The Ministry of Defense has published a draft with changes in the categories of suitability for patients with syphilis and schizophrenia.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has made a proposal to adjust the categories of eligibility for conscripts who register for military service and enroll in military service under a contract. If the project is encouraged, conscripts diagnosed with syphilis will be classified as "eligible with minor restrictions." For some contract soldiers, it is also proposed to change the categories of conscription if a person is diagnosed with schizophrenia, neurotic disorders, and post-traumatic and postoperative defects of the skull bones. The Ministry of Defense also proposes to add a new stage of hypertension to the regulation on military medical examination. Conscripts with these diseases may be required to undergo military service. Izvestia reports in more detail on what the Ministry of Defense is offering.
Changes in the categories of validity: who wants to be called up for service
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has posted on the portal of regulatory legal acts a draft decree of the Government of the Russian Federation amending the Regulation on Military Medical Examination (No. 565 dated 07/04/2013). According to the document, adjustments are proposed to be added to the categories of fitness of conscripts, recruits and contract soldiers with certain diseases.
"The experience of mass examination of military personnel during a special military operation has shown the presence of diseases in the schedule...> a number of inaccuracies and diagnostic criteria that require their adaptation to modern approaches," the explanatory note to the draft notes.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
Among other things, the document proposes to change the categories of eligibility for military service personnel with syphilis. In particular, it is planned to assign such conscripts the category "B4" (suitable with minor restrictions) instead of the category "B" (limited).
The changes will apply to conscripts with primary, secondary, and latent syphilis with a delayed negative reaction to precipitation microrefaction. This means that in such patients, a gradual decrease in antibody titer is observed within 12 months after the end of therapy, but the body does not completely cure syphilis.
The document also proposes to change the category for conscripts with hypertension of the first degree. This is a chronic disease characterized by an increase in blood pressure in the range of 140-160/90-100 Hg. Conscripts with this diagnosis are offered to be assigned the "B3" fitness category, in which they can serve as motorized riflemen, drivers of armored personnel carriers and in chemical troops. Recruits with hypertension of the first degree will be assigned the category "B", and contract soldiers — "A".
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
Image source: iz.ru
The third important proposal concerns changing the eligibility categories for contract soldiers with "moderate endogenous psychoses." Such diseases include schizophrenia. Contract soldiers with similar illnesses are asked to change the category from "D" (unfit for military service) to "B" (unfit in peacetime).
What diseases are exempt from military service?
After passing the medical examination, conscripts are assigned a certain category of fitness, which characterizes a person's ability to perform military service. It can be:
— category "A" is suitable without restrictions in any troops and units; category "A" has four subcategories stipulating the restriction of certain actions (vision difficulties, foot difficulties);
— category "B" — fit for military service with minor restrictions. This category can be assigned to a conscript with grade II scoliosis without spinal dysfunction. Category "B" also has four subcategories specifying which branches of the armed forces a recruit can serve in.;
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
Image source: iz.ru
— category "B" — limited military service (not subject to conscription in peacetime). Conscripts can be called up for military training or called up in case of mobilization.;
— category "G" — temporarily unfit for military service due to certain diseases (exempts from conscription for up to 12 months). This category may be assigned after treatment of acute viral hepatitis B, C, or D, or due to a broken leg or arm.;
— category "D" — unfit for military service.
According to the regulations on military medical examination, in 2025, conscripts who have:
— diseases and disorders of the organs. These include people with disabilities, HIV, malignancies, asthma, epilepsy, and severe cerebral vascular diseases.;
— visual defects. Conscripts with nearsightedness over six diopters, farsightedness over eight diopters and astigmatism over four diopters are subject to exemption.;
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
Image source: iz.ru
— weight problems. A conscript cannot serve in the army if he weighs less than 45 kg or has a body mass index above 40 (third or fourth degree obesity).;
— curvature of the spine by more than 17 degrees with accompanying symptoms;
— skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis;
— diseases of the stomach and intestines. Ulcers and significant disorders of the digestive organs are also contraindications.;
— serious injuries, including spinal compression fracture;
— dental problems. Absence of more than ten teeth in one jaw or severe forms of periodontitis.
Spring draft 2025: timing, who will be called up
Military conscription in Russia takes place twice a year — in spring and autumn. In 2025, the spring conscription is scheduled to begin on April 1 and end on July 15. During this period, citizens who are registered for military service will need to report to the military enlistment office.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov
Image source: iz.ru
Starting in 2024, the military age in Russia ranges from 18 to 30 years. Conscripts who are recognized as fit by the results of the medical examination will need to complete military service in the army, which lasts for 12 months.
Sofia Tokareva
