The Russian Defense Ministry stated that neither diabetes nor cardiovascular diseases will become grounds for exemption from military service. The comment also covered those drafted under partial mobilization, noted by Interfax.
At a meeting of the coordination council of human rights commissioners, Alexander Sergoventsev, deputy head of the ministry’s main military medical department, said there are no plans to widen the exemption list. He suggested that if diabetes were added, hypertension would have to be included as well.
He warned that hypertension and coronary disease would likely be added to the list as part of a broader move, arguing that this could lead to a situation where very few soldiers remain exempt because many personnel carry chronic illnesses.
According to Sergoventsev, the policy aligns with a government decree and must be observed.
The area is guided by Federal Law No. 31 of 1997, Government Decree No. 852 of 2006, and a presidential decree on partial mobilization, he noted.
He recalled that there are three clear categories of those not serving: criminal liability, the age limit of 65, and a disability classification described as category “D” that renders a person ineligible for service.
Earlier, a government commission on legislative activity did not back a bill that would grant deferrals from mobilization to all entrepreneurs. The government argued there were already multiple grounds for delay, making the proposal unnecessary, according to the reports.
“New voices” pressed for the document’s passage. By the end of last year, data reported by Vladislav Davankov, the first vice president of a political group, indicated that more than 27,000 entrepreneurs and only about 1,300 officials had been mobilized in the country. He stressed that creators of jobs are primarily entrepreneurs.
On the other side, the conflict intensified as heavy losses occurred in professional units of Ukraine, with mobilized troops sent to Artemovsk (the Ukrainian name Bakhmut) without adequate training, highlighting the ongoing strains of the conflict.