Men appealing their Russian military conscription selection are being detained en masse after being identified in Moscow’s metro using facial recognition technology.
According to Oleg Filatchev, head of the Civil Alliance of Russia, one of their clients – a 19-year-old challenging his draft order – was detained in the metro on Oct. 18 and taken to an assembly point on Ugreshskaya Street. There, around 20 other young men who had been similarly detained were reportedly being held.
Filatchev shared on Telegram that once a conscript files an appeal, the enlistment office flags them in the system as an “alleged draft dodger.” As a result, police detain them if facial recognition cameras identify them.
Lawyers say that representatives of those taken to the assembly point are being denied access, even when presenting a notarized power of attorney.
Citizens contesting their conscription have been advised to avoid the metro. If detained and sent to a collection point, they should refuse medical examinations unless properly summoned and file a complaint with the military prosecutor’s office, according to the statement.
Since the beginning of autumn, conscripts in Moscow, Mari El, and the Ryazan and Sakhalin regions have received only electronic summonses, considered “delivered” once they appear in the registry. From that date, the recipient is also barred from leaving Russia.
Those who evade conscription face additional restrictions – including blocks on registering as self-employed, obtaining loans, selling property, or driving. They may also face administrative fines of 10,000 to 30,000 rubles ($124 to $371).
Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed a decree launching a record autumn conscription campaign, running from Oct. 1 through the end of the year.
According to the government’s official legal acts website, 135,000 people will be drafted – the largest autumn intake since 2016, when 152,000 were called up.
Men aged 18 to 30 who are not in the reserve and subject to military service can be conscripted. Federal authorities have been ordered to ensure the decree’s implementation.
On Sept. 24, the State Duma, Russia’s legislature, approved a bill in its first reading to make recruitment a year-round process starting Jan. 1, 2026. While draft call-ups will continue to take place twice a year – from April 1 to July 15 and from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 – recruiting activities will now run continuously throughout the year.
Moscow has denied any link between conscription and the war in Ukraine, insisting that draftees will not be sent to the front.
The Kyiv government has condemned the campaign, saying that thousands of those being drafted are Ukrainian citizens from Russian-occupied territories who could be forced to fight against their own people.
In March, Putin signed a law requiring Ukrainians living in the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions to either obtain Russian passports or leave by Sept. 10.
Those who refuse are classified as foreigners, subject to strict residency limits – while those who accept Russian citizenship become eligible for conscription.