A new law is about to make it harder for Russians to dodge the draft

When Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law to overhaul the country’s conscription system, it will be harder for Russia not to be called up for military service, and at least some people have fled the country far away again.

Putin is expected to sign the bill, which was quickly passed by Russia’s upper and lower parliaments this week, into law.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 14th month, the move will create a system where conscription and draft notices will be sent electronically through a widely used government service portal instead of being delivered by hand.

Even if the recipient does not open the summons, the government will consider it accepted.

Those who fail to enter the military office will be barred from leaving the country and face restrictions in Russia, including not being able to register vehicles, small businesses or buy and sell real estate.

“I know very well that it is impossible [to return] in the future, until the war ends,” said Max Nikolsky, who went to Turkey on holiday a few hours before Russia announced a partial mobilization again on September 22, 2022.

“This is something that scares me. I can’t go back. It’s too dangerous.”

Dodging draft notices

Nikolsky says the fear of starting over in a new country is less than the fear of war, so he is The 10-day vacation was extended in Istanbul, where he managed to secure a Turkish residency permit.

In November, he discovered that a draft notice had been sent to his office in Moscow, where he worked in the media.

He was forced to retreat, because he did not want to return to Russia. He also didn’t want to get his company in trouble for using a draft dodger.

Prior to the new law, enlistment notices had been sent personally to those who were commissioned through the country’s bi-annual military call, along with those mobilized to fight in Ukraine.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said officials wanted to move to a conscription system to make it more modern and “pleasant to citizens,” and to clean up the “mess” in some military recruitment offices.

During the initial call in the fall – where the government announced plans to deploy 300,000 soldiers – there were report of people who are not eligible for planning, including those with medical conditions. An estimated hundreds of thousands fled the country at the time, crossing the land border into Kazakhstan and Georgia.

Nikolsky made it a few hours before the rush, and said the Russians were using government service portals to send the news.

He said that he thinks that Russia’s Gosuslugi, a digital portal where citizens can access several state and municipal services in one place, is an innovative Russian technology that makes life easier and more comfortable.

Now, he says the idea has been brought to life.

“It looks like a digital gulag or something,” he told CBC News in Istanbul earlier this week.

Strengthen the military

While Nikolsky is upset that the law won’t allow him to return and visit his family, he says his male friends who remain in Moscow are panicking. He said he had no idea that the government would “exploit” this new law and expand the men to trap them in Russia.

Officials have repeatedly denied claims that the country is on the brink of another mass mobilization, but in December, Russia’s defense minister said the country was looking to expand further. 350,000 people are fightingl to the military.

Russia is also moving to change conscription age when people are eligible to be called up in the spring and autumn draft. The current age range is between 18 and 27, and will be extended so that men between the ages of 21 and 30 can be required.

Previously, men who wanted to avoid the draft could try and stay off the radar of military officers by living at an unknown address. But if the electronic draft is implemented, it is useless.

According to the new law, if people ignore the draft notice, they will have it frozen assets and banned from leaving the country.

Preparation for a new mobilization?

Alexey Tabalov, a lawyer who runs the School of Conscripts, an organization that helps Russian draftees understand their rights, said there are still ways to appeal the draft, but people should prepare a plan now.

Tabalov, who spoke to the CBC from an undisclosed location in Europe, said men should think about whether they can get a medical exemption or whether they can request an alternative assignment in a civilian role.

He said that if this is not successful, and people cannot live under the new restrictions, the last option is to turn off the country’s radar, or “hiding” in Russia’s vast taiga (boreal) forests, as he put it. He said another extreme option would be abroad.

In Russian cities, billboards and information campaigns are trying to persuade people to sign up, promising those assigned to Ukraine a monthly salary equal to $3,500 Cdn, which is three times the average Russian salary.

Simon Sablin, 27, is another expat who says the new law will prevent him from leaving Russia. Also now in Istanbul, Sablin left Russia when the war started, but his mother and sister still live in Moscow.

He said that although he had documents stating that he should be released from military service due to his health, he did not believe that he would not be sent to the front.

“I think they are preparing themselves for something new [mobilization] wave,” he said.

“As soon as I set foot in the country, I may be notified to appear in the military, and I will not have the opportunity to leave the country.”