Russia is preparing to recruit citizens for the war with a faster, more accurate system that will prevent them from leaving the country as soon as the notification is issued.
The plan is designed so that the ‘mobilized’ not only cannot escape to another country, but also cannot live in an ‘internal exile’. After receiving the summons, they must appear at the nearest military enlistment office at the appointed time. Otherwise, after 20 days the “evaders” will be prohibited from driving vehicles, selling and buying real estate, as well as managing loans and other procedures.
The bill targets conscription for military service and “other types” of conscription. The Russian police will be able to search for those who evade military service and arrest them.
For some Russians it is a reissue of order 227 issued by Stalin in 1942 that popularized the phrase ‘ni shagu nazad!’, “not one step back”. This time blowing down the neck of the mobilized there are no punishment battalions targeting them if they turn around, but all the ‘big data’ of the Russian administration.
In addition to the dreaded letters traditionally distributed in mailboxes, the authorities will recruit men for the army by sending them the summons in electronic format through the ‘online’ portal of public services in Russia, which the Russians use for all kinds of procedures.
The bill was debated this Tuesday and its objective is to facilitate the mobilization and make it difficult for those indicated to flee. Once an electronic summons is received, citizens who fail to report to the military enlistment office will automatically be prohibited from traveling abroad. The database is connected to the border posts, which will stop anyone who has been called up even if they do not open the mailbox at home or turn on the computer. Electronic citations will have the same effect as those sent by certified mail to the address and notifications through the employer.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied that he is planning a “second wave” of mobilization. But, meanwhile, the Government has dedicated itself precisely to sharpening the system. In fact, the Government would not need to decree a second mobilization because it did not issue a decree canceling the October ‘cam’.
Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov denied that a new wave of mobilization was being considered, adding that the Kremlin “is not discussing it.” And he predicted that the Russians will not panic and flee the country over the new project. With last year’s mobilization, the price of plane tickets skyrocketed to several thousand euros in a matter of hours. After that chaotic process, which called some 300,000 to the front, Russia has been working for months to reorganize its recruitment process for soldiers in the army by digitizing its military records and crossing databases.
Last year, with the war already underway, many Russians avoided going to the recruiting offices simply by being absent from home or not opening the mailbox. Now it will be different. “The summons is considered received from the moment it appears in the personal account” of the public services portal, said Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian parliament’s defense committee.
There will be no escape. The data of persons subject to military service will be transmitted, among others, by the Federal Tax Service, security forces, courts, medical centers, the Central Election Commission, various national and local authorities, as well as educational institutions. Those who do not show up after 20 days will not be able to operate as self-employed workers, nor manage real estate, nor drive a car, nor take loans or receive scholarships or aid.
The information will flow in both directions: all the databases will know who has not responded to the army’s call, but the army will also know the situation of everyone who may be on their lists: address, activity or state of health. The amendments provide for the creation of a register of persons subject to military service. The data will be transferred by many departments. Among these data is information about medical history and education, place of residence and work, whether they have foreign citizenship or a residence permit in another country.
Like all matters relating to the invasion of Ukraine, there was hardly any discussion allowed. At first, two Communist Party deputies spoke out against approving the initiative so hastily, since not everyone had had time to familiarize themselves with the 60-page document. Given this, the president of the State Duma Viachislav Volodin, very close to Vladimir Putin, asked them: “Why did you become deputies? To sabotage decisions?” Finally the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, unanimously approved the bill on third reading. Now the legal text must be approved by the Federation Council (the Russian Senate) and signed by the president.
Writer Dimitri Glukhovsky summed up the situation without sparing drama: “This is a law on the state’s right to sentence anyone with an email to death with no right to appeal and no chance to escape, it’s spam terror. If they can, leave now.”
According to the criteria of The Trust Project