Russia's State Duma has passed in all three readings a law expanding the list of criminal offenses whose convicts are allowed to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry during mobilization and wartime. The government submitted the package of bills to the Duma just five days ago.
Under the new law, people with unexpunged or outstanding criminal records, as well as those charged under the following articles, now have the right to serve under contract: smuggling of cash, drugs, weapons, explosives, and nuclear materials (Articles 200.1, 229.1, and 226.1); banditry and participation in a criminal organization (Part 2 of Article 209 and Part 2 of Article 210); organizing illegal migration (Article 322.1); and loss of documents containing state secrets (Article 284). The list also includes articles on illegal entry into protected facilities, violating the security of fuel and energy complex facilities, and theft of nuclear materials.
Deputy Defense Minister and head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces Viktor Goremykin said the new law “will increase the pool of potential candidates for military service.” He promised that such servicemen would serve in special units, separate from other contract soldiers.
Andrei Kolesnik, a member of the Duma's defense committee, commented on the law: “In Rus', shame has always been washed away with blood. We must give a chance to wash away the shame. If these people end up in the combat zone, they will go as assault troops, this is the tip of the spear.” He added that recruits would have to “pass a certain filter” and clarified that “not everyone will return from there.”
Earlier, in the fall of 2022, authorities allowed the recruitment of convicts for most serious crimes, including murder and robbery. In the summer of 2023, the Duma allowed contracts with convicts and those under investigation, and later with defendants.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Russia's total losses in the war since the start of the invasion amount to about 1.4 million people, of whom at least 450,000 have been killed. In the first half of 2026, according to some estimates, monthly Russian losses reached 30,000–34,000 people, exceeding the rate of recruitment of new contract soldiers (about 27,000 per month). Against this backdrop, rumors of a possible new wave of mobilization have intensified, which, according to sources of Meduza, is “being discussed at all levels.”