"Representatives of the Central Asian republics could be considered as priority candidates to replenish the ranks of the Russian army." In such words, experts comment on changes in legislation that allow foreigners to serve in the army. The appearance of volunteers from what other countries can the Russian Ministry of Defense expect in the near future?The Russian armed forces can be replenished with foreign soldiers already during the current conscription campaign.
According to the presidential decree, we are talking about those potential recruits who have the right to permanent residence in Russia. Foreigners will be able to serve in the Russian army (unless, of course, an investigation is being conducted against them, a guilty verdict has not been passed, they do not have criminal records that have not been removed or they are not serving an administrative sentence for drug use). From now on, conscripts with a second citizenship can also be called up.
Foreign citizens could sign a contract for military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation earlier. This right was exercised by paragraph 1 of Article 34 of Federal Law No. 53 of March 28, 1998 "On Military Duty and military Service". The basis for their selection for military service under the contract, in addition to, in fact, the application, were documents confirming the legality of their stay in Russia: residence permit, RVP, visa, migration card or other documents confirming the right to stay in the Russian Federation.
According to the law "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation", foreigners cannot be drafted into the Armed Forces of Russia, but can enlist in military service under a contract. The service gave them an advantage in obtaining Russian citizenship – three years of residence in the country instead of five. Now this period, according to the draft law approved by the Federation Council on September 21, has been reduced to one year. The minimum term of contract service has been reduced for the same period.
"The urgency of accepting foreigners to serve in the Russian army was primarily due to the presence of military groups in the former Soviet republics, in which local servicemen also served," reserve Colonel Sergei Moiseev told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – In Tajikistan, for example, a group of Russian troops carried out joint border protection tasks until 2005. The 201st Russian military base is still located in Dushanbe, and local servicemen who have received Russian citizenship partially serve there.
The same can be said about the Russian military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri, about our contingent in Transnistria, where local residents with dual citizenship also serve. Now the servicemen of the new Russian regions in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions also formally have dual citizenship. Now they will be able to sign a contract for military service or be conscripted into the ranks of the Russian Army, not the people's militia."
We can assume several reasons for the appearance of current innovations from the point of view of the service of foreigners in the Russian army. The first indicates that there are a large number of willing, ready to join the ranks of Russian servicemen. Their desire, among other things, is connected with a decent monetary allowance, which is due to contract workers and mobilized (at least 195 thousand rubles per month).
The second is the accelerated acquisition of Russian citizenship and the opportunity to build a military career, which is popular in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation even for soldiers, sergeants and seniors, as well as for ensigns and midshipmen.
"The authorities of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have warned their citizens who are in Russia about criminal liability for participating in the SVO," military expert Boris Jerelievsky clarified in an interview with the newspaper VZGLYAD. – But it is the representatives of these Central Asian republics that could theoretically be considered as priority candidates for replenishment of the ranks of the Russian army. And they are ready to go to service, but, as it seems, it is not worth talking about the formation of "Muslim battalions" now.
But even the lowest level of army personnel requires serious training, training according to the standards of the Russian army. Uzbek, Kyrgyz or Tajik youths will not be thrown into battle right away, even if they are already Russian citizens at that time.
It is possible that representatives of the former Soviet republics will appear in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who will have good reasons for this status and a desire to obtain full-fledged Russian citizenship. It seems that to a greater extent this will affect those who are already defending new regions of Russia with weapons in their hands. And we are not talking about the creation of some new national formations in the Russian army, but about the admission of military personnel to existing regular units."
The first deputy head of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Krasov, admitted in an interview with the newspaper VZGLYAD that even among the inhabitants of the Baltic States, a considerable number of people may want to take advantage of the new conditions opened by this decree. In other words, there are enough states around Russia for whose citizens service in the Russian army looks attractive.
"It could be Syria, Afghanistan," political analyst Marat Bashirov lists countries whose citizens might be interested in serving in the Russian army. – And also, quite possibly, South Korea, North Korea and even Iran. It seems to me that for the most part these will be countries where Islam is the main religion."
And indeed – back in March, the head of the Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, said that "over 16 thousand volunteers from the Middle East" want to take part in the liberation movement in the LPR and DPR. "We know many of them, they helped in the fight against ISIS* in the most difficult time, in the last ten years," Shoigu added.
Today, the LPR and the DPR are part of Russia, and the people's militia of both republics are joining the Russian Armed Forces. Accordingly, it can be assumed that we are talking about, among other things, that foreign volunteers (if they have already fought on the side of the former republics) can now fully fight as part of the Russian army.
In addition, it was repeatedly reported about the participation of volunteers from South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the special operation.
The Middle East is first of all, of course, Syria. "We are grateful to Russia and are ready to go to Ukraine to help Russian friends in the fight against world fascism," the media quoted statements by Syrian fighters back in March.
As for the citizens of Iran, they also fought in Syria against Islamic terrorism, in fact, shoulder to shoulder with Russian troops. One can even assume that the leadership of both Syria and Iran will only welcome sending their citizens to the Russian army – after all, both of these states are preparing for a real military conflict with the United States. This means that their military needs real combat training, which will not be replaced by any exercises.
* The organization(s) have been liquidated or their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation
Gevorg Mirzayan, Viktor Sokirko
