Authorities in the Ryazan region have ordered businesses to nominate a minimum number of employees for contract military service, marking the latest iteration of government efforts to maintain a steady flow of troops to the front line in eastern Ukraine.
The directive, signed by Ryazan region Governor Pavel Malkov on March 20, instructs “entities regardless of their form of ownership” to set recruitment quotas by Sept. 20.
It appears to apply primarily to private businesses, but also to broadly defined “organizations” and “institutions,” which likely include non-profits and state-funded entities.
Quotas are based on company size. Firms with up to 300 employees are asked to nominate two “candidates” for contract service, while those with 500 or more employees must put forward five.
The directive, published last week on Russia’s official legal portal, cites President Vladimir Putin’s executive orders introducing martial law in occupied Ukrainian territories and related measures across Russian regions.
The news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported that regional laws in Ryazan may allow authorities to fine companies up to 1 million rubles ($12,200) for non-compliance with the new military recruitment quota, though the directive itself does not specify penalties.
Independent war monitor Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) said it was the first known case of an official document publicly outlining recruitment quotas for companies.
“Other regions, even if they formalize such orders in writing, probably don’t make them public,” a CIT spokesperson told the investigative outlet Agentstvo.
Agentstvo reported that other regions, including Tula south of Moscow, have adopted plans to recruit contract soldiers through local government bodies.
Timofey Vaskin, a lawyer who represents military conscripts, criticized the directive in the Ryazan region for what he described as its overly broad interpretation of Putin’s executive orders and said it would be “legally unenforceable.”
The Ryazan directive comes amid reports that the Russian military is losing soldiers in Ukraine more quickly than it can replace them.
Moscow has repeatedly denied plans for a new wave of mobilization.
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