Mobilization in Russia for April 19-21, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Russia's Labor Ministry has drafted a resolution requiring employers to hire more people with disabilities, including participants in the war against Ukraine, the Vyorstka media outlet reported. The resolution introduces quotas for employing people with disabilities not only at the corporate level but also at each individual location, including stores, offices and factory floors. Failure to meet the quota carries a fine of up to 100,000 rubles [$1,330]. Authorities plan to prioritize war participants. Under the rules, a person with a Group I disability or a disabled combat veteran counts as two employees with disabilities. The government does not plan to compensate businesses for the additional costs of providing workplace accommodations.

Lawmakers withdrew a bill to strip naturalized individuals of their Russian citizenship for evading military registration. Legislators introduced the bill in the State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] in July 2025, proposing to make evading military registration an independent ground for citizenship revocation. Previously, under a provision introduced in August 2024, such evasion fell under the broader concept of violating the Constitution, legislation and a citizen's oath. Under current rules, authorities can revoke citizenship only for evading initial registration. The withdrawn bill proposed stripping citizenship from individuals who fail to appear without a valid reason in response to any summons, including those for data check-ups. Earlier, the government approved the measure but requested revisions, prompting the authors to ultimately withdraw it.

Army Recruitment

As reported by the independent outlet Bumaga, reservists joining mobile air defense fire teams tasked with protecting critical infrastructure are offered contracts with payments of 25,000-30,000 rubles [$330-$400] per month during training periods, and 2,500-3,000 rubles [$33-$40] outside those periods. The contracts are signed for up to three years, including both time spent in training and time at home. Those who are employed are promised job retention, and after completing training periods they are to receive their average salary. Earlier, Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region, had called on residents to join such units.

In the Kemerovo region, a teacher at the Anzhero-Sudzhensk Polytechnic College threatened an expelled student with being sent to the frontline, saying that after expulsion he would be offered a contract either as a UAV operator or as "cannon fodder." She added that a draft notice would be issued to him immediately after expulsion, as the college works closely with the draft office. As an alternative, she suggested he sign a contract as a UAV operator and take academic leave. After an audio recording of the conversation was made public, the regional Ministry of Education said it would conduct an investigation.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Three conscripts from the 50th Separate Railway Brigade, stationed in the town of Svobodny in the Amur region, were deceived into signing contracts. The young men were first asked to sign what they were told was a safety document, after which they were offered new positions and assured that this had nothing to do with entering into a military contract. After signing, they were sent on assignment but later discovered that in their new roles they were listed as contract soldiers, and corresponding payments had been deposited into their bank accounts. The conscripts were then sent to the city of Ussuriysk and given a choice between participating in combat or returning to their unit and being sent "into the worst meat grinder." Their families contacted lawyers, who advised the young men not to sign any further documents; nevertheless, they are now reportedly being prepared for deployment to the war.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

The Zabaykalsky Regional Court sentenced 34-year-old Chita resident and former war participant Eduard Dementyev to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony in a case involving murder with extreme brutality. According to investigators, in May 2025, during a gathering, he became jealous of an acquaintance over his former partner and stabbed him multiple times, recording the attack on video. Dementyev had multiple prior convictions and signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense while serving a sentence in a penal colony.

The Maykop Garrison Military Court sentenced contract soldier Vladislav Pakhmutov to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of desertion and attempted large-scale drug distribution. According to the court, in March 2025, Pakhmutov, who had been serving in Crimea, left his unit and in August arrived in the town of Belorechensk in the Krasnodar region. Before relocating, he and an acquaintance received an offer to distribute mephedrone through dead drops. On Sept. 8, Pakhmutov collected 56 packages containing 46 grams of the drug. Together with an accomplice, he managed to place 36 drops before being detained by police. His accomplice was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony.

In Russia’s Voronezh region, two servicemen—a draft office employee, Daniil Astakhov, and Vitaly Borisov—have been arrested in a case involving extortion and the abduction of two people by a group acting in prior conspiracy for financial gain under threat of violence. According to journalists, Astakhov and Borisov, along with five others, abducted a 17-year-old boy and a local woman in the town of Rossosh and extorted money and property from them. The woman was released only after agreeing to pay 100,000 rubles [$1,330], while the minor was freed after agreeing to comply with "unlawful demands for the transfer of property." Astakhov reportedly previously participated in the war, where he lost both legs. All seven suspects have been placed in pretrial detention.

In the Belgorod region, police have dismissed the criminal case against Nikolay Ostryakov, a war participant charged with traffic violations resulting in the deaths of two or more people. On June 17, 2024, near the hamlet of Staraya Raygorodka, Ostryakov crossed into the oncoming lane and collided with another vehicle carrying a family with three children. The man, the woman and their one-year-old daughter died at the scene from their injuries, while an 8-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl sustained serious injuries. Ostryakov himself was also injured. Police opened a criminal case the same day, but it was first suspended "due to his participation in the special military operation," and then, on Dec. 25, 2025, dismissed altogether after Ostryakov was discharged from service upon reaching the maximum age limit of 65. In a lawsuit seeking damages for emotional distress, the court ordered Ostryakov to pay 3 million rubles [$40,000]—1.5 million rubles to each of the two surviving children.

A court in the Samara region has sentenced Police Major Aleksey Rostokin to four years in a penal colony and stripped him of his rank on charges of abuse of office for personal gain and large-scale theft. According to investigators, in April 2025, the officer used his position to help a man sign a contract with the MoD. He illegally accessed the soldier's bank account and used the bank's app to transfer money to his own account.

The Southern District Military Court has sentenced Dmytro Nosenko, a resident of the Zaporizhzhia region, to 17 years in a penal colony on charges with participation in a terrorist organization and undergoing training for the purposes of carrying out terrorist activities. The 43-year-old Enerhodar resident is being prosecuted over his service in the Donbas Battalion in 2018. In 2019, he went AWOL from his unit and never returned to service.

