Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Does Russia have mandatory military service?
Conscription in Russia (in Russia is known as Russian: всеобщая воинская обязанность or "universal military obligation" or "liability for military service") is a 12-month draft, mandatory for all male citizens age 18–27, with a number of exceptions. The mandatory term of service was reduced from two years in 2007-2008.[1][2] Avoiding draft is felony under Russian criminal code and punishable by up to 2 years of imprisonment.[3]
How citizenship is tied to military service plays an important role in establishing civil-military relations. Countries with volunteer-based military service versus universal conscription have a different mindset. In some countries, men must have served with the military to be considered a citizen. Compare historical Prussia, where every male was required to serve, and service was a requirement of citizenship, to post-Vietnam America's all-volunteer army. In 2016 in Israel, military service is mandatory. This creates a society where almost all people have served in the armed forces. 
Having completed the initial part of the service as a conscript, the soldier is placed in the reserve. Reservists may be called for mandatory refresher exercises. Rank and file serve a maximum of 40 days, specialists 75 days and officers and NCOs 100 days. Per refresher course day, the reservists receive a taxable salary of about fifty euros. The salary depends slightly on the military rank: officers receive €56, NCOs €53 and rank-and file €51 per day. The service is mandatory; it is not possible to refuse an order to attend the refresher exercise, only to apply for a postponement of the service if personal or employer's urgent and non-avoidable needs require this. The postponement is not always granted. If the reservist experiences a crisis of conscience that prevents him or her from further execution of military service, the reservist can apply for civilian service. The civilian service for reservists takes a form of a five-day course at Lapinjärvi Civilian Service Institution. After the course, the reservist is permanently freed of military service during peace and war.
Mandatory sex segregation is legally required and enforces separation based on sex. Examples include separation of men and women in prisons, law enforcement, military service, restrooms, and housing. These mandatory rules can be nuanced, as in military service, where sexes are often separated in laws about conscription, in housing, and in regulations on which sexes can participate in certain roles, like frontline infantry. Mandatory sex segregation also includes less obvious cases of separation, as when men and women are required to have same-sex attendants for body searches. Mandatory sex segregation can thus dictate parameters for employment in sex segregated spaces, including medical and care work contexts, and can be a form of occupational segregation. For example, a government may mandate that clinics hire female nurses to care for female patients.
Technically, military service with the PLA is obligatory for all Chinese citizens. In practice, mandatory military service has not been implemented since 1949 as the People's Liberation Army has been able to recruit sufficient numbers voluntarily. All 18-year-old males have to register themselves with the government authorities, in a way similar to the Selective Service System of the United States. In practice, registering does not mean that the person doing so must join the People's Liberation Army.
The reserves will consist of those who have completed their national service and military personnel who have finished their time in the Armed Forces.
Bulgaria had mandatory military service for males above 18 until conscription was ended in 2008. Due to a shortfall in the army of some 5500 soldiers, parts of the current ruling coalition have expressed their support for the return of mandatory military service, most notably Krasimir Karakachanov. Opposition towards this idea from the main coalition partner, GERB, has seen a compromise, where instead of mandatory military service, Bulgaria could possibly introduce a voluntary military service by 2019 where young citizens can volunteer for a period of 6 to 9 months, and will receive a basic wage.
Russian and some Western observers, as well as a few people who have been personally involved with the Wagner Group, believe that the organization does not actually exist as a private military company and is but a myth created by Russian propaganda. They believe it is in reality a disguised branch of the Russian MoD that ultimately reports to the Russian government. Private military companies are not legally allowed in Russia; nevertheless a number of them appear to have been operating in Russia and in April 2012 Vladimir Putin, then Russian prime minister, speaking in the State Duma endorsed an idea of setting up PMCs in Russia. Several military analysts described Wagner as a "pseudo-private" military company that offers the Russian military establishment certain advantages such as ensuring plausible deniability, public secrecy about Russia′s military operations abroad, as well as about the number of losses. Thus, Wagner contractors have been described as "ghost soldiers", due to the Russian government not officially acknowledging them. In March 2017, "Radio Liberty" characterized the "ChVK Wagner" as a ″semi-legal militant formation that exists under the wing and on the funds of the Ministry of Defence″. In September 2017, the chief of Ukraine′s Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Hrytsak said that in their opinion Wagner was in essence ″a private army of Putin″ and that the SBU were ″working on identifying these people, members of Wagner PMC, to make this information public so that our partners in Europe knew them personally″. The Wagner Group has also been compared with Academi, the American security firm formerly known as Blackwater.
The album features 10 members, marking the return of members Leeteuk and Heechul after their mandatory military service. It features the vocals of Yesung in some songs, who was in mandatory military service during the production of the album.
Barkan has been described as having evaded mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He himself has said that he refused to complete his mandatory military service. “There's a lot of social pressure [in Israel],” he told "Al-Jazeera" in 2011. “We're raised to be soldiers from kindergarten. We're taught that it's our duty [to serve in the army] and you're a parasite or traitor if you don't want to serve.” He said that Israelis “are raised to be deeply racist,” and described his support for BDS as a means of “renouncing my privileges in this land and insisting on equality for all.” He does not, however, support the turning away of Israeli academics or musicians from conferences or other gatherings abroad because they are Israelis, saying that such conduct amounts to racism.
Switzerland has mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens, who are conscripted when they reach the age of majority, though women may volunteer for any position. People determined unfit for service, where fitness is defined as "satisfying physically, intellectually and psychological requirements for military service or civil protection service and being capable of accomplishing these services without harming oneself or others", are exempted from service but pay a 3% additional annual income tax until the age of 30, unless they are affected by a disability. Almost 20% of all conscripts were found unfit for military or civilian service in 2008; the rate is generally higher in urban cantons such as Zurich and Geneva than in the rural ones. Swiss citizens living abroad are generally exempted from conscription in time of peace while dual citizenship by itself does not grant such exemption.
The Central Band of the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia, also known as the Russian Frontier Guard Band is a special military unit that is the official military band service for the Border Service of the FSB of Russia. The band is a branch of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia and is one of the leading music ensembles in the Russian Federation. It is professionally associated with the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
Portugal abolished compulsory military service on 19 November 2004. Before that, military service was mandatory for all men.
The Soldiers' Mothers Movement was formed in 1989 to expose human rights violations in the armed forces and to help youths resist the draft. The movement has gained national prominence through its opposition to the war in Chechnya. Numerous protests have been organized, and representatives have gone to the Chechen capital, Groznyy, to demand the release of Russian prisoners and locate missing soldiers. The group, which claimed 10,000 members in 1995, also has lobbied against extending the term of mandatory military service.
Military Governors have the right to inspect troops and military establishments in the area. The Military Governor does not interfere in the internal control and the economy of the troops if the field troops located in the regions, which have their direct command, depend on the Military Governors only for the performance of local service.
As of 1 January, 2011, Serbia no longer practises mandatory military service. Prior to this, mandatory military service lasted 6 months for men. Conscientious objectors could however opt for 9 months of civil service instead. 
The conscription system was introduced into Imperial Russia by Dmitry Milyutin on 1 January 1874. As of 2008, the Russian Federation has a mandatory 12 months draft. Some examples of how people avoid being drafted are:
Within the EU, mandatory military service exists, at least in peacetime, only in Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, and Greece (In all countries but Cyprus, alternative service is available). Within the EFTA countries, only Switzerland requires it (alternative service is available); Iceland and Liechtenstein have no armed forces; in Norway, military service is de jure mandatory, but the enforcement is limited, so some sources claim it is de facto voluntary.
, Serbia no longer practises mandatory military service. Prior to this, mandatory military service lasted 6 months for men. Conscientious objectors could however opt for 9 months of civil service instead.
Iran has mandatory military service for men which starts at the age of 18. Duration of military service is normally 24 months but it can be also varying according to some conditions and circumstances. There is a 24-month military service for general, 22 months for destitute areas and 20 months for boundary areas; there is two months for military education. There are exceptions for those who cannot serve because of physical or mental health problems or disabilities. Students are exempt as long as they are attending school. The higher the education of a man, the higher his rank will be in the military service. Since 2008 and the commence of Iran's National Elites Foundation (Bonyade Mellie Nokhbegan), students or university graduates who are accepted as members of this organization (because of their special achievements, e.g., recognized researchers with proven accomplishments, national and international olympiad medalists and winners of invention competitions) can have a "scientific research" substitution instead of mandatory military service, and the research grant is given to these members from military universities, otherwise, formally these members are regarded as "soldiers" who are spending the mandatory military service program, and in any publication related to that research, their citations have to be that of the military university giving the research grant. The 45-day mandatory military training is applicable even for those who are members of Iran's National Elites Foundation.
The Russian military is divided into the Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Missile Troops, Aerospace Defence Forces, and the Airborne Troops. , the military comprised over 1 million active duty personnel, the fifth largest in the world. Additionally, there are over 2.5 million reservists, with the total number of reserve troops possibly being as high as 20 million. It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces.
Bentin was born in Bucharest, Romania. In 1958 Bentin immigrated to Israel and grew up in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel and later on attended the military command boarding school in Haifa. Later on Bentin served his mandatory military service in the Israeli Defense Forces in the Paratroopers Brigade. After his mandatory military service Bentin continued to serve in the IDF as a permanent service, moved to the armored corps and established the reconnaissance company of the 14th Brigade.
Other main structures, include:, Norway employs a weak form of mandatory military service for men and women. While 63,841 men and women were called in for the examination of persons liable for military service in 2012 (mandatory for men), 9265 were conscripted. In practice recruits are not forced to serve, instead only those who are motivated are selected. In earlier times, up until at least the early 2000s, all men aged 19–44 were subject to mandatory service, with good reasons required to avoid becoming drafted.
Mandatory military training at the universities was mandated on August 8, 1951, military departments were mandated on October 1, 1951 and set up within few years at every university. Typically, for 4 years (later 2 years) one day in a week was dedicated to military training. Two military exercises (one month during the summer each) were held after 2nd and 4th year. After successful exams the students obtained minor military officer rank (", typically platoon leader) and their future mandatory military service was reduced to one year (the others served for two years). Exempted were those who took the military service prior the study, those unfit for the service for health reason and women.
Those eligible will have to report to authorities to determine their service status. The sole son of a family and medically unfit citizens would benefit from an exemption to military service. Those who sustain their parents or disabled siblings and those serving jail terms would benefit from a temporary exemption. Once the reason for temporary exemption is over, those people have to report to the authorities to undergo the military service.