July 28, 2025

The "Eternal" Draft is Coming


The "Eternal" Draft is Coming
Soldier putting a helmet on another soldier. Russian Life file.

On July 22, the Russian State Duma received a proposed bill to hold conscription year-round, rather than exclusively during the fall and spring. Experts warned Novaya Gazeta that enlistment raids will drastically increase if this "law of eternal conscription" is passed, which would funnel more men towards Russia's ongoing War on Ukraine.

Currently, the draft is a multi-step process. Draftees receive a summons to register at a military enlistment office and undergo a medical examination. Within one day, the draft board determines whether to conscript the candidate. If selected, the draftee must report to the military enlistment office on a specific date, where they will be taken to an assembly point and receive their status as a serviceman.

According to President Vladimir Putin's decrees, summons occur twice per year: in the spring from April 1 to July 15, and in the fall from October 1 to December 31. The Russian army is also known to resort to raids to fill its ranks.

Just as the Duma was about to go on summer recess, Defense Committee Head Andrey Kartapolov and his deputy, Andrey Krasov, submitted a bill to draft young men year-round, allowing medical and psychological evaluations and meetings of the conscription commission to occur at any point in the year. According to the bill's authors, its goal is for offices of military registration to run more efficiently.

Said Kartapolov, "[The conscripts] will not wait in dread for the spring or summer. They will work calmly [during] the year." According to the bill, the only civilians who will have seasonal drafts are residents of the Far North, agricultural workers in rural areas, and teachers.

Kartapolov is notorious for his efforts to ramp up conscriptions. The Duma legislator authored bills for electronic military draft notices, the abolition of the maximum age for conscription, and punishment for "discrediting" volunteers and Wagner Group fighters.

Novaya Gazeta spoke with Sergey Krivenko, director of the human rights group Grazhdanin. Armya. Pravo. ("Citizen. Army. Law.") He pointed out that Russian authorities need the law because conscriptions "could quite increase" in 2026. Krivenko pointed out that military offices have repeatedly violated the law, summoning citizens during the "off-season."

Legitimizing illegal conscription practices isn't the law's only objective. Krivenko said h fears this law will lead to the terms of recruitment being cancelled altogether. Therefore, a Russian citizen can receive an electronic summons notice at any moment, and they will be blocked from leaving the country for a year.

Ivan Chuvilyaev, representative of an organization for those looking to avoid the draft, Idite Lesom (Go to the Forest), said, "We are all accustomed to the fact that in the fall and spring we need to be careful and vigilant because we can get caught in a raid. The main danger is that these raids can become year-round, like all conscription activities."

Chuvilyaev also said the law does not stipulate how the year-round draft will be implemented and how it will handle cases of medical exemptions. The biggest threat, he said, is that candidates will "sign a [military] contract immediately after passing a medical examination and [having a] meeting with the draft board."

The law will be reviewed in September once the Duma is back in session. If passed, it is expected to come into effect in 2026.

You Might Also Like

War Memorials, Harsh Justice
  • July 24, 2025

War Memorials, Harsh Justice

Russia is increasingly using its “rehabilitation of Nazism” law to punish for minor acts near war memorials.
The Chkalov Flight: Almost Lost to Time
  • July 13, 2025

The Chkalov Flight: Almost Lost to Time

An easily-overlooked monument and museum outside Portland, Oregon, marks the site where three Soviet aviators completed the world's first transpolar flight.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955