Belarus starts rechecking men previously deemed unfit for military service

Belarusian military commissariats have started summoning some military-eligible men with a fitness category of NFP (not fit for peacetime) who have turned 27. They are checking whether the diagnosis that exempts them from service still applies, Zerkalo reports.

Lawyers from the povestka.pro service say they had never encountered such summonses before spring 2026. Representatives of the service note that not all people with the NFP category are being summoned — they are only aware of a few cases.

The NFP fitness category means that a young man is not fit for military service in peacetime and is limitedly fit during wartime. Such individuals are placed in the reserve of the Armed Forces. However, they are required to undergo a medical review at least once every three years, as their health condition may change.

However, lawyers note that this rule does not apply after the age of 27. "Accordingly, the military commissariat should have no questions for them," says Alexander, a lawyer with 12 years of experience.

He believes that the Ministry of Defense is checking whether the state of health has changed in order to alter the category. This is because people with the NFP category are not even called up for military training exercises.

If the category is changed, a military-eligible man may be called up for training exercises even if he has never served in the army. Lawyers recommend appealing such a decision to a higher military commissariat — at the regional level or that of the city of Minsk.

What happened to 27-year-old men with the NFP category who agreed to undergo the medical review is still unknown to the lawyers at povestka.pro.