A court in the Russian Federation for the first time recognized the right of the brothers and sons of killed conscripts not to serve in the army

The Sixth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction decided to exempt from military service the sons and brothers of conscripts who died during hostilities. The “Conscript School”* drew attention to the court’s decision.

The plaintiff in this case is Ivan Smolnikov, a conscript from the Kirov region. He challenged the decision of the military registration and enlistment office to call him up for service, insisting that he had the right to a deferment due to the death of his mobilized brother during military operations in Ukraine. The court rejected his claims, pointing out that military mobilization service is equivalent to contract service and cannot be considered conscription service.

After this, Smolnikov filed a complaint with the Kirov Regional Court and won the case. The court ordered the military registration and enlistment office to consider the issue of releasing the conscript from military service, indicating that

mobilization service is considered conscription service, and the brothers and sons of those killed during its completion may not serve in the army.

The military registration and enlistment office filed a cassation appeal to the Sixth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction, but it upheld the decision of the Kirov Regional Court.

*The Ministry of Justice considers him a “foreign agent”