Russian parliamentarians have proposed requiring migrants who obtain Russian citizenship to serve in the Russian army for two years.

As things stand, all male Russians, with a small number of exceptions, are subject to a one-year mandatory conscription period, applicable to those aged 18 to 30. However, following increased mobilisation needs due to the invasion of Ukraine, a number of amendments to the current law on conscription have been put forward that would extend the mandatory service period for naturalised citizens. These amendments are expected to be reviewed by the end of the current parliamentary session, which ends on August 5.

According to the proposals, natural-born Russian citizens would still retain the one-year mandatory conscription period. However, those who have acquired citizenship would need to serve double. Another of the amendments, proposed by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, would also require new citizens to register for military service immediately upon receiving their passports. If a person who has obtained citizenship does not register, this will be grounds for revoking their citizenship.

These proposals follow a previous suggestion by Valery Fadeev, the head of the Presidential Human Rights Council, who proposed increasing the conscription age for naturalised migrants to 50 years of age.

The last two years in Russia have seen a substantial rise in the number of foreigners acquiring Russian citizenship, particularly citizens of former Soviet states. Between January and October 2023, over 318,000 individuals were granted Russian citizenship. The demand for Russian passports has notably surged among citizens of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.