The Kremlin is planning to roll out a database to track the movements of conscripts evading President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, according to Kyiv intelligence.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, responded Monday to a report by the Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine (SSO)—one of the five branches of Ukraine's armed forces.
The reports claim that the Russian military, together with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, is taking steps to launch an electronic database by February 2023 documenting the personal details of all servicemen, restricting their movement even when out of uniform.
The "database" is allegedly connect to plans by the Kremlin to conduct another covert mobilization drive in February 2023, and will be rolled out after Putin's initial partial mobilization efforts in September "demonstrated many shortcomings in the inner workings of the military commissariats."
"In order to control the movement of conscripts, a single database of conscript citizens of the Russian Federation is being created," the SSO said in a press release on Monday.
The SSO said the data will be integrated with the databases of Russia's State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (Traffic Service), the Federal Migration Service (FMS), the mandatory pension and health insurance systems of the Russian Federation (SNILS and OMS), as well as the Federal Service of State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr).
According to the intelligence report, Russian employers will be forced to inform military commissariats about conscripted workers. Those who evade mobilization and refuse to provide the necessary data for the registry "will not be provided with public services."
"The Russian authorities will monitor every step of conscripts, which will allow the mobilization of those who do not live at the place of registration. Conscripts will also not be able to leave for other countries, because they will not be released through border crossing points," the SSO said.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the country to neighboring nations, including Georgia, Finland, Kazakstan and Mongolia, after Putin announced a "partial" military mobilization on September 21.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia would be targeting 300,000 reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience." However, the figure in Putin's decree has not been disclosed to the public.
The Kremlin said on October 31 that the partial mobilization had ended. The ISW has assessed, however, that Russia is "covertly" mobilizing troops.
The SSO said a new wave of mobilization in Russia is expected in February 2023. The Kremlin has so far denied plans for another phase of mobilization.
According to a report from Telegram channel We Can Explain, military recruitment offices nationwide have already received orders from Russia's Ministry of Defense to ramp up preparations for mobilization.
The channel, citing three unnamed sources in military recruitment offices across the country, reported that Russian authorities do not intend to officially announce this new wave of mobilization.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
