After some Russians they tried to burn the registers of conscription points and tens of thousands of men fleeing mobilization this fall, Russia now wants to send reservist draft orders by mail, Reuters reports.

Russia’s lower house of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to introduce an electronic draft order for reservists for the first time in the country’s history, as Moscow seeks to make it harder to avoid mobilisation.

Some lawmakers complained that the changes were rushed through without giving them enough time to study them carefully.

The move is part of Moscow’s efforts to improve the system it has used to build up its military forces in Ukraine, although government officials say there are currently no plans to force more people to fight in Ukraine.

Russia says it mobilized just over 300,000 people last year to help it in what it calls a “special military operation” but is now focusing on trying to recruit professional volunteer soldiers through a publicity campaign.

“We need to improve and modernize the conscription system,” Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said at a briefing on Tuesday, also recalling the “problems” that arose last year with the mobilization campaign.

The initial decision to introduce conscription for the first time since World War II sent tens of thousands of men of draft age fleeing abroad, while some protests broke out in several Russian cities and were quickly quelled.

Peskov says that there will be no second mobilization

Peskov rejected suggestions that the digitization plans could trigger a new wave of panic and emigration among young Russians seeking to escape the war in Ukraine.

“(This plan) is not related to mobilization,” he said, repeating earlier assurances that there are no plans for a second wave of mobilization.

How the new electronic recruitment system will work

Under the current system, men who fall into military recruiters are issued paper summonses at their address of registration.

Recruiters sometimes had a hard time delivering documents and knowing if they had the correct address.

Under the new proposals, the summons will be sent electronically to the potential recruit’s personal account from the main government portal. They will be deemed delivered as soon as they are sent electronically.

After receiving an electronic summons, according to the law, citizens who did not appear before the military commissariat will automatically be prohibited from leaving the country.

“The subpoena is considered received from the moment it is entered in the personal cabinet of the conscript,” said Andriy Kartapolov, head of the defense committee of the Russian parliament.

Last year, the Kremlin promised to correct “mistakes” in its initial mobilization campaign, in which men who were ineligible for mobilization due to age or health conditions were called up to fight in Ukraine.

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