Russian Defense Ministry drafts proposal to access recruits' financial and travel data

Russia's Ministry of Defense has prepared a draft order enabling military enlistment offices to access confidential personal information, including foreign passport details, income records, and bank account data of citizens seeking contract service or entry into military universities.

The proposal comes alongside broader efforts by Russian authorities to expand surveillance and digital monitoring capabilities. Investigative agencies are deploying artificial intelligence tools to analyze mass video footage, while updated transit protocols allow law enforcement to track domestic and international travel across all transportation modes.

Separately, documents show cryptocurrency platform Binance provided client transaction records to Russian investigators following its market exit, resulting in terrorism financing charges against an individual accused of donating to Ukrainian funds. Meanwhile, in the United States, an experimental deployment of the Claude artificial intelligence model managing a retail store marked the first recorded instance of an AI system directly terminating an employee.

Sources: Mediazona, NEXTA, Point, The Insider, Verstka.