← All situations
Someone close is at war: refusing to fight, AWOL, missing or captured
Draft First minutes: what human rights defenders usually advise
Someone close is at war: missing, captured or wanting out
Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.
- If contact is lost, human rights groups advise writing straight away to the unit, the enlistment office, the military prosecutor and the human rights ombudsman. Keep copies of every request and reply.
- After 6 months without news a court can declare the person missing. Searching, getting the status and giving a DNA sample are free — anyone asking for money is usually a scammer.
- A contract or mobilised soldier can state in writing that they refuse to bear arms on grounds of conscience and push for a medical board. Human rights groups advise doing this with a lawyer.
- Leaving a unit without permission is a criminal offence (art. 337 CC), and those prosecuted are often sent back to the front before any trial. Get advice before taking any step.
- Where to turn: Call to Conscience, Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg, Our Way Out, Go by the Forest (Idite Lesom). Relatives' public appeals sometimes lead to pressure, so talk the risks through first.
current as of September 25.
More: Call to Conscience: review of persecution of soldiers who refused to fight; Our Way Out: a soldier has stopped getting in touch (foreign agent); T—Zh: who helps conscripts and soldiers in 2026
Draft First minutes: what human rights defenders usually advise
Pressured or forced to sign a military contract
Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.
- Refusing to sign carries no penalty. In practice the contract is open-ended — until mobilisation ends — and the posting is decided by the Defence Ministry, not the recruiter.
- Signed but not yet in service: immediately file a withdrawal statement at the enlistment office in two copies with a receipt stamp — a representative with power of attorney can do it.
- A conscript being pushed or forced: submit a withdrawal report to the commander before the contract order is signed; parents can write to the unit commander and the ministry. Collect evidence of pressure.
- If the contract is already in force: complain to the military prosecutor and sue in the garrison military court within three months of signing, asking for interim protection.
- If there is violence a conscript may leave the unit but must report to military investigators within 48 hours, or risk a case under art. 337 CC. Where to turn: Call to Conscience, Soldiers' Mothers, COM.
current as of September 25.
More: Call to Conscience: contract recruitment; Call to Conscience: a conscript forced into a contract
Who helps
5 organisations
Helps people refuse military service: advice for conscripts, mobilised soldiers, contract soldiers and their families, court defence, conscientious objection.
If Telegram doesn't open: Delta Chat · agsnowar@gmail.com · website
online
How to avoid conscription and mobilisation; helps servicemen leave the country and find asylum.
The only official bot is @iditelesom_info_bot. There are fakes with lookalike names: @iditeiesom_info_bot, @lditelesom_info_bot. The real bot never asks for money or codes.
If Telegram doesn't open: website
abroad foreign agent
link checked September 25
Legal ways to avoid military service: exemption from conscription, alternative civilian service, reserve status.
The website is blocked in Russia; open it via a VPN.
If Telegram doesn't open: info@stoparmy.org
in Russia and abroad foreign agent
link checked September 25
A movement of relatives: helps search for missing soldiers and press for the return of prisoners of war, and advises where to send requests.
If Telegram doesn't open: info@nvyhod.org · website
online foreign agent
Lawyers for political cases →