The transition will be phased
The State Duma unanimously and without discussion adopted in the second, decisive reading a bill that increases the term of stay in the reserve for soldiers, sailors, sergeants, foremen, warrant officers by five years and midshipmen. But until 2028, a transitional period has been established, which will begin on January 1, 2024.
The bill was submitted to the State Duma last November by a group of deputies from different factions. Initially, he only intended to “clarify” certain provisions of the current law “On military duty and military service”: it was about supplementing the list of cases when those in the reserve can enter into fixed-term (up to a year) contracts during a period of emergency to participate in the aftermath of natural disasters , «restoring constitutional order» in the country or stopping international terrorist activities outside the country. The authors believed that it was necessary to supplement this list of situations with the conditions of a special military operation.
The initiative passed its first reading in January 2023. But the text, prepared for the second reading and adopted now, has «swollen» from two pages to 11, and now, as has been happening more and more often in recent months, the main thing in it is not at all what was expected.
The law «On military duty and military service» changes the age limit for being in the reserve for lower ranks: soldiers, sailors, sergeants, foremen, warrant officers and midshipmen. service graduates of military educational institutions, trained in «military departments» in civilian universities, and also completed alternative civilian service instead of military conscription.
In addition, all those who did not serve on conscription “in connection with the release”, who had a deferment, and are not subject to conscription until they reach 27 years old, are enlisted in the reserve (as long as such a maximum draft age is in effect, the law on raising it to 30 years has not yet been adopted ), and some other categories — including women with a military specialty. The SVR and the FSB have their own «repositories».
Citizens in the reserve are subject to mobilization. Partial mobilization in Russia was announced by the President on September 21, 2022, and so far the decree on its end has not been signed, so the issue of the age limit for being in the reserve is important for many.
Now the age limit for being in the reserve depends on category (there are three of them, depending on the registration specialty) and is for soldiers, sailors, sergeants, foremen, warrant officers and midshipmen 35 years (first category), 45 years (second category) and 50 years (third category).
For junior officers — 50 years, 55 years and 60 years, respectively, for majors, captains of the second and third ranks, lieutenant colonels — 55 years, 60 years and 65 years.
For colonels and captains of the first rank (for reserve officers these ranks are only two ranks, first and second) — 60 years and 65 years, for senior officers (they also have only two ranks) — 65 and 70 years.
Reserve women in officer rank can be mobilized or called up for military training up to 50 years old, and women of other ranks — up to 45 years old.
The changes approved on July 14 increase the age of stay in the reserve by five years only for the lower ranks, so to speak — by five years, up to 40, 50 and 55 years, depending on the category. For officers and women, the time limit remains the same.
One of the authors of the corresponding amendment, the first deputy head of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrey Brasov (ER), answered the question of why the age limit is being increased for only one category of reserve: “We have previously raised the age limit for military service for all categories , except for this, we removed the upper limit at which a citizen of the Russian Federation or a foreigner can conclude a contract, and now we are taking the next step — we are raising the age limit for citizens who are in the reserve and for citizens who are in the human mobilization reserve.
< p>According to the deputy, we are talking about «consistent actions», and the bill as a whole «is aimed at improving the security of the Russian Federation and further improving the country's defense capability.»
New age limits for the reserve of privates and non-commissioned officers will be introduced «taking into account the peculiarities,» the adopted bill says. What does this mean?
It means — gradually, with reaching the declared milestones of 40, 50 and 55 years by 2028.
From January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2028, the limit the reserve age for those who turn 50 in 2024 will be 51 years.
For those who turn 50 in 2025, the reserve age limit will be 52 years.
For those who turn 50 in 2026, the reserve age limit will be 53.
Those who turn 50 in 2027 will be listed in the reserve until the age of 54…
< p>Citizens aged 50 to 54 who have already been expelled from the reserve before January 1, 2024 due to reaching the age limit, will not be registered again for military registration, the bill says, unless they themselves want to and write a corresponding application. And those who turn 50-54 years old after January 1, 2024 can also apply if they want to be reserve until they reach the age of 55.
At the same time, the age limit for reservists is also increased.
< p>Reservists are those who are in the reserve, who have concluded an appropriate contract with the Ministry of Defense, the FSB or the SVR (the first is possible for three years, the next — for up to 5 years). This contract guarantees some payments from the budget. Unlike just a reserve, who is obliged to appear on the agenda in case of mobilization, a reservist in the event of mobilization is obliged to appear himself — the opposite will be considered a violation of the contract. Reservists are required to undergo training, from time to time breaking away from work, for the duration of this training they are paid wages.
At the moment, the age limit for being in the reserve is equal to the age limit for being in the reserve for the second category of the corresponding rank.
Adopted in the second reading, the draft law limits the age of the conclusion of the first contract by the reservist to specific figures: up to 67 years old — for senior officers, up to 62 years old — senior officers, up to 57 years old — junior officers and up to 52 years old — with other ranks, that is, private and non-commissioned officers.
It is stipulated that citizens who, in addition to Russian citizenship of a foreign state or a residence permit in a foreign state, will be able to conclude a contract to stay in the reserve only as a private or a sergeant-ensign-midshipman. Service in the army on mobilization or under a contract for the period of hostilities will not be considered a violation of the contract concluded by the reservist.