Online draft notices and closed borders: Russia turns citizens into military 'serfs'

KYIV -- Russian authorities have begun testing electronic draft notices after they tightened military conscription laws in an apparent attempt to pave the way for future mobilisations.

The Russian army is in dire need of more men after staggering losses in its invasion of Ukraine.

St. Petersburg authorities started sending out the electronic notices in test mode as part of the spring conscription in Russia, Ukrainska Pravda reported Thursday (April 20).

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on April 14 signed into law a bill enabling draft notices to be served online.

Hand-delivered draft notifications previously were the only legal way to summon conscripts under Russia's draft for men ages 18 to 27.

Under the new law, however, the Russian government now considers an individual legally summoned if a message has been sent to his account on Gosuslugi, the state public service website.

The law calls for the creation of an electronic registry of the personal data of those required to serve, which will contain a publicly available list of those who have been summoned.

The April 11 vote by the Russian Duma on the new amendments was unanimous but rushed, observers noted.

The majority of MPs saw the content of the law only immediately before the vote, said Eduard Bagirov, a Kyiv-based human rights activist and head of the International League for the Protection of the Rights of Citizens of Ukraine.

"Ninety percent of the deputies to the State Duma received this set of amendments two hours before the vote, but it's something they should spend at least two or three months reviewing," he told Caravanserai.

"This is an unprecedented bill in Russia's legislative branch because it wasn't reviewed, studied or ratified. Rather, it was released from above, like snow falling on your head."

Closing loopholes

The changes apply to numerous federal laws and create a new military draft system in Russia that grossly violates human rights, Bagirov said.

"From a human rights perspective, this is essentially turning Russia back into a serf state. It's a return to the foundations that operated in Russia until the end of the 19th century ... now Russians are becoming serfs of the Russian Ministry of Defence," he said.

"In the past you could evade mobilisation if you didn't physically take the draft notice from the draft bureau officer and sign it. Now this loophole is closing," Vladislav Seleznev, a military correspondent and former spokesman of the Ukrainian military General Staff, told Caravanserai.

As of last year, almost 100 million Russians -- virtually the country's entire adult population -- were registered in this portal.

"This creates conditions in which Russians will not have a way to avoid mobilisation ... They are being forced to kneel to the Russian military system -- and, to be blunt, to go to the front as cannon fodder," Seleznev said.

The new tactic is aimed at those living in Russia's large cities whom draft officers have avoided to prevent potential protests, say analysts.

"They're going to try to reach as many men as possible who use smartphones. This is a savvy, young population, especially in the big cities," Ivan Stupak, an analyst at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future and former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), told Caravanserai.

'Expendable'

Potential penalties for those who do not respond to electronic summonses include bans on driving, registering a company, employing oneself, obtaining credit or loans, buying or selling property or obtaining social benefits.

The new law also bars those who have been served from leaving the country until they report to the draft bureau.

"Men who don't report to the draft bureau will be threatened with prosecution. Then men who just flat-out don't want to go fight will be strong-armed as much as possible and threatened with jail time," Stupak said.

"There's no one left in Russia who's willing to go to war. Men don't even want to go for money. The supply of convicts is running out, and the supply of soldiers is running out, so the government has decided to send men forcibly," he said.

In Russia, conscripts are not supposed to be deployed to combat zones, including Ukraine. However, those completing their compulsory military service have come under pressure from superiors to sign contracts making them eligible for deployment to the front.

Western estimates of the number of Russian troops killed or wounded are approaching 200,000.

"For Putin and his generals, people are expendable," said Seleznev, the military analyst.