MOSCOW: Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed legislation increasing the maximum age limit for compulsory military service to 30, over a year into the Kremlin`s Ukraine offensive.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30 per cent to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Ukraine.

`From January 1, 2024, citizens aged 18 to 30 will be called up for military service,` the lower house of parliament said after the bill was passed in a second and third reading. The law also prohibits conscripts from leaving the country once the enlistment office has sent them their draft notice.

Compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go togreat lengths to avoid being handed conscription papers during the twice-yearly call-up periods.

It still has to be approved by the upper chamber and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, steps that are considered a formality.

Previously, one year of military service was mandatory in Russia for men aged 18 to 27 with conscription carried out twice a year.

Lawmakers also said they were dropping an initial proposal to gradually shift the conscription age to between 21 and 30.

`Demographic situation` `The wording of the draft law changed because the demographic situation is serious and affects the volume of the mobilisation resource,` Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Duma`s defence affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency.

They will be risking a fine of up to 30,000 rubles (around $330) when the law comes into force on October 1. The maximum fine is currently 3,000 rubles.

Separately, the legislation passed on Tuesday gives Russian governors the power to set up regional paramilitary units during periods ofmobilisation or martial law.

These units would be funded and armed by the state and given the right to shoot down drones, fight enemy sabotage groups and conduct counter-terrorist operations.

Kartapolov said the changes would formalise the creation of militias.

The topic has gained importance since an abortive armed mutiny last month by Yevgeny Prigozhin`s Wagner mercenary force, which is largely funded by the state but fought in Ukraine as a unit with broad autonomy.

`The people`s militia how it will operate, who it will consist of ... it is absolutely clear and understandable,` Kartapolov told lawmakers.

Tens of thousands of men fled Russia last autumn after Putin announced a mobilisation of 300,000 reservists to prop up Moscow`s forces in Ukraine.

In April, Russian lawmakers adopted a law creating a digital conscription notice system. It allowed call-up papers to be served online instead of in person, greatly facilitating the mobilisation of Russians into the army.-Agencies