Russia has tightened its conscription law before a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks, including introducing electronic military draft papers.
The lower and upper houses of parliament rushed through legislation that will make it significantly harder for Russians to dodge the draft while automatically banning registered conscripts from leaving the country.
The changes were pushed through with little public debate, fuelling speculation that Russia plans to announce a second wave of mobilisation, something the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the changes were intended to improve the military registration system and “have nothing to do with mobilisation”.
“When the special military operation began, you and I saw that in some places we had a lot of mess in the military recruitment offices,” Peskov told journalists on Wednesday. “That is exactly the purpose of this legislative initiative: to clear up this mess and to make it [the system] modern, effective and convenient for citizens.”
In September last year, Russia’s first mobilisation since the second world war caused unparalleled chaos and anger across the country. More than 300,000 men were conscripted to fight in Ukraine, while an even larger number are believed to have fled Russia.
Under the new legislation, call-up papers will be deemed to be served as soon as they appear on Gosuslugi, a government portal widely used by Russians to pay bills, and will be considered officially received by a prospective draftee after one week, whether or not it has actually been received.
Men who fail to show up at the draft office will be banned from travelling abroad, their driving licences will be invalidated and they will be unable to register small businesses.
Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma defence committee, said these penalties could also apply to the thousands of men who were already outside the country.
The changes will apply to regular conscriptions of men aged 18 to 27, which occurs every six months, as well as in the event of a larger one-off mobilisation.
The Gosuslugi web portal was initially introduced as part of the country’s modernising campaign and is also used for activities such as applying for a new passport or a marriage licence.
Alexei Venediktov, the influential former editor-in-chief of the Echo of Moscow radio station, said the latest draft changes amounted to “the introduction of martial law without the formal introduction of martial law”.
Helpdesk, a website that offers advice and assistance to Russian men trying to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine, wrote on Tuesday: “If you are in Russia and can be drafted, you are in danger!”
The draft changes are widely seen as an effort by Moscow to boost its military’s long-term prospects and replenish its depleted army. Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, earlier proposed increasing the armed forces from 1.15 million combat personnel to 1.5 million.
Western officials estimate that as many as 220,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the fighting so far, while leaked US intelligence documents suggested that 43,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and as many as 180,000 wounded.
