Belarus bars Russian conscripts from leaving country

Belarusian authorities have announced that Russian citizens who have received draft notices will be barred from traveling abroad via Belarusian territory, as reported by the independent outlet Belsat on April 29.

According to the report, Belarus and Russia share conscription databases, giving Belarusian security services access to the records and allowing them to detain people listed in them.

The Belarusian State Border Committee replied to a Belsat correspondent that a man with Russian citizenship who has received a draft notice cannot leave either Russia or Belarus.

"If leaving is prohibited, then all questions should be directed to the Russian Federation. If the person is on the (draft) list, they will not be allowed to leave. If they are not on the list of those restricted from leaving, we will let them go," the State Border Committee said.

"If the Russian Federation hasn't issued a travel ban against him and his documents are in order, then he'll be allowed to leave (Belarus)," it added.

Earlier, Russian human rights defenders, the Movement of Conscientious Objectors, reported on April 27 that a conscript from Russia's St. Petersburg, who had been barred from leaving Russia, was prevented from leaving Belarusian territory.

Denys Chystikov, deputy permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in Crimea, wrote on Facebook on April 28 that Ukrainian citizens living in Russian-occupied territories who plan to leave "Should pay particular attention" to the development at the Belarusian border.

"While Belarus might have previously 'overlooked' Russian restrictions, the risk of being detained or turned back at the border has now significantly increased," Chystikov wrote.

"Possession of a Russian passport now automatically adds you to their military registries," he added.

The route out of the occupied territories often runs through the Belarusian border, as the only humanitarian corridor is located between the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders at the Mokrany-Domanove crossing.

In occupied territories, Ukrainians are forced to take Russian passports and register for military service, allowing Russia to draft them.

This is despite the fact that the mobilization of civilians violates the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and is regarded as a war crime under international humanitarian law.

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