Is this meaningful, given the numbers of Russian troops killed (by both sides) and captured during this little war?
The breakaway republics and the Ukrainian militants both have men fighting for them 60+ years old, all volunteers. [IsraelTimes] Russia’s parliament is to consider scrapping the upper age limit for signing up to join the army, in a sign Moscow may be looking to recruit more troops for its military campaign in Ukraine.
Under current legislation, only Russians aged 18 to 40 and foreign nationals aged 18 to 30 have the right to sign their first military service contract.
A draft bill on the agenda of the lower house State Duma would completely lift that upper age limit.
"Highly professional specialists are needed to use high-precision weapons and operate weapons and military equipment," says a note accompanying the draft bill.
The note said that such specialists usually acquire the necessary skills when they reach their early- to mid-40s.
President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 but three months into Moscow’s military campaign the offensive has "lost momentum," Western defense chiefs say.