2023_CG_RUS_RS_conscription

Article 59 of the Constitution specifies that all Russian citizens have ‘a duty and obligation’ to defend the country and to ‘carry out military service according to the federal law.’ [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 15]

One-year military service is currently compulsory for all Russian men aged 18 – 27. In December 2022, the head of the MoD proposed changing the conscription age to 21 – 30.  [COI Update 2023, 3.1, p. 9]

Prior to conscription, young men aged 16 – 17 undergo an initial military registration, including a medical examination, where their physical and psychological fitness for military service is assessed. On the basis of this assessment, they are assigned to different categories. [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 15]

Exemptions and deferrals exist for medical, family and professional reasons.

More specifically, the reasons for draft exemption are defined by Article 23 of the Law on Military Duty and Military Service of 1998. Persons who can be exempted are:

• persons who were found unfit due to health-related reasons
• persons with a doctorate degree
• persons whose father or brother died while performing military service or training or as a result of an injury received during military service
• convicts serving their sentence, persons with an outstanding criminal record, or persons under investigation.

[Military service, 1.2.2, p. 19-20]

Deferral conditions are stipulated in Article 24 of the Law on Military Duty and Military Service of 1998. Deferral is to be granted if:

• a person is found temporarily unfit for military service (up to one year)
• a person is a full-time student
• a person delivers care for their relatives who need constant assistance or supervision on health grounds, or have been assigned as permanent custodian or guardian of underage sibling
• a single father
• a man who has two or more children, a child with a disability under the age of three, a child and a pregnant wife (over 22 weeks)
• an employee of certain institutions, for example the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Fire Service, law enforcement agencies, customs authorities, and the National Guard
• a person elected as a member in the State Duma, the legislative bodies of the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, or local government (for the time of the employment) or a person registered as an office seeker of federal or local authorities.

[Military service, 1.2.2, p. 19-20]

In practice, evasion of military service has been rife with corruption for years, with officials being reluctant to allow exemptions, and a network of corrupt officials allowing those who can pay thousands of dollars to avoid military service through bribes and fraud. [Treatment of deserters etc. , 6.1, p. 10]

In December 2022, military recruitment and police officers reportedly conducted large-scale arrests of men of conscription age, often ignoring their right to a deferral from military service. [COI Update 2023, 3.1, p. 10]

According to the Article 59.3 of the Russian Constitution, conscientious objectors have a right to substitute active military service with alternative civil service. It is applied if a person’s convictions or religious beliefs contradict military service or ‘in other cases envisaged by the Federal Law on Alternative Civil Service’, i.e. to young men from small indigenous ethnic minorities who pursue a traditional way of life. The period of alternative civil service is either 18 or 21 months, depending on where it is performed. As explained by the Russian authorities, 18-month service is applied if a person is engaged as civilian personnel at the RAF or other military institutions. [Military service, 1.2.3, pp. 20-21]

According to sources that give legal advice to conscripts, it is difficult to substitute military service with alternative civil service. The application at the military commissariat should be submitted no later than six months before the start of the draft and it does not apply to people already undergoing military service. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.1, p. 11]

According to the official Russian state sources, the Defence Ministry, some 2 000 people apply for alternative civil service every year and an estimated half of these applications are approved [Military service, 1.2.3, p. 20]. According to the latest statistics by the Federal Service of Labour and Employment, 1 166 young men were enrolled in alternative civil service as of 1 August 2022, similar to the previous figure of 1 152 recorded as of 1 February 2022. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.1, p. 11]

In order to be granted alternative service based on religious grounds, the religion should be officially recognised and well-known, and religious affiliation should be proven. Replacing military service with alternative civil service on the grounds of personal convictions is more difficult. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.1, pp. 11-12; Military service, 1.2.3, pp. 20-21]

Jehovah’s Witnesses was banned in Russia as an ‘extremist’ organisation and its members face raids, detentions, and arrests. As reported by Jehovah’s Witnesses Office of Public Information to OHCHR in March 2022, there have been instances in which conscripts, fearing to reveal their religious affiliation, have requested alternative civil service on the grounds of personal convictions which has made the substantiation of their requests more difficult. The source also reported that the conscripts requesting alternative civil service on the grounds of their religious beliefs have been threatened by members of recruitment commissions and their requests have been rejected. [Military service, 1.2.3, p. 21]

The number of ‘vacancies’ as alternative to military service is limited. Vacant positions are given by public institutions providing social services, healthcare, education, cultural and art activities. Examples of professions for alternative military service include cleaner, driver, courier, but also professions requiring specialisation like doctor, engineer, laboratory technician. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.1, p. 12]

In November 2022, the Federal Law on Mobilisation Preparations and Mobilisation was amended with Article 17.1, according to which, people performing alternative civil service ‘in organisations subordinate to executive authorities or local governments can be sent to serve in positions of civilian personnel of Russia’s army, other troops, military formations, bodies and special forces during the period of mobilisation’. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.1, p. 12]

The number of men eligible to be drafted for military service is estimated at 1.2 million each year and around half of this number receives a draft notice requiring them to present themselves at a local military commissariat. Men who are subject to statutory military service must notify their local military commissariat about the place of their residence. A failure to inform military officials about a change of one’s place of residence as well as a failure to present oneself at a military commissariat is an administrative offence under Article 21.5 of the Code of Administrative Offences and is punishable by a fine in the amount of 500 – 3 000 roubles (appr. 8 – 50 EUR). [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 16]

Article 31 of the Federal Law on Military Duty and Military Service required that a draft notice was handed in person to be signed upon receipt [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 18]. However, according to legislation adopted in April 2023, enlistment papers will be sent by both regular mail and electronically. The electronic notice will be considered as delivered by being placed online in a personal account on the main government portal. According to analysts and critics, the new law could make it much harder for Russians to avoid conscription14.

