Russia’s parliament has approved legislation to allow conscription papers to be served online.
Previously, men were called up to the army by serving papers in person or via an employer. Now, Russian MPs have approved legislation where this will be done via a well-used government portal.
The papers will be deemed served as soon as they appear on a special State Services portal named Goshlugi.
The government portal is already widely used by Russians to apply for new passports, pay bills and fines, or make GP appointments.
Those who fail to attend their local conscription office will be banned from leaving the country, be unable to buy or sell property, and have their driving licence invalidated.
Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian parliament’s defence committee said: “The summons is considered received from the moment it is placed in the personal account of a person liable for military service.”
The Kremlin has denied that the move is a second mobilisation of Russian men, or is an attempt to stop widespread draft-dodging.
President Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said: “This is simply to improve military records. The system has to match modern requirements.”
Last October, defence minister Sergei Shoigu announced a mobilisation plan to recruit 300,000 men to the army.
The plan to increase numbers comes as leaked intelligence from Washington stated that Russia has suffered between 189,500-223,000 casualties. Of that number, up to 43,000 are said to have been killed in action.
Washington has begun an investigation into the leak and doubted the validity around Ukrainian and Russia losses, although other documents detailed frontline positions and levels of ammunition.
