State Duma deputies proposed conscripting Russians for compulsory service in the FSB. The corresponding article was added to the table of recommended amendments to the bill, which allows the Russian Guard to create volunteer formations. Today it was adopted in the second reading.
Deputies propose adding Article 16.4 to the law “On the Federal Security Service” — “On conscription military service in the FSB.” The special service is also mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 36 of the law “On Military Duty and Military Service”.
People with citizenship or residence permit of another state will not be able to serve in the FSB upon conscription. Long-term service in the FSB will not be available to those who take drugs or psychotropic drugs without a doctor’s prescription, as well as to citizens whom the Ministry of Justice has declared “foreign agents.”
The State Duma adopted this bill in the first reading on October 17 — then only the Russian Guard was mentioned in it. The amendments allow the department to create volunteer units on behalf of the president. According to deputy Alexander Khinshtein, the initiative is due to the fact that the National Guard actively participates in the war in Ukraine and performs tasks there “similar to the functionality of the Ministry of Defense.”
Two days later, the deputies adopted in the first reading a bill that introduces criminal responsibility for statements about the Russian Guards fighting in Ukraine. Mention of them will be added to articles about military “fakes” and “discrediting” the army (207.3 and 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The maximum penalty for the first of them is up to 15 years in prison, for the second — up to seven years in prison.
In addition, they plan to add a mention of employees of the Russian Guard to Article 284.3 of the Criminal Code on “providing assistance in the execution of decisions” of the court in The Hague and other international authorities in which Russia is not involved. It implies up to five years in prison.