Mobilization in Russia for April 12-14, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] passed a bill in consecutive second and third readings amending the Education Law to allow widows and widowers of participants in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the war in the Donbas to enroll in state-funded bachelor's and specialist degree programs without entrance exams, under a separate quota. They will also be eligible for state-funded preparatory programs at public universities. Surviving spouses who remarry will lose this right.
Lawmakers approved a bill on its first reading to give the president the authority to send military personnel abroad "to protect" Russians in case of their arrest. Specifically, the legislation proposes authorizing the Russian Armed Forces "to carry out tasks using weapons outside their intended purpose" to protect Russian citizens facing prosecution by foreign and international courts whose jurisdiction is not based on a treaty with Russia or a UN Security Council resolution. The document states that the bill aims "to protect the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation." The Faridaily project notes that the purpose of this law remains unclear because the president already has the authority to "take measures" to protect citizens if foreign or international bodies make decisions contrary to Russia's interests.
Additionally, lawmakers introduced a bill to extend the allowance provided to children of conscripts to those of contract and mobilized soldiers. The proposal would also increase the eligibility age for recipients from three to 16 years old. The authors note that more than 640,000 people currently serve under contract, while the military mobilized over 302,000 others. Meanwhile, 56.3 percent of mobilized soldiers have children.
The Russian Supreme Court overturned a cassation court decision ordering a serviceman to repay 3 million rubles [$39,400] that had been disbursed to him for an injury sustained in a combat zone. The serviceman was injured while handling BM-21 Grad MLRS rounds. A military medical board established a causal connection and classified the injury as a "combat injury," after which a wounded in action certificate was issued and the payment was processed. A military prosecutor demanded the return of the funds as unjust enrichment, arguing that the injury was sustained outside of hostile fire contact and was unrelated to the performance of combat duties. The trial and appellate courts rejected the claim, but the cassation court ruled the payment unjustified, finding that the injury was unrelated to combat operations. However, the Supreme Court held that the determining factor is the execution of military service duties on the orders of one's command, even if the duties in question involve logistical support work that does not require "hostile fire contact."
Army Recruitment
In the first quarter of 2026, the pace of recruitment into the Russian army declined by approximately 20 percent compared to the same period in 2025, according to an analysis by Janis Kluge, a research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, based on regional budget data. While daily recruitment in the first three months of 2025 stood at 1,000 to 1,200 people per day, it fell to 800 to 1,000 over the same period this year. In total, approximately 70,500 people may have enlisted in the RuAF over the past three months. Meanwhile, in late March, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, stated that 80,000 people had signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense since the start of the year, "not counting volunteer fighters." According to Kluge's estimates, average regional sign-up bonuses in 2026 reached a record 1.47 million rubles [$19,300], while the median stood at 1.55 million [$20,350]. Previously, the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet found that the average payment amounted to approximately 1.675 million rubles [$22,000].
Employees of Siberian State Industrial University have been sending advertisements to students, including female students, encouraging them to sign contracts to join the "UAV units." According to a fee-paying female student, she was offered to sign a contract with the MoD before exams in exchange for writing off her tuition debt. After declining, she was asked to reconsider.
The Alabuga Polytech college in Russia's constituent Republic of Tatarstan has published an advertisement on its website inviting students to join a military training center. The advertisement offered to "complete statutory military service in 1 year" in the "Varyag Brigade" of the UAV troops and promised a scholarship of 150,000 rubles [$1,970] per month. Candidates would be selected through the Drone Battle video game and would serve "in the interests of the special military operation." However, it has been alleged that they would not be under contract with the MoD and would not be deployed to the line of contact. The Groza [Thunderstorm] student media outlet has noted that the advertisement page was soon removed.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
The contract of 21-year-old conscript Rafael Karabakhchyan from the 252nd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment was annulled following media reports. Earlier, Karabakhchyan had been registered as a contract soldier after his signature was forged. He said that officers had backdated and submitted falsified written requests on his behalf, including at times when he was at home and in a medical unit, and that his complaints were ignored. On Jan. 6, headquarters of the Moscow Military District stated that those responsible had been identified and would be held accountable, and that Karabakhchyan would be allowed to terminate the contract. However, on Jan. 12, a subordinate unit responded that the contract had been signed voluntarily and lawfully. Ultimately, after five months, an internal review was conducted and the commander annulled the contract as "not executed," according to Karabakhchyan’s fiancée. According to the conscript, similar practices were used to impose contracts on other conscripts, some of whom were later sent to the frontline.
At a transit point in Khabarovsk, conscripts from Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia) faced pressure to sign contracts with the MoD. On April 10, a group of eight conscripts flew to Khabarovsk en route to a military unit in Komsomolsk-on-Amur but were kept overnight at the transit facility. There, their phones were confiscated, they were deprived of sleep and pressured to sign contracts. The conscripts were also reportedly forced to squat naked while being filmed. Six of the eight have already signed contracts. Amid public attention on social media, unconfirmed reports indicate that an internal review has begun at the unit.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The mobilized soldier Aleksey O. has been sentenced to one and a half years in a penal settlement under the article on going AWOL. The soldier left his unit for six days, after which he reported to the military investigation department. Despite the short duration of the unauthorized absence, a criminal case was initiated. The man himself viewed the criminal case as a basis for the termination of his service.
In the Moscow region, a 16-year-old teenager has been detained in a case involving an act of terror. According to investigators, in April, acting on the instructions of unknown individuals, he set fire to 16 relay cabinets on the Paveletsky and Kursk directions—on the sections between the Biryulyovo and Domodedovo stations, as well as at the Molodi and Lvovskaya stations. To carry out the tasks, 10,000 rubles [$130] were transferred to him, which he used to purchase flammable liquid. The teenager was placed under house arrest.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained three people in a case involving the planned murder of a senior law‑enforcement official using a booby‑trapped electric scooter. According to investigators, a Ukrainian citizen from the Lviv region, born in 1980, who had previously fought against Russia, arrived in Moscow to conduct reconnaissance and assemble the explosives. A Moldovan citizen, born in 1991, was accused of conducting surveillance at a business center and organizing an online broadcast to determine when to trigger the detonation. A Russian citizen, born in 2009, was charged with video‑recording the location where the scooter was to be placed.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced 26‑year‑old Viktoria Kotlyar, a resident of occupied Volnovakha, to 22 years in a penal colony on charges including participation in a terrorist community, committing an act of terror, use of explosives and high treason. Investigators said that she was contacted by an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in March 2023 and agreed to cooperate. According to investigators, in August 2024 she was tasked with targeting an employee of the "DPR law enforcement agencies." Kotlyar was allegedly given the coordinates of a cache containing an explosive device, which she brought home. In October she installed the device near a bench outside the building where the "Chief of the penitentiary service for the DPR" lived. She triggered the detonation as the officer passed by, but he was not injured because, according to investigators, the main explosive charge was a mock‑up.
Longreads
The Veter [Wind] project spoke with veterans of the "special military operation" who sought help from the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund about how it operates and why it fails to provide meaningful assistance.
The Vyorstka media outlet reports that wives of Russian soldiers who are missing in action or dead are suing clinics that refuse to perform in vitro fertilization using frozen biological material.
Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet] spoke with Russian soldiers who described widespread extortion by commanders at the frontline, with troops paying hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of rubles to avoid being sent to die in forward positions, obtain leave or secure favorable treatment.
BBC News Russian examined how an industry built on using AI to "resurrect" and glorify Russian soldiers operates, and how much money it generates.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty spoke with a deserter from the Russian military who described violence including sexualized abuse as routine in his unit, stationed at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region.