Russia has commenced its most substantial military draft in over a decade as reports suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin is gearing up for a spring offensive against Ukraine, despite ongoing peace negotiations to conclude the three-year conflict.

Putin has called up 160,000 men as part of the country’s bi-annual conscription drive as Russia seeks to beef up its military ranks.

According to the legislation, citizens aged 18 to 30 will be summoned for compulsory military duty until June 15. This spring draft represents the largest conscription effort since the spring of 2011 when 200,000 men were conscripted. Last year, 150,000 men were called, following 134,500 in 2022.

Rebekah Koffler, a former DIA intelligence officer who specializes in Russia’s war-fighting strategy and Putin’s thinking, told Fox News Digital that Putin’s goal with his conscription drive is to prolong the fighting.

“There’s no ceasefire and no peace plan between Russia and Ukraine to be had,” said Koffler, the author of a best-selling book “Putin’s Playbook.” “What President Trump seeks is regretfully, unachievable. Putin’s goal is to keep fighting, in order to compel Ukraine to capitulate.”

Trump is trying to secure a peace and rare earth minerals deal, while on Sunday the president said he did not think Putin was going to go back on his word for a partial ceasefire.

Koffler, meanwhile, said the latest conscription numbers are intended to ensure that the correlation of forces on the battlefield and in reserves, continues to favor Russia. 

“Now that Germany and France are considering to deploy reassurance forces into Ukraine, Putin is factoring in those numbers, so he is increasing his force’s posture, to deter such a deployment or failing to prevent it by force.”

A car, destroyed by a Russian drone, in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 29, 2025. Two people were killed in a massive attack on the city. (Sofiia Bobok/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Putin has prepared Russia for a long, protracted conflict, in which he wants the Russian forces to be ready to fight till the last Ukrainian and the last missile in the NATO arsenal,” Koffler said.

She said Putin is also considering the possibility of having a direct kinetic war with NATO, in the event that NATO decides to deploy forces into the theater in Ukraine. 

“So, he intends for these mobilization numbers as a deterrence value and battlefield utility, if it comes to that.”

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.