Evasion from mobilization will be punishable by up to 5 years in prison

In the upcoming autumn session, the State Duma may adopt in all three readings the draft law on the introduction of criminal liability for conscription for military service on mobilization. Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Duma defense committee, announced this on Friday.

Evasion from the mobilization service will be considered “voluntarily leaving the mobilized unit” as well as “trying not to appear at the military commissariat” at the specified time after receiving the summons. The punishment for this can be both a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles and imprisonment.

Now, in the Russian legislation, criminal responsibility is only for evasion of the military service. Answering the question why the new draft law is needed, Kartapolov said that it was necessary to “level the situation.”

At the same time, the Duma has recently seriously tightened administrative penalties for not appearing at the military registration office on a summons. Today, President Vladimir Putin signed the previously adopted bill prohibiting travel abroad from the moment of receipt of a summons to the military enlistment office.

As Kartapolov stated, the draft law on criminal liability for evasion of mobilization was developed last fall – after the announcement of the so-called partial mobilization – and all this time it was approved. The other day, according to him, he received a positive feedback from the government.

At the same time, according to the deputy, the preparation of the draft law for adoption this fall does not mean a new wave of mobilization. According to him, the resumption of mobilization in the country “doesn’t smell good.”

At the same time, earlier, justifying the need to raise the upper limit of the conscription age from 27 to 30 years, Kartapolov said that it “reeks” of a big war and hinted at the possibility of general mobilization.