Russia: Digital conscription set to hinder draft-dodging

The Russian authorities have made it easier to draft men into the army by allowing electronic conscription notices. Until now, paper summons had to be handed over in person and signed by a draftee to be considered valid. Digital notices will now be considered valid as soon as they are put on the government portal for electronic services, Gosuslugi.

In addition, paper notices will now be sent by registered mail and considered delivered even if a draftee refuses to sign. There will also be a register of those eligible for military service, compiled from data gleaned from state agencies. Military recruitment offices will be able to register draftees even if they do not appear in person.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, passed corresponding amendments to conscription law on Tuesday, which were signed on Friday by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian lawyer: 'It will all work very simply'

"It will all work very simply," Russian lawyer and human rights activist Ivan Pavlov told DW. "In the past, you had to find a recruit and hand him a summons that he had to sign before he would come to the military recruitment office." He said this was sometimes very difficult and that there were many ways of avoiding being handed a summons.

He explained that the government had understood that the procedure did not work if many conscripts were needed and that conscription was thus a good way of enlisting men in the army. "They will be forced to sign contracts. Then sent to war," he said.

He said that once the law came into force, people would have little chance of escaping conscription. "The only option is to leave the country as soon as possible, but there is very little time for that."

Late last month, Vladimir Tsimlyansky, the head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that there were increasing numbers of men seeking to enlist in the army. He said that ahead of the annual spring draft, the number of offices where people could sign up had been increased, as had the number of instructors to deal with applicants.

From the age of 18, Russian men can sign a temporary contract with the Ministry of Defense and work with the army for a limited number of years. There are currently contract soldiers fighting alongside conscripts and career soldiers in Ukraine.

In March, Bloomberg News reported that the Kremlin was hoping to recruit 400,000 contract soldiers this year to replenish the ranks.

Penalities if recruits fail to present themselves for duty

The latest amendments to the conscription law provide for "temporary" penalties if men refuse to present themselves at military recruitment offices after being called up. They will not be allowed to leave Russia from the day of having received a summons.

Conscripts will have 20 days to present themselves. If they miss the deadline, they will no longer be eligible for loans and will not be able to register a car, company or property. They could also be deprived of social benefits, although this will be up to respective regional authorities. 

The Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit ("We can explain") said that the restrictions meant that "millions of Russians who have left the country will lose their rights." It explained that many of them did not have an account with Gosuslugi and would not find out about digital draft notices or be able to receive them by registered mail. "But they will lose the right to carry out transactions regarding assets in Russia. They will not be able to sell their car and will also have problems getting a passport."

Pooling information from state databases

The unified register for conscripts allowed for under the amendments will be compiled on the basis of information from state databases. In the future, ministries, tax authorities, universities and even , in certain cases, employers will be called upon to share information such as place of residence, tax ID numbers, phone numbers or driver's license numbers, which will be stored in the register. It will be "generally accessible."

Conscription notices will then be automatically generated and deemed as served one week later if they have not been handed over by different means before then. 

In March, Tsimlyansky from the General Staff said that Russia had already used the "new format" to register conscripts this year. He explained that military recruitment offices had received data in digital form from federal, regional and municipal authorities and this had then been used in paper form. He added that there were currently 700,000 young men born in 2006 who were registered in the military and they would all receive draft notices from April 1, in digital or paper form.

Observers fear that the amendments to the law are in preparation for another mobilization campaign. After Putin announced a partial mobilization last September, hundreds of thousands of Russians left the country. 

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov has denied that Russia is considering a second mobilization. He said the register and digital summons were simply a means of registering recruits in the army.

As usual in Russia, this year's annual spring conscription drive will run from April 1 to July 15, affecting men aged 18 to 27. A bill to raise the age of conscription has been submitted to the State Duma but has yet to be adopted. 

This article was originally published in Russian.