Measures aiming to ensure that the person appears in front of the military commissariat include restrictions of different rights and benefits. According to the legislative amendments from April 2023, from the day when a draft notice is considered delivered, the individual is prohibited from leaving the Russian Federation until they fulfil their obligation to appear in front of the military commissariat13. Non-appearance, without a valid reason, after 20 calendar days from the day specified in the draft notice, entails the application of further temporary measures in the form of: a ban on state registration as an individual entrepreneur; a ban on registration with the tax authority; suspension of immovable property registration; restrictions on the use by a citizen of the right to drive vehicles; a ban on the state registration of vehicles; refusal to conclude a loan agreement. The decision to take these temporary measures is automatic and is signed by the military commissar's electronic signature. The decision to cancel the temporary measures is also automatic and signed by the electronic signature of the military commissar within 24 hours from the moment the person appears at the military commissariat or from confirmation of having valid reasons for non-appearance. With the same legislative amendments, the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were given the right to establish additional temporary measures aimed at ensuring the appearance at the military commissariat, in the form of a restriction on the receipt payments, benefits, support measures and other preferences rejected15. 

During 2022, around 374 000 men were conscripted to obligatory one-year military service. Raids during which young men were delivered to a military commissariat by the police and within one day transferred to military units were reported in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Vladivostok, and other cities. The raids to fulfil the autumn draft quota were of an extensive character, and police officers used means such as tracking of mobile phones and using subway surveillance cameras. [COI Update 2023, 3.1, p. 10; Military service, 1.2.1, p. 18]

Russian authorities had stated that there would be no yearly conscription to the RAF in the so called “autonomous regions” of Donetsk and Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions [Military service, 1.2.1, pp. 18-19].

Article 328 part 1 of the Criminal Code stipulates that ‘evasion of conscription in the absence of lawful grounds for release from the military service’ is punishable by a fine up to 200 000 roubles (appr. 3 272 EUR), or in the amount of the wage or salary, or any other income of the convicted person for a period up to 18 months, or by compulsory labour for a period up to two years, by arrest for up to six months, or by up to two years in prison. The charges can be initiated if a person deliberately ignores the draft notice. [Military service, 1.2.1, pp. 16-17]

Penalties for evasion of alternative service range from a fine of 80 000 roubles (appr. 1 300 EUR) to a prison term of up to six months [Military service, 1.2.3, p. 21].

One source indicated that, between 1 May to 20 September 2022, 410 criminal cases on draft evasion have been brought before the courts, which is the maximum in ten years. Another source reported that 564 persons have been convicted by courts for draft evasion in the first half of 2022. In all cases recorded by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation since 2016 until June 2022, the punishment for draft evasion was a fine, none of the convicted persons was sentenced to imprisonment [COI Update 2023, 3.1.2, p. 13]. A person convicted for evading military service continues to be obliged to serve even after completing a sentence, fine of imprisonment, for evasion16.

Russian media reported on a letter circulating online, from the Military Commissioner of Moscow and addressed to the president of the Moscow Bar Association, warning that providing legal assistance for the purpose of draft evasion would lead to criminal prosecution of lawyers. [Political opposition, 2.3, pp. 32-33]

After being drafted, conscripts receive a one to two months basic training, followed by advance training lasting from three to six months, after which they are sent to their designated units. [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 17]

There were some reports of pressure and persuasion for conscripts to sign contracts or of contracts being signed by another person on behalf of a conscript. On 24 February 2022, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers reported on phone calls from parents of conscripted soldiers, stating that their sons had either been forced to sign contracts with the RAF or were deployed to military units on the Russia-Ukraine border, with the majority being sent to the military bases in Belgorod region. In early March 2022, a member of the Federation Council, spoke about 100 conscripts who were sent to Ukraine after being forced to sign a contract with the RAF. In December 2022, a source noted that conscripts would be probably offered to sign a contract as soon as they start their military service, which would enable their deployment to Ukraine as contract soldiers. According to the source, such persuasion was a widely used practice. [Military service, 3.1, p. 37; COI Update 2023, 3.1.3, pp. 14]

Conscripts can sign a contract with the RAF after three months of obligatory military service. Those who decide to continue their obligatory military service instead of enlisting with the RAF on a contract basis are used as personnel whose tasks are to ensure the everyday functioning of the garrisons. [Military service, 1.2.1, p. 17]

After completing obligatory military service, former conscripts are registered in the reserve. [Military service, 1.2.1, pp. 17-18]

During obligatory military service, it has been reported that many conscripts face hazing in their military unit, consisting of physical and psychological violence by senior conscripts and officers. There is a risk of being taunted on ethnic or religious grounds but the actual occurrence would depend on a particular unit or its commanders. A lot would depend also on the physical and other personal characteristics. [COI Update 2023, 3.1, pp. 10-11]

At the beginning of the war, there were some reports that conscripts had been deployed to Ukraine. In November, a source highlighted that they were not aware of any recent involvement of conscripts in hostilities in Ukraine. As further explained by the source, conscripts were widely moved to administrative regions bordering Ukraine, such as Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Rostov, Krasnodar, and illegally-annexed Crimea. It was also noted that, although the law allows deployment in Ukraine, there have been many reassurances from the Russian authorities that they would not be deployed. At the end of December 2022, the Ministry of Defence stated that conscripts would not be involved in hostilities in Ukraine. [Military service, 3.1, p. 38; COI Update 2023, 3.1.3, p. 13]

The Ministry of Defence has stated that conscripts who have fulfilled their military service have been discharged on time and sent to their places of residence. However, it should be noted that this is information from official sources of the Russian Federation and it has not been possible to corroborate it. [COI Update 2023, 3.1.3, p. 13]