Putin Seeks Foreigners for Military Service as Path to Russian Citizenship

According to the latest legislative bill adopted in the Russia’s State Duma, the Lower Chamber of Parliamentarians, during the first and other readings for amendment to the laws “On military duty and military service” and “On citizenship of the Russian Federation,” all categories of foreigners are required to do military service as a requirement for obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation.

Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, was among the authors of the amendments. “Currently, foreign citizens and stateless males who acquire citizenship of the Russian Federation and are of military age have to register for military service at their place of residence (place of stay) and comply with federal law,” the authors note.

The document says that all male foreign citizens who now take Russian citizenship and are in the service age group are now obligated to register for military service at their place of residence (place of stay). In this regard, the bill synchronizes the processes of registration for military service and the receipt of Russian citizenship.

Russia’s Federation Council or the Senate (Upper Chamber of Legislators) has approved a law to revoke Russian citizenship for those who escape registration for compulsory military service. Under current law, people will be also denied Russian citizenship if they provide knowingly false information.

The document also binds interior agencies to refer to the military register data about men who have been granted Russian citizenship before they take their citizenship oaths. These amendments supplement the law on the military duty and military service. According to the explanatory note to the law, foreigners who are granted Russian passports must register with a military commissariat servicing their area.

For this purpose, Russian Interior Ministry agencies are obligated to provide information on males regarding whom decisions have been made on granting Russian citizenship to them and who are expected to take the oath of a Russian citizen electronically using the unified system of interagency electronic interaction.

At the same time, there are widely discussed cases when, after obtaining Russian citizenship, such persons evade performing military service. In this regard, neglect of duties related to initially registering for military service of foreigners will be punishable by deprivation of Russian citizenship.

Further work on legislation concerning migration issues will continue. “We are continuing to consider 22 bills aimed at regulating migration control, the legal situation of foreign citizens, issues relating to granting citizenship. This work will continue,” Volodin said in his speech at the final session of the State Duma’s spring session. It closed for the summer vacation and will resume in September 2024. The State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993.