The purpose of this report is to provide information regarding military service in the Russian Federation for international protection status determination, including refugee status and subsidiary protection, and in particular for EUAA Country Guidance on the Russian Federation.
The report focuses on military service in the Russian Federation after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. It describes ‘military service’ in a broad sense: as one –year obligatory military service, professional army contract service, military service under the ‘partial’ mobilisation — an exceptional event announced by the Russian president the first time since the end of the World War II, as well as contract service and military use of volunteer battalions, mercenaries, and prison convicts in hostilities. The report outlines conditions of recruitment and focuses on deployment of each group to Ukraine. For conscripts — young men aged 18-27 participating in obligatory military service — and people mobilised under the mobilisation order, the topics of exemption and deferrals from military service are particularly addressed. The report also covers military service in the Republic of Chechnya and instances of violations of humanitarian and human rights law by Russian military forces in Ukraine.
The reference period of the report is 24 February 2022 – 15 November 2022. Some important events up to 30 November were included during the finalisation of the report.
This report was written by the EUAA COI Sector together with the following national asylum and migration departments:
- Germany, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Country Analysis;
- France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Unit (DIDR).
The following departments and organisations have reviewed the report, together with EUAA:
- Sweden, Swedish Migration Agency, Country of Origin Information, Section for Information Analysis;
- The Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- The Netherlands, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis, Ministry of Justice (OCILA).
The report was drafted and reviewed in line with the EUAA COI Report Methodology (2019) and the EUAA COI Writing and Referencing Style Guide (2019).
Policy
The policy implemented by the Commissioner General is based on a thorough analysis of accurate and up-to-date information on the general situation in the country of origin. This information is collated in a professional manner from various, objective sources, including the EUAA, the UNHCR, relevant international human rights organisations, non-governmental organisations, professional literature and coverage in the media. When determining policy, the Commissioner General does not only examine the COI Focuses written by Cedoca and published on this website, as these deal with just one aspect of the general situation in the country of origin. The fact that a COI Focus could be out-of-date does not mean that the policy that is being implemented by the Commissioner General is no longer up-to-date.
When assessing an application for asylum, the Commissioner General not only considers the actual situation in the country of origin at the moment of decision-making, he also takes into account the individual situation and personal circumstances of the applicant for international protection. Every asylum application is examined individually. An applicant must comprehensively demonstrate that he has a well-founded fear of persecution or that there is a clear personal risk of serious harm. He cannot, therefore, simply refer back to the general conditions in his country, but must also present concrete, credible and personal facts.
There is no policy paper for this country available on the website.