Moscow Filling Ranks of Its Invasion Force in Ukraine with Ever Older Men, Many in Their 40s and 50s and Some as Old as Their 70s

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 9 – In order to fill the ranks of its invasion force in Ukraine, Moscow is allowing ever older men to serve, including many in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and even in their 70s, the Vyorstka reports, a reflection of the difficulties Russia is having raising enough men from younger age groups and the desire of older ones to get the bonuses now being offered.

            The Russian official media have not reported much about this, but visitors to the front, officials involved with meeting the military’s needs, and officers unhappy about having so many older men in the ranks have all complained about a situation in which 30 to 40 percent of some units consist of men over 45, the agency says (verstka.media/kontraktniki-stali-starymi).

            Commanders are especially upset because the older soldiers are more often sick and less physically able to handle their jobs. And Vyorstka stresses that Moscow is being forced to allow such men to serve because younger men don’t want to in sufficient numbers to fill the ever-depleting ranks of the army.

            It points out that this trend is confirmed by the death rates of those for whom ages can be established. So far this year, 2475 volunteers in the Russian army over the age of 45 have died. That figure is “about half of all deaths whose age has been confirmed” and is “18 percent more than for all of 2023 … and three times more than in 2022.”

            Deaths among even older Russian soldiers have increased as well. So far this year, 597 soldiers over the age of 55 have died, twice as many as in 2023 and four times as many as in 2022. Vyortska reports that the very oldest soldier recorded as having died in Putin’s war so far was 72.

            Although it received little attention at the time, the Russian government has been raising the age limit on those it will accept as volunteers. Earlier this year, the news agency reports, it boosted that limit from 65 to 70 (объясняем.рф/articles/news/predelnyy_vozrast_sluzhby_po_kontraktu_v_voennoe_vremya_povyshen_do_70_let/).