The Russian independent media organization Meduza reported that the Russian government is implementing an ‘information exchange system’ between the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Federal Security Service (FSB) to pass details of potential conscripts to the FSB Border Guard Service to prevent them from fleeing the country.
It is reported that the system is expected to be fully functional before the Autumn 2024 draft. Russia conducts two conscription drafts each year, with over 250,000 personnel being drafted annually to serve one year of compulsory military service.
In the spring of 2023, Russia passed new legislation introducing “temporary measures aimed at ensuring compliance with military summons.” Most of these new measures target “draft evaders” who ignore summonses and can only be applied 20 calendar days after the recipient fails to appear at a military conscription office. However, one of the “temporary measures” comes into force as soon as the summons is issued: a ban on leaving Russia.
Meduza reported that research institute Voskhod was tasked with developing the software, writing its documentation, and testing its functionality by 2 September 2024. By 14 October, the institute must have systems in place “to enhance capacity for interagency information sharing.” Formally, the contract’s completion date is 29 November 2024, with the project valued at 40.9 million rubles (about USD 462,000).
UK Defence Intelligence stated that: “Hundreds of thousands of Russians left the country after the announcement of a partial mobilisation in 2022 and these were disproportionately concentrated among the young and highly educated, causing knock on effects to the labour market.”
