The State Duma of Russia will consider the possibility of increasing the term of service in the army to two years for foreignersб who have obtained Russian citizenship. It is also proposed to raise their drafting age. The Telegram-channel of the lower house of the Russian Parliament reports.
The relevant amendments are scheduled to be considered before the end of the spring session, that is, until August 5.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, in addition, proposed making military registration a condition for conferment of Russian citizenship. It is assumed that this will happen simultaneously with receiving a Russian passport.
As DW writes, in early February, a group of deputies from the parties United Russia and LDPR submitted a bill to the Duma, providing for an increase in the draft age for men, who have obtained Russian citizenship, from 30 to 50 years. However, the document was withdrawn after criticism from Volodin. «Such topics should be comprehensively discussed before bringing into the public plane,» the speaker of the State Duma said then.
The media outlet recalls that on June 27 the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin said that more than 30,000 former migrants, who recently obtained citizenship, but did not register for military service, had been detected in Russia. All of them were forcibly registered and «about 10,000» have already been sent to the war against Ukraine, the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said.
Human rights activist Valentina Chupik told DW that since February 22, 2022, there has been «a number of reports that citizens of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and other migrants have been persuaded to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.» According to her, people who came to Russia to work were raided, taken to military enlistment offices, and then forced to sign contracts with the army through threats, promises or deception. Those who received a Russian passport were handed a summons to the military enlistment office as a «bonus».
