As known, partial mobilization was announced in Russia on September 21. Mobilized citizens have special enhanced training, and only then they are sent to military units for further service.
Since partial mobilization is taking place on a tight schedule, it causes many questions, especially among citizens who are in the reserve.
The Defense Ministry named a list of grounds that entitle Russians to exemption from conscription. Rear Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, representative of the Main Organization and Mobilization Administration of the General Staff, said that employees of defense industry enterprises are exempt from mobilization. Civil servants, who perform important tasks in the bodies of state power and local self-government, may also get deferment of mobilization.
At present, citizens temporarily unfit for military service due to their health condition are not subject to call-up. If the reason for unsuitability of a reservist registered in the military registry is a medical condition, the deferment may be temporary, up to six months.
Citizens caring for family members who are persons of group I cannot be drafted either. If a brother takes care for his parents with disabilities and also he has an adult sibling in the family, such a citizen may be drafted. Men who are raising a minor child alone, as well as husbands in families raising four or more children, are not subject to mobilization. All issues related to mobilization are decided on an individual basis.
First of all, citizens with military specialties, required at the given time for fulfillment of combat tasks, are called up. These are tank drivers, gunners, drivers, artillerymen and driver mechanics. According to Tsimlyansky, there is no order of priority for conscription from the reserve, but priority is given to those who have the necessary military professions and combat experience. Officers, privates and sergeants are drafted. For each category, the age limit is defined. However, military pensioners who have been removed from the military register are not subject to conscription.
Since the beginning of the partial mobilization, some men of fighting age began to go abroad. According to Gazeta.ru, there is an explanation on this situation. If a man has gone abroad for a while and is registered with the military, he may be drafted upon his return to Russia. The summons must always be served personally on the draftee, not on his relatives. It must be stamped and signed by a responsible employee, and executed in advance. There is no question of this document being filled out in the presence of the citizen subject to mobilization.
Many questions arose about the mobilization of employees of IT-companies, especially after the news that some IT-companies even organize charter flights to take their employees abroad. In this regard, the Ministry of Digital issued an order dated September 26, 2022, which includes 195 priority specialties that meet the basic needs of organizations. It is important that individuals who work in organizations that are accredited can get the deferment. The lists of these individuals, as reported by the media, are transmitted to the General Staff, and then the Defense Ministry makes a decision.
During a meeting with regional heads elected on the Unified Voting Day, held via videoconference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there was “enough mess” during partial mobilization but that it was a good opportunity to correct mistakes and problems that had accumulated over a long period of time. In addition, Putin announced that he had signed a document granting the right to defer mobilization to young people who are studying full-time or part-time for the first time at state accredited educational institutions.
Meanwhile, it must be admitted that serious mistakes were made in some regions during the mobilization.
In the Omsk Region, for example, 200 mobilized men were sent back home. Alexander Burkov, Governor of the Omsk Region, as reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, noted that mistakes had been made, which were corrected after appealing to regional counseling support centers for relatives of the mobilized. For his part, Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of the Primorsky Territory, as reported by Lenta.ru, said that about 600 mobilized people have been returned to the region. The main reasons for their return are health condition or having four or more underage children in the family.
Meanwhile, a bill was recently submitted to the State Duma on exemption from mobilization of citizens whose relatives were killed in the performance of military duty. One of the authors of this document is the leader of the A Just Russia - For the Truth faction, Sergei Mironov. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the State Duma also has other initiatives for exemption from mobilization. In particular, it has been proposed to reduce the number of children in a family, and increase the age at which parents can be postponed from mobilization.