Overview

• The Government Commission on Legislative Activities approved a Defense Ministry draft to amend defense laws so contract reservists can be called for defined tasks through special assemblies.
• The proposed mechanism covers counterterrorism operations, responses to armed conflicts, and deployments involving the use of Russian forces outside the country.
• Eligibility is limited to citizens who have voluntarily signed contracts to serve in the mobilization reserve, excluding the broader pool of reservists.
• The draft shifts beyond current law, which restricts such call-ups to wartime or mobilization and permits only one annual training assembly.
• Duma defense committee chair Andrei Kartapolov said the mechanism could be used in parts of Ukraine such as Sumy and Kharkiv, and the bill now proceeds to parliamentary review.