The lower house of the Russian parliament has unanimously approved sending conscription documents electronically for the first time in the country’s history, as Moscow seeks to make it harder to avoid conscription.

The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, gave its preliminary approval to the law amendment in a so-called second reading of the relevant legislation.

Currently, conscripts are sent handwritten military call-ups to their registered addresses or places of work, which they are required to sign in person. Yet recruiters sometimes find it difficult to deliver the documents to the correct address.

After the change, call-ups will be sent electronically to the conscript’s personal account on the central government portal and will be deemed to have been delivered once sent electronically.

During the mobilization that took place at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, tens of thousands of soldiers left abroad. However, over 300,000 reservists are estimated to have been recruited, since President Vladimir Putin announced the emergency measure last year to support the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The amendments still need to be approved by the upper house of parliament and by President Vladimir Putin before they come into effect, Euronews reports.

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