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Russia Uses Military Registry For First Time To Stop Reservist From Leaving Country
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Russia has recorded its first known case of a military reservist being prevented from leaving the country under a decision issued by a local military enlistment office, according to Russian rights project Idite Lesom on September 5.
The case involves a 24-year-old resident of Russia’s Rostov region who completed compulsory military service in 2024 and was subsequently transferred to the reserve.
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On September 2, he attempted to fly out of Krasnodar but was pulled aside for additional screening during passport control.
Border officials questioned him for roughly an hour before refusing permission to leave Russia and handing him an official notice stating that his right to travel abroad had been temporarily restricted.
The restriction appears to stem from Russia’s expanding electronic military-registration system.
In November 2025, the reservist had personally reported to his military enlistment office after receiving a summons to update his records. Officials placed a mobilization order inside his military ID.
Despite that, the same summons later appeared in Russia’s electronic registry with the status indicating that the “citizen did not appear.”
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According to Idite Lesom, the enlistment office subsequently used that record to impose a temporary travel ban.
The reservist had no indication before his trip that any such restriction existed. Nothing in the registry visible to him showed that he had been prohibited from leaving Russia.
He only discovered the measure at the border.
After being denied departure, the man filed a complaint through Russia’s Gosuslugi government services portal and began seeking an official extract from the military registry containing the number and legal basis of the decision.
Rights advocates say the case is the first known example in which a Russian reservist has been stopped from traveling abroad specifically because of a military enlistment office decision linked to the electronic draft system.
Earlier, more than 113,000 Russians left the country for Georgia through the Verkhny Lars checkpoint in a single week following rumors of a new draft.
On August 20 alone, over 20,000 people crossed through the border point. Russia’s Federal Customs Service stated that this figure significantly exceeds levels from previous years.
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