Conscription into the Russian army in 2022 - dates, beginning and end, who will be drafted

Every year, the next batch of recruits aged 18-27 years is recruited, capable of replenishing the lists of the mobilization reserve of the Russian Federation. Young people awaiting the draft in 2022 are wondering when conscription into the army begins and whether they should expect changes in the current legislation.

Information about the possible abolition of military service, often discussed in the media, causes a lot of rumors, especially among citizens who do not want to spend time studying military disciplines.

It is worth understanding all the nuances in order to know exactly how recruitment events will take place and who they will affect.

When will the military conscription take place in 2021?

Despite numerous speculations about innovations, conscription into the army will take place twice a year, according to the standard scheme previously in force:

• the spring conscription also begins on April 1, and ends in the summer on July 15;
• The fall conscription period will begin on October 1 and end on December 31.

No changes are expected in the dates of standard events in the near future.

Young men of military age who have received summonses are required to report promptly to the local military registration and enlistment office and undergo a medical examination, as a result of which a decision will be made: the guy will go to serve, receive a deferment, or will be completely exempted from military duty.

Read more about how the medical examination at the military registration and enlistment office is completed here.

When assigning a fitness category, doctors rely on the “Schedule of Diseases,” which includes a complete list of pathologies and their compatibility with upcoming tests.

The established draft numbers apply to all potential fighters who have not been found to have serious health problems and there are no valid reasons for a deferment.

Young people who want to find the best option to “cut out” often try to use the opportunity to avoid service or postpone military conscription for a while, documenting the presence of health problems.

Read about which illnesses prevent you from being drafted into the army on our website.

Certain categories of potential defenders can count on certain benefits.

Can military service be canceled?

Legislators do not plan to abandon conscription of conscripts for military service in the near future. There are several reasons for this:

1. Maintaining a fully professional army will cost the state many times more than the cost of maintaining and training conscripts.
2. It will also be impossible to find a number comparable to the number of conscripts who want to continue serving under a contract. As a result, Russia's armed forces, already inferior in numbers to a potential enemy, will be reduced even further.
3. Contract workers will not agree to do the unskilled work that conscripts have to do.
4. Conscripts are a kind of reserve for replenishing the number of contract soldiers.

Exceptions to the rules for future fighters

Spring and autumn draft commissions begin work according to a strictly regulated schedule.

The law clearly defines the period when conscription begins in Russia, but some young men are given the opportunity to deviate from the general rules:

1. Young teachers of military age, who are suitable for service in all respects, are sent to the troops only from May 1. In the fall, young men working in the field of education should not be afraid of receiving a summons on the established dates of conscription, calmly planning examinations for students.
2. For guys living in rural areas, officially employed, involved in agricultural work: harvesting, sowing events, only autumn conscription dates apply. In the spring, village workers who can provide supporting documents are not called upon to perform military duty.
3. Residents of the Far North, or those with registration in areas equivalent to it, will go to serve in the spring from May 1, in the fall from November 1, a month later than other recruits.

Despite the fact that the beginning of conscription for the listed categories differs from generally accepted rules, the terms of service, and the procedure for conducting standard events remain the same.

Is there a winter or summer conscription?

Young men often get confused and argue among themselves, finding out what types of conscription there are in general, believing that there are both summer and winter conscription. It must be said that they are right and wrong at the same time: officially, summer and winter conscription do not exist as such. However, as stated above, in the spring they are drafted until July 15, that is, the whole half of the summer, although the draft is formally called spring, so it would be more correct to call it spring-summer. The situation is the same with the autumn conscription: it continues until December 31, thus “creeping” into the first month of winter. But, if formalities are observed, then it can be argued that conscription occurs only in spring and autumn.

Procedure for joining the service

Young men who have turned 16 must register with the military and receive an important document called a registration certificate. The age when boys are drafted into the army is only 18 years old. It is then that the young man will be given a summons indicating the time to appear at the commissariat.

