Electronic recruiting centers are not yet ready for military recruitment

The upcoming autumn conscription of conscripts into the armed forces will take place according to the same rules – with paper summons. Only for failure to appear using them, and not using electronic documents, will they be fined 30 thousand rubles. This was reported by the leadership of the State Duma Defense Committee. Earlier, the Ministry of Digital Development admitted that the unified register of military records, which includes digital summons, will be fully operational no earlier than 2025. A fine for failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office can be imposed only if the conscript is duly summoned, and according to the law now this means handing over the summons in person or by registered mail, the lawyer explains.

The head of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov said that the upcoming autumn conscription for military service in Russia will take place according to the usual rules. “The main document for appearing at the military registration and enlistment office will be a written summons,” he emphasized. The autumn conscription will last from October 1 to December 31. Citizens from 18 to 27 years old will be conscripted into the troops: their exact number will be determined by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation (not yet published). In fact, the only innovation in conscription will be an increased fine – from a maximum of 3 thousand to 30 thousand rubles – for failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office without a good reason. The corresponding amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation were adopted by the State Duma in July 2023 and come into force on October 1.

Mr. Kartapolov made it clear that conscripts who did not appear at the military registration and enlistment office on the traditional paper summons could be fined in a new way.

In April 2023, let us remind you, The State Duma adopted a law providing for the creation of a digital register of military records and an integrated register of summons sent to citizens. The document assumes that Russians will be notified of the need to appear at the military registration and enlistment office through the government services portal, limiting their ability to leave the country until they appear. Dodgers may also be prohibited from driving a car, entering into real estate transactions, receiving bank loans, and registering individual entrepreneurs. A draft dodger is a citizen who fails to appear at the military registration and enlistment office within 20 days from the date of receipt of the summons.

Meanwhile, on September 19, 2023, Deputy Minister of Digital Development Oleg Kachanov made it clear that the digital register of military records will be fully operational no earlier than 2025. Previously, the Russian government planned to commission it in 2024. The Ministry of Digital Development explained the protracted preparations by “strict requirements” for information security and the infrastructure being created, including communication channels. A Kommersant source familiar with the development of the project mentioned among the problems interaction with universities, which are reluctant and inconsistent in providing data on students, as well as the long state certification of the register and its components (see “Kommersant” dated September 20, 2023).

Mr. Kartapolov assured that the new rules on the military registration register will work “from the moment the register is created.”

“We have regions where all the infrastructure has been created. But there are regions where it is impossible to launch the system now,” the deputy complained, emphasizing that it is impossible to launch the work of a single register for the country in some subjects. However, Mr. Kartapolov promised that in regions with advanced digital readiness, conscripts “may receive electronic summonses.” But, the deputy assured, during the autumn conscription they will only duplicate traditional paper documents.

Lawyer Alexander Peredruk reminds that, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, liability for failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office without a good reason “can only occur if the citizen is properly notified with a summons.” According to him, Art. 8.2 and 8.3 of the federal law “On Military Duty and Military Service” provide for the distribution of summons using the military registration register, and in electronic form “in the manner and methods” established by the government of the Russian Federation. But these norms, Mr. Peredruk emphasizes, have not yet been approved.

In May 2023, we note that the Russian government published a draft resolution on the introduction of a digital military register in the Russian Federation (its database was supposed to store 25 fields with information about a citizen’s passport data, TIN, telephone number, information about studies and work, criminal records and health status ). However, this project was never approved.

In July 2023, the White House issued Resolution No. 1200, amending the draft regulations, approving a new form of summons from the military registration and enlistment office and the possibility of duplicating such paper documents with electronic ones (with mailing to your personal account on the government services portal). But this resolution describes only a possible method of notifying citizens, and not its procedure, explains Mr. Peredruk. According to the law, summonses “must be sent in writing and duplicated in electronic form,” he is sure: “At the moment, there are two ways to properly summon conscripts – a summons in person or a registered letter. Failure to appear without valid reasons specifically for such summonses served constitutes an offense.”

Alexander Voronov