Russian conscripts attend a shooting training at a shooting range near Donetsk, Ukraine in October 2022. Russia’s legislature, on Tuesday, advanced the measure that would mean draftees could receive their mobilization orders electronically rather than on paper as they are delivered under the current system. File Photo by Alessandro Guerra/EPA-EFE
April 12 (UPI) — The Russian government is planning to create an online system to supplement its existing draft system.
The Duma, Russia’s legislature, on Tuesday, advanced the measure that would mean draftees could receive their mobilization orders electronically rather than on paper as they are delivered under the current system.
“This is about the need for us to streamline the system of keeping a record of, and calling up those who should serve in the military. Under the Constitution, our military calls up conscripts to serve. It’s a civil duty that’s enshrined in the constitution,” Kremlin Spokesmen Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
Under the new system, mobilization orders would be placed on the online state services portal that Russians use to apply for civil documents like passports.
It would also prevent men from leaving the country from the day their summons are received until they arrive at the military recruitment office and establish penalties including bans on driving, real estate transactions and receiving bank loans for those who fail to appear within 20 days of their notification.
The new online system is likely to make it significantly harder for conscripts to flee Russia or avoid service because their information could be uploaded into the unified system, rather than the current system which requires that papers be served in person or through their workplace.
In September, a partial military mobilization by the Russian government caused chaos, with hundreds of thousands of young men fleeing abroad and conscripts being deployed with insufficient equipment.
The Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, Andrey Kartapolov, said the changes were being implemented to avoid errors and denied it was a sign of an upcoming “second wave” of mobilization.
“The summons is considered received from the moment it is placed on the personal account of a person liable for military service,” Kartapolov said.
The new legislation is expected to be signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin.