Russian conscripts depart for basic military training from outside St. Petersburg’s Trinity Cathedral, 23 May 2023. Photo: EPA / Anatoly Maltsev
In a further indication of the Kremlin’s determination to win its war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a law moving Russia’s military conscription process from its existing system, which stipulates two annual drafts, to a year-round model.
All men in Russia aged 18–30 are required to perform a year-long period of military service, with call-ups currently taking place during two periods spanning approximately half the year: from 1 April to 15 July, and from 1 October to 31 December.
Under the new model, while new conscripts will still begin their service during the same two periods, military enlistment offices will be able to conduct medical examinations, psychological screenings and conscription commission meetings throughout the year.
The law also limits the validity of digital draft notices, introduced earlier this year, to 30 days. Previously, the notices remained valid indefinitely, meaning military enlistment offices could set appointments for new conscripts to report to them months in advance — during which they were forbidden to leave the country.
The initiative was authored by the head of the State Duma’s Defence Committee, Andrey Kartapolov, and his deputy, Andrey Krasov.
Kartapolov said the changes would streamline the work of conscription offices, which would now be able to work “calmly” year round without “storming and rushing every six months”, and mean that conscripts would no longer “anxiously await spring or summer”.
Human rights groups, however, have argued that the law merely codifies what has already become standard practice: authorities routinely summoning non-reservists to enlistment offices outside the official draft periods, citing the need to “clarify personal data” before sending them for medical examinations.
Alongside the conscription changes, Putin signed a second law on Tuesday authorising Russia’s Defence Ministry to use army reservists to guard key infrastructure sites, including oil refineries and other energy facilities, which have come under increasingly frequent attack by Ukrainian drones in recent months.
According to Vladimir Tsimlyansky, deputy head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s mobilisation department, the law will allow the ministry to assign the country’s most ”highly trained and patriotic citizens” to “protect civilian facilities deep within Russian territory”.
On Friday, Security Service of Ukraine head Vasyl Malyuk said Ukrainian forces had carried out some 160 successful strikes on Russian oil facilities so far this year, disabling around 37% of Moscow's total refining capacity.
