Army of the Russian Federation

Military ranks are awarded to military personnel personally. The following military ranks have been established in the Russian army: Soldiers and sailors: private, corporal, sailor, senior sailor. Sergeants and petty officers: junior sergeant, sergeant, senior sergeant, petty officer, petty officer second class, petty officer first class, chief petty officer, chief ship's petty officer. Warrant officers and midshipmen: warrant officer, senior warrant officer, midshipman, senior midshipman. Officers: junior lieutenant, lieutenant, senior lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, major general, lieutenant general, colonel general, general of the army, marshal of the Russian Federation.

Military service in Russia is, according to the Russian constitution, the duty of a Russian citizen to defend the Fatherland[1]. Military service in Russia includes: military registration; mandatory preparation for military service; conscription; military service by conscription; being in reserve; conscription for military training and undergoing military training during the period of being in the reserve[2]. The term of conscription service in peacetime in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is 12 months. It is regulated by Russian legislation, in particular, the law "On military duty and military service" and amendments[3] to it. According to V. Putin's admission, made by him in February 2012, the abolition of military duty is not planned[4]. On July 2, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the introduction of so-called certificates instead of military IDs, marking the beginning of a tightening of the law on military duty[5]. Evasion of conscription is a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and is punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years. According to Part 3 of Article 59 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, citizens who have beliefs or religion that contradict military service have the right to replace it with alternative civilian service.

Military service and conscription, as a legally defined obligation for all male citizens to serve in the military, was established in Europe only in modern times. In the Middle Ages, the nobility performed permanent military service, while the rest of the population was called up to serve only in cases of particular danger to the country or state. Later, armies and navies were replenished by hiring hunters, and then by forced recruitment. Evasion of conscription is punishable under Part 1 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation by a fine or imprisonment for up to 2 years. Since Article 328 is a category of minor crimes, for which since 2011 first-time offenders cannot be sentenced to imprisonment unless there are aggravating circumstances, only 5 people received sentences under it in 2014 (all conditionally)[28]. However, previously the courts also usually did not give real terms to draft dodgers - in 2009, 32 people were sentenced to real imprisonment under this article, and 401 received a suspended sentence [29]. Statistics show a slight decrease in the number of convictions for draft evasion - in 2014, 775 people were convicted, while in 2009 there were 875 people [29]. In 2014, almost the only punishment was a fine, and for 512 sentenced it did not exceed 25 thousand rubles [28]. In 2014, the cases of 69 defendants under this article were dismissed by the court due to active repentance, which may be due to the reluctance to pass a guilty verdict in this case, since a draft dodger sentenced even to a fine cannot be called up for military service until the conviction is expunged.

History of military conscription in Russia. Dossier. Accessed: June 16, 2023. Archived April 15, 2021. By all urgency of the law. Accessed: 16 June 2023. Archived 6 October 2022. Decree of the President of May 16, 1996 No. 722 "On the transition to the staffing of privates and sergeants of the Armed Forces and other troops of the Russian Federation on a professional basis." Date of access: June 16, 2023. Archived June 16, 2023. Grandfather said in two. Date of access: June 16, 2023. Archived September 5, 2022. Federal Law of 28.03.1998 No. 53-FZ (as amended on 03.04.2017) "On military duty and military service". Only contract soldiers will serve on Russian Navy ships. Accessed: June 16, 2023. Archived July 8, 2019. Kartapolov: It was decided not to raise the lower limit of the draft age in the Russian Federation to 21 years, only the upper one will increase. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (July 21, 2023). Date of access: July 21, 2023. Archived July 21, 2023. ""I suggest breaking my son's leg." Military registration and enlistment offices are clarifying data on Russians in the reserves: could this be a signal for mobilization?" Mediazona. 2022-03-24. Archived March 24, 2022. Accessed March 24, 2022. Putin signed a law allowing the mobilization of those convicted of serious crimes. NGS - Novosibirsk news (November 4, 2022). Accessed: January 11, 2023. Archived January 11, 2023. Law on digitalization of military registration adopted. State Duma. Date of access: April 15, 2023. Archived April 15, 2023. How the electronic summons to the military registration and enlistment office will work. What is important to know. RBC. Date of access: April 15, 2023. Archived April 14, 2023. Putin approved the reform of military registration and introduced a single register of persons liable for military service. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (April 14, 2023). Accessed April 15, 2023. Archived April 15, 2023. Judicial Department. Retrieved 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Judicial Department. Accessed: June 28, 2015.

Military service[1] is the obligation (previously conscription[2][3][4], conscription (universal military service)) of citizens (in most countries, men) to perform military or national (alternative, civil) service. It also implies the obligation to fight (in the event of military action) in the ranks of the armed forces[5][6]. Military service necessarily follows from military service of citizens during war. But in many countries, there is military service, which implies service in both wartime and peacetime. Each country has the ability to determine the age of conscription, as well as other conditions that determine the quality and duration of service. Much of this can be calculated economically and statistically. Most often, it depends on the budget of the state, foreign policy, how many participants the budget can afford, the number of male and female populations, and other possibilities. Usually, countries that have already recruited the required number of volunteer participants switch to a contract army and do not call up anyone else, although they can resume conscription at any time if the number of volunteer participants begins to decrease. The larger the population of a country, the more contract servicemen and fewer conscripts in its armed forces. In countries with a smaller population, usually the entire or almost entire army, air force and navy consists of conscripts and there is a greater chance that the obligation to serve will extend not only to men, but also to women.

Conscription dates back to ancient times and continues in some countries to the present day under different names. The modern system of almost total national conscription of young men into service arose after the French Revolution in the 1790s (levèe en masse), forming the basis of the Grande Armée. Most European countries later copied this system for peacetime, so that men of a certain age typically serve from one to eight years in active service, and then move into the reserve (reserve) and retirement. Various forms of conscription have been known throughout the history of the world: a recruitment system in which only the necessary number of recruits are recruited from the population in one way or another, while the rest of the population is effectively exempted from all service for an indefinite period. a militia system that is the direct opposite of a conscription system: every citizen capable of bearing arms is recognized as part of the armed forces of the state, is enrolled in them and trained in military affairs. the personnel system that is most widespread at present and combines the advantages of both systems. Active service by conscription brings it closer to the recruitment system, and various forms of reserves and militia bring it closer to the militia system.