MOSCOW, January 16 — RIA Novosti. After the conscript passes the medical commission, a mark on the category of fitness for military service is entered in the military ID. Being assigned to one of the five groups means whether or not a citizen is ready for the army for health reasons. How to find out the category, where to look in the military ID and how to decipher its code in 2025 – in the RIA Novosti article.
Military service fitness categories 2025
The category of fitness for military service is assigned to all military personnel in the Russian Federation after passing a medical commission based on the "Schedule of Diseases" (appendix to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04.07.2013 No. 565 "On approval of the Regulations on military medical examination"). A military medical commission consisting of a psychiatrist, an optometrist, a surgeon, an otolaryngologist, a dentist, a general practitioner, and a neurologist examines the conscript and examines the submitted medical documents. Based on anthropometric data and information about the state of health obtained during the survey, a citizen's belonging to a particular category is determined. There are five of them in total — they are listed in the "Regulations on military medical examination" . Each of them has a specific letter designation — "A", "B", "C", "D", "D" and is entered in the military ID.
Military tickets at the combined recruitment center in Simferopol
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Max Vetrov
Decoding
The letter designation and the numeric code affixed next to it indicate the category of fitness of a citizen of the Russian Federation for military service, determine the ability to serve in the army in general and in a certain kind or type of troops in particular.
The categories of validity are established taking into account the list of diseases specified in the appendix to the "Regulations on Military medical examination":
— Category "A" — the conscript is healthy and fit for military service. Such a mark means that the citizen does not have any deviations in health and restrictions on the type of troops. A future serviceman belonging to this category can serve in special forces, anti-terrorist forces, military police, as well as in the navy, marines, and airborne troops.
Category "A" is divided into several groups:
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"A1" indicates that the recruit does not have any pathologies or diseases at the time of the medical examination.
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"A2" indicates that there is a history of injury or severe illness, but this does not prevent service in the special forces.
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"A3" implies the presence of minor visual health problems.
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"A4" means that the conscript has foot pathologies (flat feet of the first degree).
— Category "B" — fit for military service, but there are minor restrictions. This mark on the military ID card means that the conscript has some pathologies that are not an obstacle to service, but play a role in sending to certain troops. Citizens with the following diseases fall into this category:
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Nearsightedness (no more than six diopters);
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scoliosis of the second degree;
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flat feet of the second degree;
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subcompensated type of chest deformity, etc.
This category is also divided into four subgroups depending on the severity of the detected disease. Conscripts of the first three ("B1", "B2", "B3") they can serve in combat military units, and from the fourth ("B4") — in the rear, which do not impose high health requirements.
— Category "B" — limited military service. This mark means that a conscript has been released from military service in peacetime. Due to the presence of a serious illness, the commission enrolls the young man in the reserve. Those liable for military service in this category may be sent to serve during the war. At the same time, during military training, recruits are sent to the commission for medical re-examination. With a decrease or absence of symptoms of the diagnosed disease, the category can be replaced, and the citizen will be able to obtain a military specialty.
— Category "G" — a conscript is temporarily unfit to serve in the army. Such a mark is not an exemption, it is a postponement for up to a year for the period of treatment or observation by a doctor. After the expiration of the deferral period, a medical examination is carried out again. If health problems are diagnosed again during the commission, the postponement will be extended. This category can be assigned to full-time university students, as well as conscripts in the presence of diseases or injuries that require continuous treatment or rehabilitation.
The conscript is undergoing a medical examination at the military commissariat in Novosibirsk.
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev
— Category "D" — unfit for military service. They assign it to citizens with serious illnesses and issue a military ID with a mark of complete exemption from military duty. They cannot be drafted into the army and mobilized in this case. Diseases that prevent service include HIV infection, malignant neoplasms, congenital syphilis, bronchial asthma, regular epileptic seizures, severe vascular diseases of the brain, and others. The full list is listed in the "Schedule of diseases".
How to find out the expiration date
The serviceman's fitness is determined in accordance with the Decree "On Approval of the Regulations on Military medical Examination" in the Russian Federation. The category is indicated on the 11th page of the military ID. It also contains information about the accounting group and composition, military position and accounting specialty. The diagnosis on the basis of which a particular category is assigned is not reflected in the military ID.
A young man at the medical commission of conscripts in Omsk
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Malgavko
Is it possible to change the expiration date category
In fact, the shelf life category is an indicator of a person's physical and psychological state. It is assigned to each recruit after a medical examination, as well as as a result of an additional examination, if required.
According to the Federal Law "On Military Duty and Military Service," to change the category of fitness, you must pass the commission again. Submit a written application to the military commissariat and attach the available certificates and medical reports. Immediately before the examination, upon receiving a referral to the military enlistment office, it is necessary to take general tests, undergo an ECG and fluorography.
A conscript during a medical examination at the military commissariat of the Sverdlovsk region
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Lisitsyn
The state of health can either improve or worsen, so it is possible to downgrade or upgrade the category with subsequent changes to the military ID.
Due to the introduction of martial law or mobilization, conscripts undergo a second medical examination, following which they are assigned an airworthiness category.
