Young Danes are selected at random, according to the armed forces' needs. Conscripts in Finland serve between six, nine, or 12 months, depending on their specialty and rank. They are then placed in the reserves, where they can be called back to active duty, until the age of 50 or 60 -- a limit the government is considering raising to 65. Military service is voluntary for women.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said his forces are prevailing in what he described as a righteous battle in Ukraine. Our fighters and commanders go on the attack, and the entire country, all of Russia, is waging this righteous battle and working hard, he said. President Putin signed a decree ordering the conscription of 135,000 men for military service, the official government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.