Four occupied regions of Ukraine will be included for the first time in a new round of Russian military conscriptions this fall, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Friday.

Autumn conscription will begin from October 1 in all parts of the Russian Federation, according to the ministry, including in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.

Putin announced the annexation of the four areas – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – last September, following so-called referendums in the regions that were universally dismissed as “shams” by Ukraine and Western nations.

In some regions of Russia’s Far North, the conscription will begin on November 1 due to the climate differences, Rear Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, Deputy Chief of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said during a briefing.

“Military personnel undergoing military service upon conscription will not be sent to the points of deployment of units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the new regions of the Russian Federation: Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions or to participate there in carrying out the tasks of a special military operation,” he said, using Russia’s euphemistic term for its war in Ukraine.

According to the law, the autumn 2023 conscription round will include the newly annexed territories for the first time.

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