Paper found in a search can become evidence: keep it carefully.

Conscription and mobilisation

Right now

Check your entry in the summons register: every sign-in there is logged.
Don't go to the enlistment office because of a phone call.
Collect papers for a deferral or alternative civilian service in advance.

If someone close is being drafted: the call-up decision can be appealed, including online.

Write to Call to Conscience Who helps (4)

Draft: not yet checked by a lawyer

The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.

Draft What human rights defenders advise

Call-up papers from the military enlistment office

Check your extract from the Summons Register. Call-up papers count as served in person, by registered post, in your Gosuslugi account, or 7 days after appearing in the Summons Register. Deleting your Gosuslugi account does not change this.
A ban on leaving Russia applies from the moment the summons is in the register. 20 days after a missed appearance date: a driving ban, no car or property deals, and limits on loans and self-employment.
Since 1 January 2026 conscription runs all year: summonses and medical boards in any month; dispatch to units 1 Apr-15 Jul and 1 Oct-31 Dec.
Human rights groups usually advise not going to the enlistment office because of a phone call, checking your register entry and preparing papers for a deferral or alternative civilian service in advance.
Where to turn: Go by the Forest (Idite Lesom; a 'foreign agent'; only the @iditelesom_info_bot bot, there are clones); the Conscientious Objectors Movement (a 'foreign agent'); Call to Conscience; Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg; Conscript School (a 'foreign agent').

Ready-made templates and tools

Alternative civilian service: how to apply and defend your right (in Russian) · Call to Conscience · link checked 26 September 2026
Sample application for alternative civilian service (in Russian) · Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg · link checked 26 September 2026
Sample applications and complaints for conscripts (in Russian) · Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg · link checked 26 September 2026
Templates for complaints and applications (in Russian) · First Department (foreign agent) · link checked 26 September 2026

current as of 27 September 2026. More: Get Lost: official bot (foreign agent); Conscientious Objectors Movement (foreign agent)

Who helps

4 organisations · contacts checked against the organisations' sites 26 September 2026

Call to Conscience

Helps people refuse military service: advice for conscripts, mobilised soldiers, contract soldiers and their families, court defence, conscientious objection.

The only official bot is @agsnowarbot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.

Other ways to reach them: Delta Chat · agsnowar@gmail.com · website

online

Message the bot @agsnowarbot

Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg

Free legal and social help for service personnel, conscripts and their families, with separate lines for soldiers and for conscripts.

The only official bot is @smline_bot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.

Other ways to reach them: for soldiers: +7 906 263-17-17 · for conscripts: +7 911 772-34-40 · website (a call stays in the phone log and with the operator)

in Russia

Message the bot @smline_bot

Go by the Forest

How to avoid conscription and mobilisation; helps servicemen leave the country and find asylum.

The only official bot is @iditelesom_info_bot, 10:00–22:00 Moscow time. The project never writes first and never takes money. On 25 September 2026 it warned about fake bots, including @iditelesom1_info_bot, @iditelesom_official_bot, @iditelesom_helping_bot, @iditelesom_bot; one offered 'evacuation via Kursk', another extorted money.

The only official bot is @iditelesom_info_bot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.

Other ways to reach them: website

abroad foreign agent

Message the bot @iditelesom_info_bot

Conscientious Objectors Movement

Legal ways to avoid military service: exemption from conscription, alternative civilian service, reserve status.

The website is blocked in Russia; open it via a VPN.

Other ways to reach them: info@stoparmy.org

in Russia and abroad foreign agent

Get in touch stoparmy.org

Need a lawyer

In Russia, lawyers are found by First Department (foreign agent) and Solidarity Zone (foreign agent). Lawyers abroad known for defending political cases: list of lawyers →