Putin Reduces Minimum Contract Service Period for Foreigners to One Year

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating that the minimum contract period for foreign nationals entering military service will be reduced to one year, down from the previous five years. The document has been published on the legal information portal.

The content of the second paragraph of the decree is not disclosed, as it is marked 'for official use only.'

Previously, contracts for foreign citizens stipulating military service were five years long.

Political analyst Alexander Nemtsov mentioned in an interview with 'Vedomosti' that the reduction of the first contract period to one year is intended 'for specialists from countries close to Russia' in light of the military operations in Ukraine. According to Nemtsov, these specialists could include, in particular, 'Syrian air defense experts, missile weapon specialists from North Korea, as well as high-level experts from China and Iran.'

In November 2022, Putin signed a decree allowing foreigners and Russians with foreign citizenship to enter military service. In September, the State Duma adopted amendments allowing foreigners who sign a military service contract for at least one year to obtain Russian citizenship through a simplified process. Previously, foreigners were required to serve under contract for a minimum of three years.

In the autumn, Kirill Kobanov, a member of the Presidential Human Rights Council, informed indigenous people from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, who received Russian passports ten years ago, about the preparation of a law on mandatory military service with a threat of citizenship revocation. However, Vadim Kozhenov, the president of the Migrants Federation, considers it unlikely that such a law will be passed, as the decree on granting or revoking Russian citizenship is implemented solely by presidential decree.