The new digital collection system automatically adds the names of citizens to the government database after the draft notification is issued. According to the independent website Baza, as soon as an entry appears in the digital register, the person is banned from crossing the borders of Russia.
The notification is sent through Gosuslugi, a Russian government services portal, often early in the morning, a the only way to remove the restriction is to visit the military recruitment office in person.
Those who do not report within 27 days will be officially recognized as draft dodgers. Under the new rules, they lose the right to drive vehicles, register a business, take out loans or conduct real estate transactions.
Caught in the draft trap. Russian authorities are misleading citizens
Electronic notifications are distributed as Russia begins its fall recruitment campaign, which runs from October 1 to December 31. The Russian Ministry of Defense plans to appoint 135,000. men aged 18 to 30, co making this collection the largest since 2016. Initially, officials claimed that the system would only work in Moscow, the Mari El Republic and the Ryazan and Sakhalin oblasts.
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However, the “School of Conscripts” group reports that calls are already being sent in at least 15 additional circuits, including Tver, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk and several others in central and eastern Russia.
Civil rights activists warn that some of the electronic notifications are misleading. “People are called ostensibly to verify their personal details, but in fact, they are immediately conscripted into the army” – emphasizes Timofei Vaskin, a lawyer from the Conscript School. “This practice is especially common in Moscow.”
The digital conscription system was ordered by President Vladimir Putin after the 2022 mobilization that triggered a mass exodus of Russians. Putin later signed a law equalizing electronic summonses with traditional paper summonses and introduced harsh penalties for anyone trying to avoid military service.
The latest program fully enforces these measures, effectively closing Russia's borders to tens of thousands of men eligible for conscription.
Military conscription system. “It would be painful for Russia, but it is realistic.”
Russia conducts military conscription twice a year, in spring and fall, requiring eligible men to complete a year of military service. While conscripts are not usually sent into active combat, Moscow has relied on financial incentives, pardons and other means to recruit civilians for its war in Ukraine.
According to The Moscow Times, the unpopular mobilization in September 2022 prompted up to a million Russians to flee the country. Putin has since avoided another large-scale draft.
A poster advertising conscription. Moscow, July 21, 2025EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV / PAP
Recent reports from the Ukrainian Center of National Resistance suggest that Russia plans to increase mobilization in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territorieskeeping an eye on conscripts and even prisoners.
The Counter-Disinformation Center also warned that “gamer units”, reportedly trained to operate drones more quickly, they may be part of a broader, covert mobilization effort.
In September, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), suggested that Russia might carry out a new mobilization that would pose a “serious threat” to Kiev.
— Could the Russian Federation mobilize? Yes. Could this, unfortunately, pose a serious threat? Yes. This would be painful for Russia, but it is realistic. And this threat, unfortunately, exists Budanow said.
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