Russian Defense Ministry prepares legislation allowing draftees to volunteer for peacekeeping missions

The Russian Defense Ministry has drafted a bill that would make more Russian soldiers eligible to voluntarily participate in peacekeeping missions, including by allowing draftees to serve as peacekeepers, according to RBC.

Under current legislation, only soldiers who are serving under contract and have undergone special training can volunteer to become peacekeepers. The Defense Ministry’s new bill would change the language to make all “military personnel who have undergone preliminary special training” eligible to volunteer for the missions.

Sources from the Russian State Duma reportedly told RBC that the Defense Ministry began working on the legislation more than a year ago, and that it will make it easier to rotate troops in and out of peacekeeping operations. The bill’s authors have proposed applying it retroactively, making the new policy effective starting in August 2022.

Russia is currently officially involved in two peacekeeping missions. One is in Transnistria, where Russian troops have been stationed since 1992, and the other is in Nagorno-Karabakh, where they’ve been since 2020.