Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved amendments to the Criminal Code and other legislation that would impose harsh penalties on those who refuse military service or desert during mobilization, martial law, or wartime.
Refusal of military service, desertion, disobeying orders or resisting superiors will result in a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
With this revision, the wording "during the period of mobilization" was newly added to the law in addition to "during wartime", and not only professional soldiers but also convened reserves bear heavy criminal responsibility.
In Ukraine, the Russian military is said to be suffering from a serious shortage of personnel, and morale is reportedly declining, with soldiers who refuse to participate in combat leaving the unit. It seems that there is also an aim to ensure the mobilization of reserves, which was launched on the 21st of this month, while trying to tighten the situation.