Russian President Vladimir Putin has drafted 150,000 civilians into the country's military, the Kremlin said Sunday as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were left without electricity amid a surge in attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.
Airstrikes also killed two men when a gas station was hit in Ukraine's Kharkiv region and a building was destroyed in the western Lviv region, the Associated Press reported, citing local officials.
Putin's routine draft notice was posted online as part of Russia's annual spring conscription, one of two announced each year, according to Reuters.
In September, Putin signed an order drafting 130,000 men into Russia's military.
All Russian men are required to serve in the armed forces for a year once they turn 18, with many going to great lengths to avoid the draft through deferments granted to students, people with chronic illnesses and others.
Russia's parliament last year raised the maximum age for conscription from 27 to 30 in an apparent attempt to boost its military, which has been bogged down in Ukraine since invading in 2022.
Although Russian law bars draftees from being deployed outside Russia, some were reportedly sent to the Ukrainian front in error during a 2022 mobilization that called up at least 300,000 former soldiers to fight there, according to Reuters.
On Sunday, debris from a downed Russian drone sparked a fire at an energy plant in Ukraine's Odesa region, Gov. Oleh Kiper said.
The attack cut power to 170,000 homes, according to DTEK, the country's largest supplier of electricity.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down nine of 11 Russian drones launched overnight, and nine of 14 cruise missiles.
The attacks followed Russian shelling of the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant in northeastern Kharkiv, which cut electricity to 700,000 people on on March 22.
Ukraine's Centrenergo energy company said Saturday that the plant, one of the largest in the region, was completely destroyed and power outage schedules remained in effect for about 120,000 residents.
