In Russia, reservists have begun facing restrictions on leaving the country based on decisions by military enlistment offices — Russian media
Kyiv • UNN
A 24-year-old reservist from the Rostov region was barred from leaving Russia because of an erroneous summons status in the electronic register. From August 18 to 31, 23 out of 73 conscripts were unable to cross the border.
For the first time in Russia, a case has been recorded in which a reservist liable for military service was unable to leave the country due to a military enlistment office decision restricting travel abroad. The Moscow Times reports this, citing the human rights project "Go by Forest," UNN informs.
Details
According to its information, a 24-year-old resident of the Rostov region, who completed urgent military service in 2024 and is in the reserves, tried to fly abroad from Krasnodar. However, at passport control, he was detained for an additional check and handed an official notice temporarily restricting his right to leave Russia.
It turned out that the decision had been made by the military enlistment office where the reservist was registered. In November 2025, he appeared there in response to a summons to clarify his military registration documents, and a mobilization order was pasted into his documents. At the same time, the summons was listed in the electronic register as having the status "Citizen failed to appear." On this basis, the military enlistment office decided to restrict his travel abroad. Before the trip, the reservist did not see a notification about the ban in the register and learned about it only at the border
It is reported that since March, following the full-scale launch of the electronic summons register, Russians have begun complaining about being blocked from traveling abroad. Thus, from August 18 to 31 alone, 73 conscripts who tried to cross the border contacted the project: 50 were able to leave, while 23 were not.
In a number of cases, the travel ban appeared directly during border control. Attempts to leave via Belarus also did not always end successfully: of the 11 conscripts who contacted the project, four managed to cross the border, while seven did not.
Reminder
According to The Economist, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin intends to send another 300,000–400,000 Russian men to fight against Ukraine. To this end, pressure from regional authorities will likely be used without announcing a new wave of mobilization.