• Putin signs law extending fines for non-notification of military offices to year-round enforcement
• Fines of RUB10,000-20,000 ($102-$204) apply for failing to report moves exceeding three months
• Change aligns with new continuous conscription system replacing biannual call-ups
• Electronic summons response period extended from 20 to 30 days

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing year-round fines for failing to notify military enlistment offices of relocation, according to a document published on the official legal information portal on December 15.

The State Duma adopted the initiative on December 9. Previously, such violations were only penalised during official conscription periods.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled or gone to ground rather than be sent to fight in Ukraine, draining the country of young, educated workers while forcing the Kremlin to tighten conscription laws and quietly expand call‑ups instead of risking another openly declared mobilisation.

"To introduce changes [to the law], excluding from it the words 'during the period of conscription'," the new decree states.

The norm will now apply throughout the year. Failure to notify a military enlistment office about leaving one's place of residence for more than three months will result in a fine of RUB10,000 to RUB20,000 ($102-$204).

The updated law takes effect on January 1, 2026. The initiative came from a group of deputies led by State Duma Defence Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov.

The changes follow an earlier law introducing year-round conscription, which will run from January 1 to December 31 starting next year. The same document extends the deadline for responding to electronic summonses to 30 days from the date the summons is posted in the relevant register, up from 20 days previously.

Kartapolov, who authored the year-round conscription law, explained that the conscription system needed updating to reflect new technologies. This would help distribute the workload more evenly across military enlistment offices and make related procedures more convenient for conscripts.