Ads appear in the Moscow metro promising ‘alternative service’ with no front-line deployment. Recruits still sign standard military contracts.
Advertisements for “alternative civilian service” have begun appearing near Moscow metro stations, the independent Russian news outlet Vot Tak reported, citing a reader who spotted the signs.
The human rights project Get Lost had already reported on August 17 that stands advertising alternative service appeared in the Moscow metro.
Vot Tak published a photo of the advertisement, which describes the service as including a one-time payment of 2.3 million rubles, a 5/2 work schedule, benefits, and exemption from mandatory conscription, and rules out deployment to a combat zone. The position is based in Naro-Fominsk, in the Moscow region.
The advertisements seek communications specialists, telecommunications engineers, IT specialists, and drivers. The organization Zashchitnik.rf placed the stands and ads in the metro; according to Vot Tak, it has actively promoted its services on social media since December 2024, acting as an intermediary for people signing contracts with the Defense Ministry.
A Vot Tak correspondent called the number listed in the brochure, posing as a prospective candidate. A Zashchitnik.rf representative said enrolling in alternative service requires signing a standard military contract. Asked whether that person could later be sent to the front, the representative said, “No, that can’t happen.”
Get Lost has said Russians have previously been lured into signing contracts disguised as alternative service. “If you’re told it’s “alternative service by contract,” “one-year service,” “training near Moscow,” “drones,” “air defense,” “computer work,” “not the front,” or a “3/3 schedule” — and you’re handed a contract to sign, that’s not AGS. […] AGS is never arranged through a contract with the Defense Ministry, a volunteer unit, BARS, or any other military structure,” the project wrote.
Alternative civilian service, known as AGS, is work performed “in the interests of society and the state” in place of mandatory military service. The Russian Constitution guarantees it to people whose beliefs or religion conflict with military service, as well as to some members of indigenous peoples with small populations.
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