Home › Opinion › What Russia's July 2023 moves said about wartime control
What Russia's July 2023 moves said about wartime control
Summary
A look back at three developments reported between 16 and 18 July 2023, from corporate takeovers to conscription ages and a killing in Transnistria.
What did the Russian state do to tighten its grip on 18 July 2023? Reports from that day and the two before it point to measures aimed at companies, the military's senior ranks and, separately, a killing in a neighbouring territory.
Conscription age raised for top officers
On 18 July 2023, the Russian Federal Assembly amended its mobilization laws. The upper age limit for conscription of the highest-ranking officers of the armed forces rose to 70 from 65.
Temporary takeover of foreign-owned 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, a brewer owned by Carlsberg. This formed part of a wider response to private companies, these two among them, reducing their business operations in Russia during the war in Ukraine.
The episode belonged to a broader pattern. Many private companies 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 applied various sanctions.
A killing in Transnistria
Also on 16 July 2023, Oleg Khorzhan, a Transnistrian communist and opposition leader, was assassinated in a stabbing attack in his office.
Looking back
The three developments were separate: one changed military personnel rules, one concerned the fate of foreign-owned businesses, and one was a political killing in Transnistria. Taken together, the first two show Moscow adjusting its legal and economic levers while the war in Ukraine continued.
