4.1.2. Reserve

4.1.2. Reserve

a) Inactive mobilisation reserve

• were discharged from obligatory military service and added to the military reserve;

• completed military training at higher education institutions, graduating from programs for the training of reserve sergeants, petty officers, soldiers, or sailors;

• completed studies at a military educational institution or training at military training centers affiliated with federal state educational institutions under programs of training reserve officers, sergeants, soldiers, or sailors;

• did not take part in obligatory military service due to exemption or deferral;

• were not called up for obligatory military service before reaching the age of 30;

• did not take part in obligatory military service without having a legal basis for exemption and reached the age of 30;

• completed alternative civilian service;

• are women who have acquired military specialisations.702

Individuals in the inactive reserve do not have an active affiliation with the Russian armed forces.703 According to the law, those in the reserve are classified into three categories based on their rank and age,704 as shown in the table below.

Table 1. Individuals in the inactive mobilisation reserve

The ‘partial mobilisation’ held between 21 September 2022 and 31 October 2022 concerned persons included to the inactive mobilisation reserve.706 Following the announcement of the ‘partial mobilisation’ in September 2022, the then-Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, claimed that the size of Russia’s inactive mobilisation reserve reached approximately 25 million people.707

b) Active mobilisation reserve

Russia also has an active reserve (‘active mobilisation reserve’) officially consisting of two million people.708 As noted by researcher Igor Gretskiy,709 the number of reservists in Russia is ‘a state secret’ but it can be lower than one million.710 According to the law, the active reserve consists of individuals from the general inactive reserve, as well as of those in the inactive reserves of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the FSB, who sign a contract to voluntarily join the active reserve of the Russian armed forces or other troops and military formations.711

Russia’s first mobilisation reserve, known as the Special Combat Army Reserve (BARS) was established in 2015 and consisted of ‘individuals who had previously served in the army and signed a special ‘reservist contract’ with the MoD.712 Active recruitment started in 2021, with a number of reservists increasing from several thousand to 100 000.713 As noted by The Insider, initially, the reservist contract is signed for a duration of three years, with reservists undergoing training once a year. The source also noted that reservists are paid monthly stipends and receive salaries for the periods of training or deployment.714 As reported by the Moscow Times, many reservists joined the so-called BARS battalions to participate in the war in Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequently signed military contracts with the MoD.715

On 28 October 2025, the State Duma adopted amendments716 to the federal laws On Defence, On Military Duty and Military Service, and On the Status of Servicemen,717 to allow individuals in the active mobilisation reserve to be called up for special trainings for defence of critically important infrastructure.718 According to a Russian General Staff official, reservists would be responsible for ‘critical infrastructure facilities, including energy and transport infrastructure’, with the primary task to counter drone attacks.719 While the MoD has stated that reservists would not be sent to perform tasks outside Russia,720 the law itself does not explicitly impose such restrictions, as noted by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).721 As of 10 November 2025, at least 20 Russian regions have started recruiting reservists as part of the newly enacted law, with Tatarstan and Bashkortostan establishing units to protect oil refineries and petrochemical sites. With BARS units established in Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts already in 2024, Kursk and Bryansk oblasts will reportedly ‘form additional detachments to help thwart sabotage attempts and assist in emergency evacuations.’722

Furthermore, since July 2025, Russia has reportedly been forming an additional strategic reserve composed of soldiers who have signed contracts with the MoD.723 Citing ‘a Russian insider source’, ISW reported that this reserve will be composed of 292 000 individuals who have signed contracts with the MoD between January 2025 and September 2025. Due to ‘reduced casualty rates’ among the Russian military personnel during the summer 2025 in Ukraine, Russia could potentially withhold some of these recruits from immediate deployment to Ukraine.724