Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, has partially restored control of its border with the neighboring country, Belarusian Foreign Minister Serhii Aleynik said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Guardianciting the Associated Press.

This is the first time in 28 years that there was border control, reports AP.

According to Aleynik, the purpose of introducing border control was to prevent citizens of third countries from entering Belarus until the intergovernmental agreement on mutual recognition of visas is implemented.

However, human rights activists believe that the border controls are aimed at Russian men who are trying to avoid conscription into the Russian army.

Aleynik noted that the inspection of persons crossing the Belarusian-Russian border is carried out by Belarusian border guards in close cooperation with their Russian colleagues. “It’s not exactly control, it’s more like monitoring the situation at the border,” Aleynik told reporters in Moscow.

In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that simplifies the mobilization of Russians into the army.

According to the new law, reservists can now be mobilized electronically, through the portal of Russian public services.

Previously, the summons had to be served personally.

In September 2022, President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists, the implementation of which has often been chaotic.

Last week, the Russian government rejected an initiative to exempt from “partial” mobilization citizens who had not completed military service at the time of its decision.

The draft law on this matter was developed and submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, by a deputy from the CPRF Mykhailo Matveev, who proposed a number of amendments to supplement the law “On the preparation and conduct of mobilization in the Russian Federation”.

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