 – is reportedly recruiting men as old as 70 to join what has been dubbed the “Dad Army.”
The sudden change came after U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace revealed that nearly 250,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since the war started in February 2022 – although the Kremlin insisted the number is closer to 50,000.
According to Daily Star, the newly implemented law will allow Putin to call retired soldiers back to the war effort.
Meanwhile, retired lesser-ranking officers aged 65 and younger can also be called back to the Russian military while junior officers as old as 60 will also likely be sent into Ukraine.
Ordinary troops aged 55 and younger can also be called back, whereas the initial maximum age was 45.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Putin also recently ordered Russian children as young as four to start training in military tactics, weapons skills, drone piloting, applying field dressings, and nuclear and biological protection in elementary school.
That shocking move was reportedly ordered by the Russian leader in an effort to ensure that there are future generations of soldiers amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“The mobilization of nursery school children has begun,” a report published on Russia’s official Telegram channel announced in June.
“This is romanticizing and decorating the worst thing in our lives: war,” one critic of Putin’s new program said in response.
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Putin’s “Kid Army” – which was formed in 2022 and saw youth club members and cadets as young as 16 fighting in the war effort – already raised questions about the desperate lengths the Russian leader is willing to go to not lose in Ukraine.
"They have been doing military training and there have been deaths among these teenagers,” Ukraine’s parliament commissioner on human rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, said after Putin's “Kid Army” was discovered.
“Now they are promoting the entry into the army of civilians,” she continued, “including children in the temporarily occupied territories.”
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