March 22, 2026

Ministry of Defense will gain access to all Civil Registry data. New law supposedly to streamline payments to military personnel and their families

The Ministry of Defense will be granted the right to access all information from the unified state registry of civil registration. Authorities explain the initiative by the need to simplify the provision of social benefits to military personnel and their families. However, these changes are occurring against the backdrop of already tightening conscription rules and legal challenges. Details about the latest innovations for conscripts are in the material from 'Novaya Gazeta Europe'. Military-patriotic center 'Patriot' of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, May 2, 2023. Photo: Moscow Agency.After the bill is adopted, the Ministry of Defense will be able to electronically request information about military personnel, civilian personnel dismissed from military service, as well as their family members. The initiative was sent for consideration to the Committee on Family, Women's and Children's Affairs on March 20, where it was promised to be 'considered as a priority.' After the review stage in the committee, the bill will traditionally go through three readings in the State Duma, followed by consideration in the Federation Council and by the president. Russian deputies Andrey Kartapolov, Andrey Krasov, and others, led by committee chair Nina Ostakhova, state that the initiative will simplify the process of providing social support measures to military personnel and their families. In addition to social guarantees and compensations, this regulation optimizes the military registration of citizens, according to the explanatory note. " State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that since 2022, the lower house of the Federal Assembly has adopted 159 laws concerning 'ensuring the conduct of a special military operation.' 'Our soldiers, officers, and their families must receive all the support measures provided by law promptly, without unnecessary red tape. Those who risk their lives for the future of Russia must know that the state will support them and their loved ones,' Volodin emphasized. Emblem on the building of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in Moscow. Photo: Sofya Sandurskaya / Moscow Agency.Vladimir Putin stated on March 19 that the system of assistance to participants in the war in Ukraine and their relatives 'must be transparent and accessible, reach everyone, and without failures.' He instructed to track the allocation of compensation and payments to victims in the border areas. 'I want to emphasize again: all victims must receive their due funds promptly and in full,' Putin concluded. Earlier in March, a bill was introduced to the State Duma to amend the rules for judicial appeal of military enlistment office conscription decisions. The amendments were proposed by a group of deputies led by the chairman of the Defense Committee, Andrey Kartapolov. If currently a citizen can appeal the decision of a conscription commission in court, and the decision of the military enlistment office is suspended until the court decision enters into force, then in the future it will be as follows: 'The decision of the regional conscription commission on a citizen's complaint can be appealed by them in court. The decision of the conscription commission can be suspended by the court in the manner prescribed by the Code of Administrative Procedure of the Russian Federation.' 'In essence, the bill nullifies the right to judicial protection for conscripts and creates a threat to their life and health,' believe lawyers of the human rights project 'Prizyv k sovesti' (Call to Conscience). Experts emphasize that a citizen must have the right for a court to review the conscription decision before being sent to the army. From a legal point of view, they explain, being sent for military service is a significant interference with the rights and freedoms of a citizen, with the normal life of even a conscript fit for service. The guarantee for conscripts was introduced into the Law on Military Duty in 1998. However, in 2023, the protection guarantee when appealing the decision of a district conscription commission in court was canceled, leaving the suspension of the conscription decision only when appealing the refusal or inaction of a higher commission. 'With these amendments, appealing to the court or a higher commission will not automatically mean that the decision is suspended and the person has the right not to appear for the summons for dispatch to the army. A person can appeal to the court and demand recognition of the commission's decision as illegal, but the suspension of conscription until the court decision is no longer relevant. Suspension of the conscription commission's decision is possible only at the court's discretion; for this, it will be necessary to separately ask the court to apply preliminary protective measures in the form of suspending measures for conscription into military service. Overall, this amendment undermines citizens' right to judicial protection and significantly complicates defense against the arbitrariness of military enlistment offices,' explained a lawyer from 'Prizyv k sovesti.' In April 2025, Putin signed a law according to which a decision on conscription for active military service can be implemented within a year. This applies to cases where a conscript was already approved but not sent to the place of service within the current conscription period. Andrey Kartapolov. Photo: Dmitry Belitsky / Moscow Agency.Later, in December of the same year, a law was passed introducing year-round conscription. However, the actual dispatch of recruits to their service locations maintains the previous schedule and is carried out twice a year: from April 1 to July 15 and from October 1 to December 31. The law came into force on January 1. The initiative was put forward by Andrey Kartapolov and his first deputy Andrey Krasov. They stated the goal of the innovations as changing the conscription system in accordance with new technologies, which will allow for a more even distribution of the workload on military enlistment offices and make related procedures more convenient for conscripts. In Russia, men aged 18 to 30 are obliged to undergo compulsory military service. The spring period of dispatch to the troops will begin from April 1 to July 15.