The State Duma has passed a law granting all graduate students the right to defer their compulsory military service, the BBC Russian service reported Tuesday.
The new law was brought in to clarify the uncertainty surrounding graduate students' right to deferral following the 2011 spring call-up, when many students were sent enlistment papers despite the legal exemption.
Military lawyers were exploiting a loophole in the legislation, which stated that only students at accredited universities were entitled to the deferment. At the time of the spring conscription no universities had been granted the necessary accreditation.
