Moscow: Russia announced on Friday that it would exempt some bankers, information technology workers, and journalists from being drafted into the army to serve in Ukraine as part of President Vladimir Putin's mobilisation.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that Russia would seek to call up 300,000 additional troops for its war in Ukraine in a "partial mobilisation."
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the section of the official decree announcing mobilisation that included the number of people who would be drafted was kept classified and unpublished.
Some employees working in critical industries would be excluded from the draught, according to Russia's defence ministry, in order to "ensure the work of specific hi-tech industries, as well as Russia's financial system."
Some IT workers, telecommunications workers, finance professionals, and employees at "systemically important" mass media outlets and interdependent suppliers, including registered media and broadcasters, are exempt.
Russia considers major employers and core companies in specific industries to be "systemically important" if they meet certain headcount, revenue, or annual tax payments thresholds.
The classification entitles firms to special Kremlin benefits such as government-backed loans, bailouts, and state investment, most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A number of state-run TV channels, radio stations, news agencies, and newspapers, as well as some of Russia's few privately-held media outlets, were previously classified as such.
According to the defence ministry, company heads should create lists of employees who meet the criteria and can be excluded from the draught.
Many Russian companies appear to have been caught off guard by Putin's mobilisation order, which came after weeks of speculation about how Russia would respond to a conflict that is now in its seventh month and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, according to Kiev and the West.
For the time being, we're looking into it. "We're trying to figure out how this is going to work," a source at a large non-state company said on Friday, shortly after the defence ministry issued its statement. Russia's central bank applauded the decision to bar some financial professionals from being called up and stated that some of its employees met the relevant criteria.
"Employees in critical areas will remain in their positions so that the financial system can continue to function smoothly, people can receive their salaries, pensions, and social benefits on time, card payments and transfers work, and new loans can be issued," the central bank said in a statement.
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