Military draft "Autumn-2025": what has changed for new recruits

MOSCOW, October 1 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The autumn conscription into the armed forces starts today. Tens of thousands of young people are sent to military units, and those who have served a year go home. Recruitment into the army remained at the same level. However, there are several important innovations. About what has changed — in the material of RIA Novosti.

Simplify the bureaucracy

As usual, the autumn draft will last from October 1 to December 31. The exception is for certain areas of the Far North, where it is until November 1. In total, 135,000 people will be sent to training units and military units. The recruits will master modern military equipment there and receive a military accounting specialty.

Conscripts at the assembly point in the Novosibirsk region before being sent to their places of service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev

They urge young people between the ages of 21 and 30 to come up with a positive medical report. The reasons for the legal postponement are the same: studying at secondary and higher educational institutions, caring for family members in need of constant care, health conditions, alternative civil service. Those who have been released from the health service are required to undergo a medical examination after the end of the postponement.

The recruitment campaign is conducted using the state information system "Unified Register of Military Registration". In fact, this is a digital database of military enlistment offices, which simplifies and speeds up their work.

Conscripts during the receipt of clothing allowances before being sent to units of the Russian Armed Forces

Image source: © RIA Novosti / Evgeny Biyatov

Now, in addition to paper subpoenas, electronic subpoenas are also being received. Moreover, in the Republic of Mari El, Ryazan, Sakhalin regions and Moscow, they will do without paper altogether. The relevant information is entered into a publicly available register, and the summons is considered served seven days after its posting.

"It's no secret that the Soviet system has outlived itself long ago. Bureaucracy, paperwork, queues. Digitalization will simplify the control and interaction of citizens with government authorities," Igor Korotchenko, editor—in-chief of the National Defense magazine, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Pre-conscription training

An important point is that those who have participated in combat operations in volunteer units or military formations of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for at least six months since May 11, 2014, have been eligible for exemption from conscription.

"Taking into account the beginning of the work of draft commissions on October 1, as well as the formation of military commands, the dispatch of young recruits from the assembly points of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is planned from October 15," said Colonel—General Yevgeny Burdinsky, head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. — The term of conscription remains unchanged — one year, and these servicemen are not involved in the tasks of a special military operation. In addition, I would like to add: those whose term of service expires this fall will be dismissed in a timely manner and sent to their places of residence."

According to him, the role of DOSAAF has increased in recent years. Drivers have traditionally been trained for the troops there, but the list of military accounting specialties has expanded significantly. Now DOSAAF trains drone operators and road construction equipment, field medics, car repair specialists, divers, dog handlers, and skydiving shooters.

They will also give an opportunity to prove themselves to conscripts with scientific inclinations. In total, 17 scientific companies have been formed, eight of which are in the ERA technopolis. About six thousand people have already served in them. They participated in 2.1 thousand research projects, received 450 patents for inventions, and with their help over four thousand innovation proposals were developed. More than 400 became scientific staff with the rank of "lieutenant". In the spring of 2025, 365 graduates of prestigious universities were sent to these units.

Select the best

It is possible that this autumn's draft is the last one. The Defense Committee of the State Duma recommended the adoption of a bill on year—round recruitment into the army - from January 1 to December 31. If approved by the President, the law will enter into force on January 1, 2026.

In this case, medical examinations, professional psychological selection and meetings of the draft commission will be held throughout the year. This, as the authors of the initiative emphasized, will make it possible to evenly distribute the load on recruiting centers and improve the quality of conscription.

But it is supposed to send new recruits to their duty stations in the same time frame — from April 1 to July 15 and from October 1 to December 31. For certain categories of citizens mentioned in the law "On Military Duty and Military Service", everything will also remain unchanged.

The conscript is undergoing a commission at the Odintsovo Military Commissariat

Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Melnikov

"This is quite reasonable in the current circumstances," says military expert Alexei Leonkov. — We need a large army and an appropriate mobilization reserve. But not everything in a row. More careful selection is needed. If you do this all the time, and not just during the draft itself, you can identify promising "nuggets" in advance and assign them to training units. Especially in the military, IT specialists are in demand now. All the sophisticated technology is based on them."

But there are no plans to increase the draft. There are enough volunteers and contract soldiers to carry out combat missions. And 135,000 new recruits will serve in the rear areas.