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Russia raised conscription age limits for top officers
Summary
A look back at the amendment to Russia's mobilization laws and the state takeover order that preceded it.
What did Russia's legislature change on 18 July 2023? The Russian Federal Assembly amended its mobilization laws, raising the upper age limit for conscription from 65 to 70 for the highest-ranking officers of the armed forces. The change applied to the top of the officer corps and was part of the legal framework linked to the 2022 Russian mobilization.
A parallel move on corporate assets
Two days earlier, on 16 July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a temporary state takeover of the shares of French agribusiness Danone and of Baltika, the brewer owned by Carlsberg. As reported at the time, this was part of a wider response to private companies, including these two, that had reduced their business operations in Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Many private companies had ceased operations in Russia or donated, or matched donations, to the Ukrainian government or Ukrainian organisations in response to Russia's seizure of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and 2022. Others had applied various sanctions.
Two measures, one backdrop
The two decisions came within days of each other and both related to the ongoing war. One adjusted the rules governing military service for senior officers. The other put the Russian assets of two foreign-linked companies under temporary state control.
