Blog - Military ticket
Military service
Every Russian male age 18-27 is in principle obliged to serve a 12 month draft in the army. There are some much sought-after ways around it, the army is not a popular place, but that can be quite a hassle, up to the point of hiding from the authorities and not being able to leave the country.Lucky for me, around the time when I was granted Russian citizenship, I turned 29, so I'm too old :) I do not have to go in active service, and will not be hazed or worse… I do, however, have to get my …
Military ticket (voenniy bilet)
Every Russian male up to age 55 is obliged by law to have a military ticket ("voenniy bilet"). This ticket, which is actually a booklet, not unlike a passport, mentions military history, rank, height, weight and other useful military information. Since I am now a Russian male, I needed to get one to, so I went to the …Military commissariat (voenkomat)
There's plenty of horror stories about the military commissariat ("voenkomat"), including horrible lines (nothing new there) and shouting/other psychological abuse. I didn't notice any of these things, and found the entire process to be surprisingly easy.The first time I got there I spent maybe 10 minutes in the wrong line and another 5 in the right one. I was handed two lists with medical examinations to be performed. One I could do at voenkomat itself, but not after I'd gotten the results from the other from my local …
State polyclinic
When I got my first full health check 3 years ago in my local state polyclinic, the lines were long, the hospital building old and worn, and the general atmosphere depressing. I was glad to get voluntary medical insurance from my employer not long afterwards, and had not been at a state polyclinic since. The prospect of having to go back was not very enticing… (Voluntary medical insurance didn't cover these examinations.)How wrong I was :) The state polyclinic had since moved to a new building across the road, the lines had become significantly shorter, and it was even possible to make an appointment with the doctor! :)
The days after I gave blood, had an echocardiogram and photofluorography made, and in less than a week all the results were in. So I headed back to …
Voenkomat
When I had first gone there, I was told conscription would start soon, and that there would thus be long, long lines. I had better get there early. I showed up an hour before it opened, and there was no one there. No one. The guard even came out and asked me what I was doing there :P (We had a nice chat afterward, about how he's stuck in his ways and thus cannot accept the idea of gay marriage, and how he used to be a pilot during the Soviet Union. Older Russians can be quite interesting :)Turns out that conscription would start a week later, so I'd gotten there just in time. Soon after I got to do my second list of examinations, which consisted of visiting 6 or so different doctors, who took a good hard look at me, asked if I had any illnesses, physical complaints, took drugs and the like, and after a resolute "no" all put their signature without too much ado.
Lastly, I handed in the standard paperwork concerning my birth, education, marital status, employment, measurements, and knowledge of languages, and that was that :) Another two weeks, and I can go pick up my voenniy bilet. (Since I'm nothing special and have no military education whatsoever, I'll probably be reserve cannon fodder :P) In the meantime, the spravka I received was enough to redo my contract with …