Russian digital development minister says registry of draft-eligible citizens won’t be launched before annual fall conscription

Russia is unlikely to launch its unified digital registry of citizens eligible for military service before the start of the country’s annual fall conscription campaign, the state news outlet RIA Novosti said on Wednesday, citing Digital Development Minister Maxut Shadayev.

On Tuesday, Russia’s State Duma passed a set of amendments containing a range of measures that aim to crack down on draft evasion, including by making it illegal to ignore electronic draft summonses and imposing numerous restrictions on citizens who fail to report to a conscription office after being called up. A new unified registry created by the legislation will include information about draft-eligible Russians from the Federal Tax Service, medical institutions, the Federal Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund, the Central Election Commission, high education institutions, and other agencies.