MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The Russian military enlistment system needs to be streamlined and the bill on electronic military summonses is meant to help with the effort, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"This is about the need for us to streamline the system of keeping a record of, and calling up those who should serve in the military. Under the Constitution, our military calls up conscripts to serve. It’s a civil duty that’s enshrined in the constitution," the spokesman said.
He said experts were involved in working on the document and there were a lot of explanations.
"The way it was adopted was in compliance with the procedure stipulated for the State Duma. If there are any questions about any nuances related to the procedure, it’s best to refer them to the State Duma," Peskov said.
The State Duma on Tuesday passed the second and third readings of the bill that would provide for the establishment of a unified roster of military-age people and the introduction of electronic military summonses that would supplement their standard paper copies. The bill is designed to rectify the drawbacks of the military records system that came to light last year.
Andrey Kartapolov, the chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, has said the new system would reduce to a minimum any potential errors during conscription campaigns and the need for people to appear at conscription offices in person as they would have the option to access the system remotely. Peskov earlier told reporters that the legislation sought to streamline the military records system and didn’t mean a "second wave" of military mobilization was getting underway. The new legislation would apply to all military-age people.
