Russia Adopts Law Introducing Year-Round Military Conscription

The State Duma has passed in its third reading a bill that introduces year-round conscription for mandatory military service in Russia. Previously, the draft was conducted twice a year—from April 1 to July 15, and from October 1 to December 31.

According to the Duma’s statement, “The conscription of citizens not in reserve for military service will be carried out on the basis of a presidential decree throughout the entire calendar year—from January 1 to December 31.”

Presidential Decrees to Regulate Deployment

Despite the year-round framework, the actual deployment of recruits will still occur twice a year—during the traditional spring and autumn periods—under presidential decrees. The law also specifies that certain categories of citizens will have different timelines for reporting to their service locations.

New Deadlines and Electronic Summons

The law sets a 30-day maximum deadline for reporting to the military commissariat after a summons is posted in the Unified Register of Military Notices. This measure aims to formalize and streamline the notification process under the new electronic system introduced earlier this year.

Rationale Behind the Reform

The bill was authored by Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, and his first deputy, Andrei Krasov. They argued that the continuous conscription model would help evenly distribute workloads across recruitment offices and enhance the overall quality of the draft process.

Largest Autumn Draft in Nine Years

Russia’s autumn conscription campaign began on October 1, calling up men aged 18 to 30. According to a presidential decree, 135,000 people will be drafted this season—the highest figure in nine years. The last larger autumn draft was in 2016, with 152,000 recruits. The current campaign also features the use of electronic summonses and the Unified Military Register for the first time.