Belgorod regional authorities have increased the sign-up bonus for concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense, raising the total amount to 3 million rubles [$31,600] when combining national, regional, and municipal contributions—a new national record. According to the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, this payment will be available until Dec. 31 of this year. Previously, the total bonus in the region was 800,000 [$8,420], half of which came from the national contribution.

According to the draft federal budget, the government plans to increase the monetary allowances of military personnel by 4.5% starting from Oct. 1, 2025, in line with the projected inflation rate. Further adjustments are expected to be 4.0% in both 2026 and 2027.

Vladimir Putin has appointed Artyom Zhoga, the "DPR parliament speaker," as the presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District. Since 2014, Zhoga has fought alongside separatists, initially with his son. Following his son’s death, he became the commander of the Sparta Battalion. He joined the first cohort of the Time of Heroes personnel program, with Anton Vaino, the head of the presidential administration, acting as his mentor. In addition to Zhoga, nine other participants in the program received appointments to key positions. The program got underway in the spring and is expected to last two years. However, even before its completion, 15% of the program's participants (12 individuals) had already received appointments, according...

Russian authorities plan to enlist in the war 40% of the 60,000 defendants currently on trial, writes Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories], an independent Russian investigative media outlet. In late September, the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly] passed a bill allowing defendants to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense during their trials, and it was approved by the Federation Council [upper house]. Although Vladimir Putin has yet to sign the bill into law, criminal lawyers report that preparations are already underway at pre-trial detention centers. A source in the MoD indicates that military recruiters have received orders to gather information on the number of defendants fit for service and willing to enlist. Each...

The federal government has presented its draft national budget for 2025–2027 to the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia]. According to the explanatory note, about 13.5 trillion rubles [$144 billion] will be allocated for national defense in 2025, matching closely the figures previously reported by Bloomberg. This amount includes, inter alia, an annual allocation of 14 billion rubles [$149 million] for the "creation of a mobilization reserve for the Russian Armed Forces." Moreover, 400 million rubles [$4.25 million] will be allocated each year from 2025 to 2027 for awards recognizing achievements in developing arms and military equipment. The Bell estimates that military expenditures will account for 6.31% of GDP...

Russian police officers have started filing reports documenting each time they offered detained individuals the option to fight in the war against Ukraine. According to the Astra Telegram channel, such cases have been reported in the Bryansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Altai and Krasnodar regions, as well as in Russia’s constituent republic of Komi and annexed Crimea. Even women are being offered the option to enlist. Previously, the Kommersant and Baza media outlets, along with the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel, reported that employees of various government agencies—including the Investigative Committee, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Security Service, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Federal Customs...

This fall, authorities in the Sverdlovsk region plan to call up 3,000 individuals in the course of the regular fall conscription campaign. Region governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev has signed a decree establishing the draft board. The campaign will take place between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.

The Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly] has passed two bills related to criminal defendants who agree to participate in the war. The first bill allows for the suspension of criminal proceedings during wartime, martial law, or mobilization for defendants who conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense. The second bill establishes procedures for exempting these individuals from criminal liability. Earlier, the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly] had approved both bills.

Russia plans to increase defense spending from 10.4 trillion rubles [$113 billion] budgeted for 2024 to 13.2 trillion rubles [$143 billion] in 2025, wrote Bloomberg after reviewing a draft of the federal budget for the next three years. Accounting for about 40% of government spending, the expenditures under "National Defense" and "National Security and Law Enforcement" will exceed the combined allocations for education, healthcare, social policy and the national economy. The budget adopted in 2023 had anticipated a reduction in military spending to 8.5 trillion rubles [$92 billion] by 2025, but the new draft postpones that decrease. Under the new plan, defense spending would drop from 6.2% of GDP in 2024 to 5.6% in 2026 and 5.1%...

Authorities may distribute digital draft notices in other regions beyond the pilot Ryazan and Sakhalin regions and the Republic of Mari El [Russia’s constituent republic], suggest activists from the Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School] human rights organization. The comment follows a statement that draft notices will be delivered traditionally during the fall conscription campaign, made by Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], who also indicated that the register of Russians subject to military service, or Unified Military Register, will not become fully operational until by Jan. 1, 2025. Currently, authorities in Moscow are already distributing digital...