Russia Massively Summons Women to Enlistment Offices: Some Receive Illegal Reserve Training Subpoenas
Since the start of summer, Russian enlistment offices have been summoning women on the military register in large numbers. Some receive subpoenas for reserve training, which is explicitly prohibited by law.
Russian enlistment offices have been summoning women on the military register in large numbers since the start of summer, according to Meduza citing Mediazona. Some women are receiving summons for reserve training, despite the law explicitly prohibiting it. One case: Oksana, who is pregnant, received a summons in early July with the reason "to take part in reserve training." At the enlistment office, she was told that summonses "are sent by AI, which can't see gender." The next day, the summons disappeared from the registry.
Mediazona spoke with three women who recently dealt with enlistment offices. Two of them received summons to "update their records." In all cases, nothing further happened. As early as fall 2022, during mobilization, the Defense Ministry stated that "women are not being drafted, nor are there plans to draft them." However, in 2026, women began to be recruited as contract soldiers, and regions openly called on women to join the army, provided they were not pregnant.
Timofey Vaskin, head of the legal department at the human rights project Shkola Prizyvnika, explains that enlistment offices may have two reasons for increased interest in women: first, "in wartime, it's important for the state to have a complete record of its entire mobilization pool." Second, contract recruitment remains the main source of new troops, and women may be pressured into signing contracts during visits. Vaskin believes summons to reserve training are just a technical error, but the possibility of women being called up in a mobilization cannot be ruled out.
Women are subject to military registration only if they have a military-registration specialty from the approved list and are medically fit. This list includes doctors, pharmacists, communications specialists, computer operators, meteorologists, etc.
Vaskin advises women who receive a summons to stay calm, consult specialists before going to the enlistment office, and not sign anything they don't understand. If the summons is illegal, a complaint can be filed with the military commissariat or prosecutor's office. However, if the real goal is to update data, a new summons will be issued. The key is to read carefully before signing.
