Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a little-publicized decree last month that requires many foreign men who seek permanent residency or citizenship to sign a contract with the military in the midst of Moscow’s war against Ukraine, an RFE/RL investigation has found.
State-run and privately owned Russian media outlets have made almost no mention of the requirement, which is highly unusual in international practice, since Putin signed Decree No. 821 on November 5.
But the new measure is already pushing migrants who have built their lives in Russia to choose between conscription and leaving the country, Systema, RFE/RL’s Russian investigative unit, and Azattyq Asia, its Russian-language unit covering Central Asia, have discovered.
Akif, a 48-year-old who came to Russia from Azerbaijan four years ago, found out about the requirement when he visited a Federal Migration Service office recently to ask what documents he needed to apply for permanent residency, his wife, Maria, told RFE/RL. She spoke on condition that their last names be withheld.
‘Pawns In The Meat Grinder’
Akif and Maria, a Russian citizen, were married three years ago and have built a house and farm in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where they keep sheep, goats, and rabbits. Akif had met other requirements, passing a Russian language test and receiving temporary residency.
But the couple has decided to leave the country, abandoning Akif’s plan to seek permanent residency. “We don’t know what to do -- we are pawns in this meat grinder,” Maria said.
A permanent residence permit gives migrants legal stability: they can leave and reenter Russia without additional visas and work without a separate work permit. For many migrants from other former Soviet republics, it is the only path toward citizenship.
Under Putin’s decree, in order to apply for permanent residency, certain categories of men must present a military contract for at least one year of service, a contract for service in the Emergency Situations Ministry, or a certificate from a military enlistment office stating that they are unfit for service.
Similar rules apply to men seeking Russian citizenship: They must present a certificate stating that they are unfit or proof that they have served in the military or Emergency Situations Ministry and were discharged before February 24, 2022, the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These requirements apply to men seeking permanent residency or citizenship based on long-term residency or family circumstances. Applicants in other categories, such as highly qualified specialists and those seeking documents based on studies in Russia, are exempt.
The decree does not apply to men from Belarus, Russia’s military ally. And for citizens of Kazakhstan and Moldova, the requirement is in place only for applications for citizenship, not permanent residency. Separate rules exist for citizens of Ukraine. The decree says the measures are temporary, but gives no timeframe.
‘I Forbade Him To Sign’
Another migrant who learned of the requirement unexpectedly is Burxon, 24, who came from Tajikistan about a year ago and works in the oil-producing Khanty-Mansiisk region. He was told at a government office that he would sign a military contract to apply for permanent residency, according to his father.
“He listens to me. And I forbade him to sign a contract,” Burxon’s father told Azattyq Asia in Tajikistan.
Other than a repeat of the unpopular September 2022 mobilization drive that prompted many to flee the country, the Russian military has left few paths untrodden in its effort to maintain manpower in the war, in which Western intelligence agencies and others say more than 1 million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded.
Russia has recruited men from around the world and sought to draft male migrants since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Some foreigners have signed contracts voluntarily in exchange for large payments or simplified citizenship procedures. Moscow has steadily expanded such incentives as the war has dragged on.
Foreign soldiers fighting in Ukraine do not have to pass the Russian-language exam for citizenship, for example. And Russian lawmakers have recently considered a draft law clarifying that foreigners who fought on Russia’s side would not be extradited to other countries that seek them for criminal prosecution or enforcement of a sentence.
In May 2025, Russian Investigative Committee chief Aleksandr Bastrykin said that at least 20,000 naturalized men from Central Asia were fighting at the front, while another 10,000 had been sent “to dig trenches.”
Not The Norm
Newly naturalized citizens have been summoned to migration offices and threatened with losing their citizenship if they refuse to fight. Recently, naturalized migrants have also been detained in large-scale raids and pressured to sign military contracts.
Officially, the decree marks the first time the pressure is reaching non-citizens. It marks a departure from widespread practice globally: In most countries with mandatory military service, it applies to citizens and, less often, to permanent residents.
The news coverage, or lack thereof, is also unusual. Russian outlets routinely publish or describe Putin’s decrees, but in this case, reports on the decree in major print and electronic media did not mention the requirement directly, saying that a simplified procedure to receive residency or citizenship was in place for foreigners who join up.
Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, said there appeared to be two motives behind the decree.
“With these rules, the Russian government solves two problems,” Umarov told Systema. “It increases mobilization at the expense of people who have limited ability to defend their rights, and it makes long-term migration to Russia less attractive.”
“Migrants in the future will have to come to Russia exclusively as a labor resource and workforce,” he said.
