A Russian conscript was denied passage across the border between Russia and Belarus after receiving a draft notice ordering him to appear for a medical examination. This is the first publicly known case of its kind, according to the Movement of Conscientious Objectors.
Details. According to the project, the Russian man received a draft notice for a medical examination in early April. At the same time, a ban on leaving Russia appeared in the electronic registry.
After the restriction was imposed, the man tried to leave via Belarus. First, he traveled by land transport: at the border, he was removed from the trip and orally informed that he was barred from entry. He then tried to cross the border by train. There were no checks there, but at Minsk airport he was twice prevented from boarding flights, first to Tbilisi and then to Yerevan. In none of these cases did airport staff issue any written documents, explaining the situation only verbally.
What this may indicate. According to rights advocates, the case suggests that Russia and Belarus have begun exchanging data from the electronic military registration database and the draft notice registry. DSO advises conscripts to appeal travel bans.
How electronic draft notices work. In 2023, amendments were adopted that fully shifted military registration into electronic form. The draft notice registry became fully operational in August 2025.
An electronic draft notice is considered served seven days after the date it is posted in the registry. After that, a ban on leaving the country is imposed on the conscript. If he fails to appear at the enlistment office within 20 days from the moment the notice is considered served, other restrictive measures are also applied, including limits on driving, registering as a sole proprietor, obtaining loans, and conducting real estate transactions.
Had such restrictions worked earlier? In December last year, Vazhnye Istorii found that enlistment offices and the FSB had not yet established data exchange on electronic draft notices. Because of this, conscripts continued to leave Russia without restrictions. At the same time, rights advocates recorded isolated cases in which conscripts listed in the electronic draft notice registry were not allowed to leave the country.
In addition, in March DSO learned that a package of restrictions was imposed on a Russian conscript for the first time because of failure to appear at the enlistment office. These included a ban on registering an individual as a sole proprietor, a ban on registering as a professional income taxpayer, suspension of cadastral registration and/or registration of real estate rights, restriction of the right to drive vehicles, and a ban on vehicle registration.
Later, rights advocates reported that Russians have been able to appeal restrictive measures imposed because of failure to appear at the enlistment office.