Russian lawmakers propose raising draft age for naturalized citizens to 50, Russian State Duma speaker criticizes bill

A group of Russian lawmakers has introduced a bill to the Russian State Duma which proposes increasing the draft age from 30 to 50 years for men with acquired Russian citizenship.

The authors of the bill argue that naturalized Russian citizens either evade military registration or deliberately wait until they’ve reached the age of 30 before applying for citizenship.

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin criticized the legislative initiative and said he would propose its withdrawal. “The issue has not been thoroughly thought out. Such topics need to be discussed comprehensively before being brought into the public domain,” Volodin told RIA Novosti.

In recent months, the Russian authorities have been more actively offering migrants expedited citizenship in exchange for signing contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. Additionally, Russian police have been detaining naturalized citizens during raids and taking them to military enlistment offices.