In St. Petersburg, authorities detained a 21-year-old man suspected of setting fire to construction equipment. Fontanka [pro-Russian media outlet of the Leningrad region], reported that in the early hours of April 19, he climbed into the back of a vehicle and set it on fire but left his personal documents at the scene, allowing law enforcement to quickly identify and detain him. The report said he was acting on instructions from handlers who communicated via Telegram. After his detention, he told investigators he was also supposed to carry out an arson attack in Petrozavodsk. A court ordered him held in custody.

The 2nd Eastern District Military Court has sentenced a 17-year-old resident of the Kemerovo region to six and a half years in a juvenile penal colony on charges of attempted terrorism and treason. Prosecutors said that in May 2025, the teenager planned to set fire to a locomotive at Prokopyevsk station for payment and to "assist a foreign state" but was detained by police while photographing trains. He was carrying gloves, a balaclava and a container of flammable liquid.

The same court has sentenced another 17-year-old, from Omsk, to six and a half years in a juvenile penal colony on charges of terrorist attack, theft and robbery. Investigators said that in December 2023, the teenager set fire to a railway relay cabinet between Levoberezhny and Omsk-Severo-Zapadny stations in exchange for payment. In July 2023, he and two 18-year-old acquaintances stole tools, a dashcam and other property worth more than 140,000 rubles [$1,860] from a garage. He and one of the same acquaintances also stole food worth 12,000 rubles [$160] from a store. One accomplice received a sentence of 18 months on probation and a fine of 20,000 rubles [$270], while the other was fined 5,000 rubles [$67].

In Pyatigorsk, criminal cases have been initiated on charges of preparing an act of terror against a 57-year-old German female citizen and a man from Central Asia born in 1997. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the woman was supposed to deliver an explosive device to the building of a law enforcement agency, and her alleged accomplice was to detonate it. An improvised explosive device with a capacity of 1.5 kg of TNT equivalent was found in the woman’s backpack. The intelligence service claims that, according to the plan, she herself was to be killed. The agency added that the detained man is a "supporter of radical ideology" who was acting on instructions from Ukraine. In video footage recorded after the detention, the man said that he had previously met a member of the Islamic State, while the woman said she had acted on instructions from "a person with a pronounced Ukrainian accent" who had offered her "a highly paid job."

Crimean activist and Maidan participant Oleh Prykhodko, who has already been convicted three times by Russian courts, has become a defendant in a new criminal case. The Crimean resident is accused of aiding terrorism and incitement to treason. According to the FSB, while serving his sentence in a pre-trial detention center in Krasnodar, Prykhodko persuaded other convicts to sign contracts with the MoD, go to the frontline and then surrender to the Ukrainian side.

In Russia’s Yaroslavl region, authorities have detained three groups of suspects accused of operating "Ukrainian call centers." Criminal cases were opened against them for the illegal use of traffic bypass terminals. The FSB claimed the suspects helped Ukrainian call centers defraud and extort money from Russian citizens, allegedly to be used "in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." The court ordered that they be held in pre-trial detention. According to investigators, the SIM boxes used in the scheme were considered part of the infrastructure for "aiding the enemy" during the war in Ukraine. Law enforcement now intends to reclassify the case under articles concerning high treason, terrorism and the organization of a criminal community.

The Kursk Regional Court has sentenced Aleksandr Pustrashov, a resident of Sverdlovsk region born in 1985, to 19 years in a penal colony on charges of high treason. Investigators said he supported an unnamed Ukrainian military formation, established contact with it, and expressed a desire to join. He also allegedly conducted "anonymous correspondence in a messenger app" with the intelligence services of a foreign state. Later, while on assignment in the Kursk region, he was accused of gathering information on vulnerable infrastructure targets for potential UAV strikes.

The Judicial Department of Russia’s Supreme Court has closed access to criminal conviction statistics. Responding to an inquiry from the independent Russian investigative media outlet Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories], the department said access had been restricted due to unspecified regulatory changes. On the morning of April 21, all reports for previous periods dating back to 2005 disappeared from the department's website. Previously, the Judicial Department published data on criminal convictions in Russia every six months, including the number of people convicted under specific articles of the Criminal Code. The most recently published data on criminal convictions covered the first half of 2025.

Children and Militarization

In various regions of Russia, schools and state-funded institutions held events commemorating the "Day of Remembrance of Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People Committed by Nazis and Their Accomplices." During these events, children and students were told about the alleged similarities between Nazi crimes during World War II and actions by the AFU. In Russia's constituent Republic of Kalmykia and the Lipetsk region, events in Bucha and at the Odesa Trade Unions House were cited as examples of "genocide." Students at Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical University were told about "crimes committed by the Ukrainian military." A similar exhibition was also held at a social services center in the Stavropol region for elderly and disabled people.

Assistance

Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] reported that educational institutions in Russia have spent approximately 16 billion rubles [$213 million] on purchasing drones and training in their operation since the outset of the full-scale war. From 2019 to 2021, schools, universities and colleges spent between 300 million rubles [$4.00 million] and 350 million rubles [$4.66 million] each year on UAVs. In 2022, the amount increased to 600 million rubles [$7.99 million]. In 2023, 2.6 billion rubles [$34.63 million] were allocated for these purposes, and in 2024, spending exceeded 9.7 billion rubles [$129 million]. In 2025, procurement volumes declined, possibly due to previously concluded long-term contracts, with approximately 2.8 billion rubles [$37.29 million] spent on drones.

Longreads

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that a number of Russian regions have reduced sign-up bonuses for contracts with the MoD and cut benefits for families of servicemen while facing budget deficit.