Many do not know that hiding from the military registration and enlistment office is pointless and fraught with dire consequences.

Draft evaders face administrative, and in special cases, criminal liability for evasion, so it is necessary to take seriously the fulfillment of their obligations when the next call comes, so as not to risk the future.

Recruits will undergo a medical examination and be assigned a fitness category designated by a letter.

A specially created medical commission conducts a survey, examination, and studies the documentation submitted by the conscript. If a previously established diagnosis, incompatible with the army, raises doubts among doctors, the guy is sent for additional examination.

When going to the military registration and enlistment office, it is better to prepare certificates, photographs, diagnostic results, extracts and other evidence of existing pathologies before the start of army conscription.

The final stage is a meeting of the draft commission, where a verdict is made based on the assigned category, considering various circumstances that could affect the immediate future of a particular conscript.

Read more about how the draft commission functions at the military registration and enlistment office on our website.

Conscription events

The conscription begins after the President of the Russian Federation signs the corresponding order. This is done on the eve of the start of the conscription campaign: March 30 and September 30.

After this, military commissariats throughout the country begin sending out summonses to conscripts. Conscripts are persons of conscription age (from 18 to 27 years old) who do not have a deferment or exemption from the army, and are not included in the military reserve (that is, they have not yet completed military service, contract service, or have not been exempted from it for health reasons with receipt of fitness category “B”).

The summons must be delivered in person and against signature. The law does not provide for other options for notification of the need to appear at the military registration and enlistment office and failure to appear will not entail any liability. Moreover, only authorized persons have the right to serve a summons: employees of the military commissariat, employees of the military registration desk in an educational institution, persons responsible for military registration in organizations. After delivery, the conscript must sign the tear-off counterfoil of the summons; it will be handed over to the military registration and enlistment office as evidence that the young man has been notified of the need to appear at conscription events.

Next, the young man will need to come to the military registration and enlistment office and undergo a medical examination by a number of medical specialists, and then appear at a meeting of the draft commission. The following doctors usually examine each conscript:

1. Therapist;
2. Oculist;
3. Dentist;
4. Surgeon;
5. Neuropathologist;
6. ENT;
7. Psychiatrist.

If it is not possible to establish the presence of any disease on the spot, the conscript is sent for additional examination to a specialized medical institution. And based on its results, they determine whether a young man is fit for the army or not.

The purpose of the medical commission is to award each conscript a fitness category that determines whether he is suitable for military service or not. So, there are the following categories:

• A – suitable without restrictions;
• B – fit with minor restrictions, the young man will be sent to those troops where a minimum load is provided;
• B – fit with restrictions. With this category of fitness, they are not accepted for military service in the army, but are transferred to the reserve. What does this status entail? The reservist will be called up from time to time for military training, and he will also be mobilized to defend the Motherland during the war;
• G – temporary delay. Issued for treatment in the presence of ailments that can potentially be eliminated in six months or a year. If health does not improve, the conscript will be declared unfit for service and will be written off from the military register;
• D – unfit for military service, excluded from military registration and will not be drafted into the army under any circumstances.

Based on the assigned fitness category, the draft commission makes a final verdict on each conscript: whether he will join the army or not. A deferment for study may also be granted for family reasons, due to service in government agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, Ministry of Emergency Situations), if there is a deputy mandate.

If a conscript passes due to health reasons and has no grounds for deferment or release from the army, then he already receives a summons to be sent to the troops. You will need to appear at the place and time indicated in it at the military registration and enlistment office distribution point. After this, the young man will be given a uniform, an army travel bag, a SIM card with a social tariff and a bank debit card. Next, the young man will need to be selected by “merchants”, commanders of military units who come to recruit suitable candidates. Then go directly to the place of service.

Innovations in conscription awaiting recruits in 2022

Having heard about the upcoming changes regarding conscription into the army in Russia, many young men and their parents cannot understand what to believe and what to consider as another “duck.”

