Current as of 18 September 2026
In brief
Exemption from conscription, deferment and a reserved occupation are three different mechanisms. And exemption from conscription does not always mean exemption from military obligation altogether: a person may be released from conscript service and still remain in the reserve.
The second distinction matters more than the first: the grounds for ordinary conscription and for a mobilisation call-up are listed in different laws, and the lists do not match. What exempts a person from conscript service may give them nothing at all under mobilisation.
What the law says: fitness categories
The categories are assigned following a medical examination; the wording is fixed in Article 5.1 of the law on military duty, and the criteria in the Regulation on Military Medical Assessment, approved by government decree No. 565.
A and B mean fit, and fit with minor limitations.
C means limited fitness. It exempts a person from ordinary conscription and places them in the reserve, but it does not by itself confer exemption or deferment from a mobilisation call-up. This is a widespread misconception and an expensive one.
D means temporarily unfit. Under ordinary conscription this ground gives a deferment of up to one year; under a mobilisation call-up, up to six months.
E means unfit. It brings exemption from military obligation and removal from the register.
What the law says: deferment from mobilisation
The list of grounds is closed and set out in Article 18(1) of Federal Law 31-FZ on mobilisation preparation and mobilisation. Individual categories are added to it by presidential decree, which Article 18(2) expressly permits.
Among the grounds established by Article 18: those holding a reserved occupation under the procedure determined by the government; those found temporarily unfit on health grounds, for up to six months; those providing constant care for a close relative who requires it under a medical and social assessment, where no other person is obliged to support them; guardians of minor siblings; senators and State Duma deputies; and citizens serving in volunteer formations.
Deferment based on the number of children and on care for relatives is framed in the law through specific thresholds and conditions. These need checking against the current text of Article 18 rather than against summaries: those provisions have been amended more often than the rest, most recently by Federal Law 639-FZ of 25 December 2023.
The rules on educational deferment differ between mobilisation and ordinary conscription. Under decree No. 664 the mobilisation deferment extends to part-time study as well, but requires that the citizen be obtaining education at that level for the first time.
Separate from all this is the upper age limit for remaining in the reserve, under Article 53 of the law on military duty. It depends on the reserve category and class, and since 2024 a transitional period has been in force raising it for those below officer rank. On reaching the limit a person is removed from the register.
Substituting alternative civilian service for military service stands as a ground of its own: it works on different logic and has its own filing deadlines, covered in a separate article.
What the law says: reserved occupations
The purpose of the reservation scheme under Article 23 of Federal Law 31-FZ is stated plainly: to sustain the functioning of state bodies, local government and organisations, not to protect any individual employee. Everything else follows from that.
A reservation cannot be obtained at one's own request. It attaches to a post and disappears with it. Not every organisation may reserve employees: the right to do so and the specific posts are determined by the applicable rules and by the lists of the reservation commissions.
What it confers: deferment from a mobilisation call-up and from subsequent call-ups in wartime for as long as the reservation lasts, together with exemption from reservist training assemblies under Article 55 of the law on military duty. Those assemblies are a separate matter from mobilisation: their conduct in 2026 is provided for by presidential decree No. 892 of 8 December 2025.
The key practical detail: reservations issued under the old rules before 5 June 2024 no longer hold in 2026, having required re-registration under the new rules. Since a substantial part of the regulatory framework on reservations is restricted, current status should be checked through the employer and the reservation commission.
What practice shows
A reservation most often turns out to be fiction not because it was revoked but because it was never re-registered. Lawyers working with reservists advise asking the employer in writing for the details of the approved order and the date of re-registration, rather than relying on a verbal assurance.
The second weak point is administrative error. A notice can reach someone holding a valid reservation, or a category conferring deferment: the system runs on register data, not on a person's actual situation. So even with a ground properly in place it is worth knowing in advance what to do when a notice arrives, and keeping the supporting documents to hand. If a decision has already been taken despite the ground, the question becomes how to appeal it.
Third: a ground not evidenced by a document held at the commissariat does not exist as far as the system is concerned. A medical and social assessment, a certificate of study, guardianship papers must be submitted and registered; the mere existence of the circumstance sets nothing in motion. Non-appearance remains non-appearance, and what that carries is covered separately.
It is also worth checking the military ID for a mobilisation assignment order. It means a mobilisation designation has been determined in advance: the document specifies the unit group, and the manner and place of reporting when mobilisation measures are carried out.
What could change this picture
The main source of change here is not legislation but decrees. Article 18(2) allows the president to grant deferment to particular categories of citizens, and that is exactly how deferments were introduced and withdrawn in 2022. Any such decree changes the picture faster than an amendment to a code.
The second is the reservation rules. They were revised in 2024 and earlier reservations had to be re-registered. The lists of military registration specialities that bear on eligibility may also change.
The third is the transitional period on the reserve age limit, which has several years still to run.
Partial mobilisation was declared by presidential decree No. 647 of 21 September 2022. The mass call-up measures of that stage ended in the autumn of 2022; as of 18 September 2026 no new stage of mobilisation call-up has been officially announced. Decree No. 647 has not been repealed by a separate act. What is known about the state of mobilisation as of September 2026 is set out in the overview of this topic.
Where to turn
This article is part of Way Out, a legal project by FACTUM.PRESS: we set out what the law permits and what happens in practice. We do not give individual legal advice and we do not take on cases. What to do in the first days after a notice arrives is covered separately.
For personal assistance, approach the organisations that provide it: Idite Lesom, Pervy Otdel (First Department), the Conscript's School and the Movement of Conscientious Objectors.
Sources: Federal Law on Mobilisation Preparation and Mobilisation in the Russian Federation (Articles 17, 18, 23); Federal Law on Military Duty and Military Service (Articles 5.1, 24, 53, 55); Regulation on Military Medical Assessment (government decree No. 565); Federal Law 639-FZ of 25 December 2023; presidential decrees No. 647, No. 664 and No. 892 of 8 December 2025; materials from human rights projects working with conscripts and reservists. A substantial part of the regulatory framework on reservations is restricted; the lists of grounds and the rules have changed repeatedly, so check against the current text before acting. This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice.