Discharge at the end of a contract and on reaching the age limit

What is happening

The contract has ended, you do not intend to sign a new one, the application went in well in advance — and nothing happens. You are still treated as a serviceman, given tasks, and told that 'nobody is being discharged at the moment'.

The age limit is a separate question: Article 49 of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of 28 March 1998 on Military Duty and Military Service fixes an age up to which service is possible, and staying on beyond it requires a new contract made under the proper rules. That formality is often skipped.

Another common situation is being told the contract has been extended automatically because of the special period. What matters is which rule was applied, what the contract itself says and which documents were actually drawn up — not a verbal formula.

What the law says

• A serviceman is to be discharged on expiry of the contract where no new contract has been concluded and no ground for continuing service applies.
• Article 49 of Law No. 53-FZ fixes an age limit for military service; serving beyond it is possible only on the terms of a new contract concluded in the prescribed manner.
• During mobilisation, under Presidential Decree No. 647 of 21 September 2022, contracts continue in force until the mobilisation period ends, so discharge is available only on the grounds that Decree names: health, the age limit, or a custodial sentence.
• The application for discharge is filed in good time and must be answered in writing; silence from the personnel branch is inaction that can be challenged.
• Before removal from the unit roll a serviceman must be paid everything due and issued all the allowances he is entitled to.
• A refusal, inaction and an order recording the wrong ground are challenged up the chain of command, before the military prosecutor and in the military court, within three months.

What we do

• We check the contract, its end date, your length of service and your age, and establish which ground for discharge actually works for you.
• We prepare the application for discharge and secure its registration with the date of filing recorded.
• We request the documents you do not hold: extracts from orders, the service record certificate, details of your length of service.
• We challenge the refusal and the inaction up the chain of command and apply to the military prosecutor.
• We file an administrative claim in the military court and run the case to judgment.
• We monitor the settlement, the issue of documents and the removal from the unit roll once the order is signed.

What we need from you

• The contract with all addenda and, if available, the earlier contracts.
• The application for discharge and proof of its filing.
• The service record certificate and details of length of service, plus extracts from orders.
• Written answers and refusals from the command and the personnel branch.
• Documents on your age and rank — for cases about the age limit.
• A power of attorney for the advocate and details of the unit: name, address, officials involved.