Russia’s electronic draft notice registry has begun operating in full. In August, the support project for conscripts “Idite lesom” reported hundreds of cases in which residents received notifications via SMS and Gosuslugi, the state services portal. According to rights advocates, the volume of requests has become so large that the team cannot process them all in time.
The project says it is crucial to distinguish between two kinds of messages. An electronic draft notice in the registry includes the date, time, and place for appearing at a military enlistment office. Ignoring it may lead to administrative or criminal liability. A different notification only means that a person’s data has been uploaded to the electronic military registration system; it contains no date or purpose of appearance and does not by itself require a visit to the enlistment office. The outlet notes that this interpretation was also confirmed by State Duma Defense Committee head Andrey Kartapolov.
On August 8, “Idite lesom” reported what it described as the first known full electronic draft notice issued through the registry. A resident of the Tver region eligible for compulsory service received an SMS saying a draft notice had been sent and a Gosuslugi notification stating that the notice had been posted in the registry, along with a list of restrictions including a ban on leaving Russia. Later, the record disappeared from the registry and was moved to the archive together with the restriction, which rights advocates say may indicate the authorities were testing the system.
Project representatives say they have documented at least three cases in which conscripts received notifications about a notice being posted without any date or purpose of appearance. In just one day, they received 139 requests for help, and that number soon exceeded 200. Screenshots sent by Russians, the project says, indicate that these messages came from the official system rather than from phishing campaigns.
At the same time, rights advocates warn about phone scammers posing as enlistment office staff and trying to obtain SMS codes to access Gosuslugi accounts. Lawyers also report errors inside the registry itself. The legal team of Kaloy Akhilgov cited a case in which a Moscow resident’s valid deferment was not reflected in the system.
“If you have grounds for exemption, a deferment, or want to apply for alternative civilian service, do not postpone it,” lawyers and rights advocates advise.
Amendments shifting military registration into electronic form were adopted in 2023, and the registry began trial operation in the autumn of 2024. Under current rules, a draft notice is considered delivered seven days after it is posted in the registry, regardless of whether a person has a Gosuslugi account. As soon as a notice appears in the system, the person loses the right to leave Russia, and after 20 days of failing to report, additional restrictions may take effect, including bans on registering as an individual entrepreneur, conducting property transactions, using a driver’s license, and obtaining loans. The next draft begins on October 1, and the outlet notes that paper notices will still be used alongside electronic ones.