Russian military: Parliament will consider allowing people 40 and older to sign up

Russia’s parliament said Friday that it would consider legislation to allow Russians who are over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military.

The website of the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, said doing so would enable Russia’s forces to utilize the talents of older professional specialists.

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“For the use of high-precision weapons, the operation of weapons and military equipment, highly professional specialists are needed. Experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45,” it said.

The Duma also said that the bill would make it easier to recruit civilian medics, engineers and operations and communications specialists.

Right now, only Russians who are 18 to 40 years old and foreigners ages 18 to 30 can enter Russia’s military.

Russia’s military has suffered losses during its war in Ukraine.

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In March, the deputy head of Russia’s military general staff said 1,351 Russian soldiers died there, with more than 3,800 wounded.

Previously, NATO estimated that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers had been killed during the first four weeks of the war.

While the Russians have offered no more information, Ukraine’s military said last week that around 27,000 soldiers have been killed thus far.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian troops were intensifying their attacks in the Donbas region, authorities said Friday that their troops repelled a Russian attack in the east.

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Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday it would beef up its military presence along its western borders, creating 12 new units in its Western Military District by the end of the year.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.