Russia's Shoigu proposes raising conscription age

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday proposed raising the age range for mandatory Russian military service to cover Russian citizens aged 21-30 as he said Russia's forces would continue fighting in Ukraine next year.

Under the current law, Russians aged between 18-27 can be called up for mandatory military service - though Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly said that such conscripts are not being sent to fight in Ukraine.

Speaking at an end-of-year conference with Russia's military chiefs and Putin, Shoigu also said Russia was accelerating the deployment of modern weapons supplies to the army.