The directive of the General Staff, which was amended by the Ministry of Defense (instead of adopting amendments to the law "On mobilization"), is a kind of recommendation to the military registration and enlistment offices. Its non-observance is not a violation of the rights of citizens. This was stated by the director of the human rights group “Citizen. Army. Right” Sergey Krivenko in a conversation with The Insider.
“The Ministry of Defense is forced to comply with the laws. If a citizen is called up in violation of the law, then through the military prosecutor's office or the court this call can be canceled. The directive of the General Staff is a by-law. This is a kind of recommendation to the military commissariats, the violation of which is not a violation of the rights of citizens. In addition, the directive can be quickly canceled or changed. This is a closed departmental document. And all laws should be open, laws are written for citizens.
Apparently, the Ministry of Defense is afraid that such a sharp narrowing of the category of mobilized will not give them now the opportunity to fulfill the mobilization plan. We see that in Moscow and St. Petersburg the mobilization was practically disrupted – the plans were reduced, and then for their implementation it was necessary to resort to gross violations of the law – round-ups and captures of people, which is very unpopular in society. The situation became so aggravated that Sobyanin was forced to urgently complete his mobilization in Moscow. And now the coffins will go to the regions – and such sentiments can spread to other regions.”
On October 26, the Ministry of Defense exempted fathers of two children with spouses with a pregnancy of more than 22 weeks, as well as fathers of disabled children, regardless of the number of children, from mobilization, State Duma deputy Nina Ostanina said. According to her, in return, the department demanded not to insist on the adoption of amendments to the law “On mobilization” until the end of the war. At the same time, in the case of new clauses on deferment for fathers of disabled children, changes were made to the directive of the General Staff, earlier Ostanina herself complained that the chairman of the Defense Committee, for unknown reasons, withdrew the draft law on amendments to the Federal Law "On mobilization" submitted by deputies.
State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stated that fathers of many children with three or more children under 16 are exempt from "partial" mobilization. According to him, more than 9,500 fathers were recalled from military units and returned to their families. At the same time, no relevant law was adopted and published, and a bill was previously submitted to the State Duma on exempting children under 18 from the mobilization of fathers with many children.