Kremlin spokesperson declines to comment as rumors about border troops recruit surface
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Kremlin, declined to address the remarks made by war correspondent Alexander Sladkov regarding a possible shift in recruitment policy. When asked to comment on whether border troops would begin enlisting Russian soldiers, Peskov chose to withhold his response. He stated clearly that he would not provide an answer on the matter at this time during a briefing with reporters.
The topic at hand involves the border troops, a force within Russia’s security apparatus that has historically operated under strict recruitment rules. It has been reported that only privates who have signed a contract with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and who possess a secondary vocational education prior to draft would be eligible to serve in these border units. This specification points to a precise staffing framework that would guide who could be brought into service, potentially affecting the pool of available personnel and the way border protection duties are staffed in the future.
Earlier in the week, Sladkov claimed to have learned about a decision to recruit soldiers for the border troops through a personal meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This assertion, if verified, would imply a direct line of communication from the highest level of leadership to the planning and implementation of changes in border force recruitment. The publicized account from Sladkov underscored the sensitivity and potential significance of any potential shifts in policy related to border security forces.
In early October, Sergei Shoigu, the head of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, addressed the situation by emphasizing that the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces did not have an additional mobilization plan ready at that time. This statement suggested that, at least publicly, there was no immediate expansion of mobilization beyond existing measures, even as other reports circulated about possible adjustments to recruitment and deployment across various branches of the security services.
Separately, there was mention of President Putin signing a law that raised the draft age. This legislative move, if enacted, would affect the age range of individuals eligible for conscription, potentially influencing manpower planning within Russia’s armed forces and related security structures. The precise implications for border troops, and whether those implications would translate into changes in who serves in those units, were not clarified in the available statements from official channels. The interplay between draft-age policy and border troop recruitment remains a topic of interest for observers monitoring Russia’s strategic staffing decisions.