The Russian Army are desperately trying to hold off Ukraine’s counteroffensive which has seen many thousands killed.
Now the Russia’s parliament has passed a new law increasing the maximum age by five years which means those aged 70 can be called up to fight in Vladimir Putin’s war.
Russia’s parliament has raised the upper age limit for compulsory service from 27 to 30 and has changed their criteria for reservists.
Those who have finished the compulsory service can sign back up aged 55 instead of 45, which comes as the Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu wants to build troop numbers to 1.5 million from 1.15 million.
The US joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is “far from a failure.”
He told reporters, “It is far from a failure. I think that it’s way too early to make that kind of call…
“I think there’s a lot of fighting left to go and I’ll stay with what we said before: This is going to be long. It’s going be hard. It’s going to be bloody.”
Ukraine has so far not been able to break through Russia’s defences which they have been fortifying for many months.
General Milley said it had been predicted that there will be various levels of advances, then warned conflict looks very different on paper which is very different to the reality.
He added, “Real war is unpredictable. It’s filled with fear, fog and friction.”
