Russian President, Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service.

Quoting Vladimir Tsimlyansky, Deputy Chief of the main organisational and mobilisation directorate of the general staff of the Russian Federation armed forces, a Russian news agency reported that traditionally, the autumn conscription begins on October 1, 2023.

“Servicemen undergoing conscription military service will not be sent to the points of deployment of units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in new regions of the Russian Federation: Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, or to participate there in carrying out the tasks of a special military operation.”
Vladimir Tsimlyansky

All men in Russia are required to do a yearlong military service between the ages of 18 and 27 or equivalent training while pursuing higher education.

Meanwhile, Putin met with servicemen who fought near Ukraine’s Urozhaine on the southern front.

There, he hailed Russian prisoners who died fighting in Ukraine, saying they had “fully redeemed” themselves.

“Everyone can make some mistakes, they once did. But they gave their lives for the Motherland, and fully redeemed themselves,” Putin said.

To boost regular troops fighting in Ukraine, the army and mercenary group Wagner have extensively recruited from Russian penal colonies.

Also on Friday, September 29, 2023, Putin met Andrei Troshev, one of the top former Commanders of the Wagner mercenary group to discuss how best to use “volunteer units” in the Ukraine war.

Deputy Defence Minister, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was also present, sitting closest to Putin.

Addressing Troshev, Putin said that they had spoken about how “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of the special military operation.”

Putin said, “You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way.”

Putin’s meeting with Wagner’s Troshev, who now works for the defence ministry, is a major hint that Wagner fighters, if not the group itself, are returning to the war.

The meeting also indicates that Deputy Defence Minister, Yunus-Bek Yevkurovand Troshev will coordinate the work of Wagner fighters.

According to a Russian war blog, Wagner fighters would return to Bakhmut.

“The first units of the PMC began to return to Bakhmut to conduct a counteroffensive against previously lost positions,” Rybar said.

Wagner Group Likely Redeployed To Ukraine

The UK’s Ministry of Defence also suggest the return of Wagner fighters to the battlefield in Ukraine.

In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that in recent weeks, up to hundreds of fighters formerly associated with the Wagner group have probably started to redeploy to Ukraine as individuals and small groups, fighting for a variety of pro-Russian units.

In a post on X, the British Ministry of Defence noted, “Wagner withdrew from combat operations in Ukraine by early June 2023, prior to the abortive mutiny of 24 June 2023, and the subsequent death of Wagner owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin and other senior leaders in a plane crash on 23 August 2023.”

Citing that the exact status of the redeploying personnel is unclear, the ministry stated that it is likely that individuals have been transferred to parts of the official Russian Ministry of Defence forces and other private military companies.

“Several reports suggest a concentration of Wagner veterans around Bakhmut: their experience is likely to be particularly in demand in this sector. Many will be familiar with current frontline and local Ukrainian tactics, having fought over the same terrain last winter”
UK’s Ministry of Defence