Russian President Vladimir Putin has quietly signed a new decree that calls for a special two-month training regiment for all men in the military reserves. In February 2022, Putin signed a similar decree six days before the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
The current document, signed late Wednesday, does not say when the training camps will occur nor how many people will be called. But already, the move may reveal a lot about the state of Russia’s military capabilities.
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Reports say an estimated 147,000 more Russians have been called up for military service in 2023 than last year. However, there is no official accounting of how many of those called for duty are professional soldiers and how many are new volunteers.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that the participants of the two-month training would not participate in actual combat. But government critics believe that Putin has called for the new training rules precisely as a way to force more recruits and reserves to the frontline, as Russia has exhausted its stock of professional soldiers, volunteers, and even former prisoners — and is facing difficulties replenishing its troops.
Persuasion and coercion
Artem Faizulin, a Russian lawyer and human rights activist, told the Russian independent publication Agents.Media that citizens with limited ability to serve can also end up on the frontline following Putin’s new decree since the training camps do not fall under regular conscription.
According to Faizulin, one of the risks of participating in these training camps is that the legal status of citizens in the reserves may change: some will receive the officer rank, and those who did not serve will receive military specialization. And in that case, a person may be called into service at the age of 60, rather than 50 as is stipulated for those with a lower rank.
“A person is at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense for two months.”
It is thus now possible to send newly called up soldiers to the front directly from the training camps, without any civilian entity there to prevent it, says Dmitry Zakhvatov, another lawyer contesting the decree.
“A person is at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense for two months, and he can be persuaded or coerced to sign a contract at any moment during this time,” Fayzulin said.
According to the law, a fine for not attending the training camp is only the equivalent of . Lawyers and human rights activists are recommending to Russian citizens to avoid these training camps and military service at all costs. Still, there is a risk that the Kremlin may soon impose stricter penalties.
