Russian men of draft age could be denied passports for foreign travel if they lack military IDs

The absence of a military ID for a man of draft age could become grounds for refusing to accept documents for a foreign passport application, according to materials from Russia’s Interior Ministry reviewed by the Russian state news agency TASS.The materials list several grounds for refusing to accept foreign passport applications, including the absence of a military ID for an applicant of draft age.The TASS report, widely cited by other media outlets, gives no further details, and it remains unclear whether it describes a change to the current procedure for issuing foreign passports. The report also cites provisions governing domestic Russian passports that are already in effect.Human rights activists have repeatedly said that applicants, including those of draft age, need to present a military ID when applying for a foreign passport only if they already have one. The same applies to a certificate from the local draft office, they said.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.