Proposals about the need to increase the terms of military service have indeed been repeatedly received from officials, but no innovations should be expected in the near future.

Soldiers will also spend exactly one year in the army. Practice has shown the effectiveness of the previously introduced deadline: soldiers have time to complete the training program, mastering the basics of military science and becoming familiar with basic skills. The significantly reduced number of draft dodgers was the main reason for leaving the 12 months of testing unchanged.

The dates and period of military conscription, the rules for serving summonses, also remained the same.

The young man must receive the summons form to the military registration and enlistment office exclusively in person by signing it. Otherwise, for example, when transferred through third parties or sent by mail, the responsibility for failure to appear is removed from the young man.

The planned transition to a contract army requires quite a lot of time and financial investments, so there is no hope for the abolition of military service in the foreseeable future.

Photo - the draft commission decides whether a conscript will serve

Duration of military service

Lately, some conscripts and their relatives have been concerned about the question of whether the conscription period will change? It seems that they are going to increase it to one and a half or two years.

While some military officials do believe that service life should be extended to improve the quality of training for conscripts, Defense Department officials as well as Duma lawmakers argue that this will not happen in 2022.

In accordance with Art. 38 of Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998, the service life for conscripts in 2022 remains the same and is 12 months. In this case, the recruit’s level of education (secondary or higher) does not matter. The type of military force also does not matter. A conscript will serve at the same time in both the ground forces, the aviation, and the navy.

At the end of this period, military personnel can be demobilized or enter into a 3-year contract and continue to master the military profession.

Who is not at risk of being drafted into the army in Russia?

Every citizen is obliged to serve the required term within the established age; however, the law identifies certain groups of young men who can forget about conscription:

• law enforcement officers;
• young people with an outstanding criminal record who are under investigation;
• conscript students undergoing full-time studies with an academic degree, graduate students;
• fathers with two (or more) children who are in a formal marriage, or raising children without the participation of the mother;
• young men who have drawn up documents for the guardianship of relatives who need the help of a potential conscript.
• boys whose fathers or brothers were killed/injured while performing military duty;
• having medical contraindications for unhindered military service.

Some are entitled to a deferment due to various life circumstances: caring for relatives, the presence of a disabled child under 3 years of age in the conscript’s family, the pregnancy of the official spouse for a long period of time and other reasons that allow the date of departure to the unit to be postponed.

Read here about who will receive a deferment from conscription into the army.

The main condition is the presence of a package of documents that need to be collected before the conscription begins, confirming the grounds for avoiding service or applying for a deferment.

Only compliance with all bureaucratic nuances can guarantee the right to full release or a temporary deferment.

Call for alternative service

Current legislation provides for an alternative option for serving, which some young men may fall under:

• having religious, moral convictions, various life principles that do not allow them to take up arms on an equal basis with everyone else, or to obey strict army laws;
• guys belonging to small nations, engaged in fishing, leading a certain way of life, according to traditions.

The enlistment dates for these categories correspond to the enlistment dates for regular recruits.

If young people living in isolated territories can easily defend their right to AGS, then pacifists will have to prove the impossibility of joining the army on a general basis.

Some in vain consider alternative service as the best way to “deviate”, risking being blacklisted as “deviators”. The military registration and enlistment office treats those who want to replace the army with ACS with ambiguity, considering each case especially carefully.

It is also necessary to remember that in this case you will have to abandon the usual conditions not for a year, like ordinary conscripts, but for 21 months, observing the existing rules.

How to Avoid Conscription

There are many young men who want to escape in any way from the upcoming year of life in the barracks, special nutrition, numerous difficulties, tests of strength. Often, together with their relatives, young people, starting to look for dubious methods, at best, lose money without getting the desired result, and at worst, spoil their reputation and future.

It makes no sense to trust scammers who promise to buy military equipment, hide from the military registration and enlistment office, try to hand over a bribe, or pretend.

It is safer to turn to specialists who know all the intricacies in this area.