Accessibility links

Breaking News

Russian Army Drafting Men From Chechnya For First Time In 20 Years


Young men from Chechnya are being drafted into Russia's armed forces for the first time in 20 years.

Some 500 men aged 18-27 will be drafted this autumn.

Officials at Russia's Southern Military District said on October 1 that drafting commissions had started working in Chechnya's 17 districts and that the first group of conscripts will be sent to military units in 10 days.

Mandatory military service in Russia is 12 months.

Chechen youth stopped being drafted to the Russian Army in late 1994, when the Kremlin sent the military into Chechnya to try to crush its separatist leadership.

Government forces drove separatists from power in a second war and Moscow announced in 2009 that its "counter-terrorist" operation in Chechnya was over.

Chechen separatist fighters gradually turned into Islamic insurgency and spread to other parts of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region.

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG