Yevgeny Poddubny, a\u00a0\u201cwar correspondent\u201d for Russian state broadcaster VGTRK who heads United Russia\u2019s electoral list, asked Vladimir Putin to\u00a0allow volunteers with a\u00a0Category D\u00a0fitness classification to\u00a0serve in\u00a0regional units defending against Ukrainian drone attacks.<\/p>\n
During a\u00a0medical examination, conscripts and volunteers are assigned one of\u00a0five fitness categories \u2014 A, B, V, G, or\u00a0D\u00a0\u2014 based on\u00a0their health. Only people in\u00a0Categories A\u00a0and B\u00a0may be\u00a0called up\u00a0for regular conscript service or\u00a0alternative civilian service.<\/p>\n
People in\u00a0Category V\u00a0are exempt from regular conscript service and assigned to\u00a0the reserves. Category G\u00a0grants a\u00a0temporary deferment of\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a0one year, followed by\u00a0another medical examination. Category D\u00a0exempts people from military service entirely.<\/p>\n
Poddubny claimed that wounded soldiers themselves were asking for the change.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf\u00a0course, people in\u00a0this category have severe medical conditions, but there are cases where [\u2026] people are capable of\u00a0carrying out certain tasks \u2014 for example, serving in\u00a0regional units for air defense and destroying drones. Obviously, not everyone\u00a0can. But there is\u00a0a\u00a0core group of\u00a0volunteers who have assessed their own abilities and are pleading for an\u00a0exception that would allow them to\u00a0serve in\u00a0regional units that protect facilities from drones. Obviously, this is\u00a0not about the front line. Their own city, their own village, their own workplace,\u201d Poddubny said.<\/p>\n
Putin replied, \u201cZhenya, I\u00a0support it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poddubny made the proposal amid rumors that Russia will see another large-scale wave of\u00a0mobilization this fall. Russian authorities deny having any such plans. Vladimir Putin has called the mobilization rumors \u201ccomplete nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Category D\u00a0is\u00a0assigned to\u00a0people with severe, irreversible medical conditions, including blindness, deafness in\u00a0both ears, and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n
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