Some Russian notaries won’t certify powers of attorney for draft-age men seeking representation at enlistment offices unless the men prove they have no pending summonses, rights groups say
The rights groups School for Conscripts and the Movement of Conscientious Objectors say they have received reports from Moscow and the Samara region of notaries refusing to issue powers of attorney that would authorize others to represent conscripts at military enlistment offices and draft boards.
In Moscow, a notary refused to certify a power of attorney because the applicant was of draft age and had not served in the military. The applicant’s friend said the notary demanded that the applicant log in to the summons register and show that he had not been issued any summonses.
The mother of an 18-year-old conscript in Samara said she had approached several notaries: “They all insist I get a record from the summons register through Gosuslugi [Russia’s online government services portal]. They say that’s how it is across Samara, but they don’t cite any law.” The Federal Notary Chamber’s hotline told her the chamber had issued no such instructions and advised her to contact the regional chamber.
She said that even with the record, the notaries refused to include provisions in the power of attorney allowing a representative to handle her son’s removal from the military register or act on his behalf during his military medical evaluation.
Another conscript from the Samara region said three of the four notaries he approached asked for a record from the military registry. The fourth agreed to notarize a power of attorney for submitting applications to the military enlistment office, but not for seeking his removal from the military registry.
Notaries have no authority to require people to provide records from the military registry or the summons register as a condition of notarizing a power of attorney, the rights groups said.
The unified military registry and the summons register both became fully operational in May 2025. The military registry contains information on people liable for military service and can be accessed only by government agencies and the individuals themselves. The summons register lists issued summonses, which require recipients to report to a military enlistment office.
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