Russia banned Tajik citizens who have citizenship of the Russian Federation and Tajikistan from leaving the country after receiving an electronic summons. This is reported by the Tajik service of Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) with reference to Tajiks living in Russia, who learned about it on the State Services website.
“They sent me a summons and informed me that from now on I have no right to leave the country. They advised me to contact the local authorities for details,” the source from St. Petersburg said.
According to him, he has been living in Russia for the last 25 years and this is the first time he has received a summons from the military registration and enlistment office. “It’s like I’m in captivity here. On the one hand, I don’t want to go to war and shed someone’s blood. On the other hand, I’m not allowed to leave this country,” he said.
Human rights activist Valentina Chupyk said that she was also contacted by persons with dual citizenship, who began to receive electronic summonses. According to her, it is possible that they will be sent to war in Ukraine. According to her, persons with dual citizenship are used by the Russian authorities as a “human shield” or “sacrificial ram”.
“Everyone who has not yet received a summons should urgently leave Russia on national passports. You should not count on age, having many children, illness, lack of registration and lack of experience in military service. And those who have already received a summons should know: from now on they have there will be no official work, no pension, no decent life in Russia,” she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously signed a law that introduces electronic agendas on a par with paper ones. In particular, it states that the summons will be considered received from the moment it is posted in the personal account of the person liable for military service on the State Services portal. The new rules for obtaining subpoenas to appear at the military registration and enlistment office will apply not only to conscripts, but to all those liable for military service in Russia.
All persons liable for military service who have received a summons in any of the forms specified in the law are prohibited from leaving Russia. In case of failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office after 20 calendar days from the date specified in the agenda, a warning is sent through the State Services. Upon receipt of this warning, a number of citizen’s rights are limited – for example, a ban on registration as an individual entrepreneur, a ban on registration with the tax service, a ban on the sale of real estate, obtaining loans, and so on.
The number of Tajiks seeking Russian citizenship is growing. So, in 2016, 23 thousand Tajiks received Russian citizenship, in 2017 – 29 thousand, in 2018 – 35.7 thousand, in 2019 – 44.7 thousand, in 2020 – 63.3 thousand, in 2021 – 103.6 thousand, for the nine months of 2022 – 119,609, and in the first quarter of 2023 – 44,854.
The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, said earlier in an interview that those who receive Russian citizenship receive not only rights, but also a constitutional obligation to protect the country that has adopted them.
