Mobilization in Russia for April 2-5, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment
Reports continue to emerge about efforts to entice students to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Officials at Mordovian State University in Saransk reportedly directed all male students, excluding foreigners, to skip classes on March 12 and instead attend a meeting with the head of the military training center and a draft office representative. During the lecture, recruiters offered the students one-year contracts to serve in UAV units, promising training, "security measures" and payments from the university rector. Officials held the meeting again the following day, making attendance mandatory. In Volgograd, advertisements recruiting for contract military service in UAV units appeared on the VKontakte pages of two city schools.
In the Voronezh region, a man accused of killing the widow of a veteran expressed a desire to enlist and head to the frontline instead of trial. On March 16, the 38-year-old man killed his 42-year-old neighbor, Madina Mironenko, a mother of four and the widow of a soldier who fought in the invasion of Ukraine. The man attacked her in the courtyard, stabbing her and striking her in the head several times with a stone; she died the same day. Authorities sent the suspect to a pre-trial detention center. To avoid punishment, he signed a contract and is "preparing to depart for the special military operation." Relatives of war participants wrote collective letters to the court and Russia's Investigative Committee, seeking to overturn the decision.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 207,552 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 18,331 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,350 soldiers, 63 of whom were mobilized. According to BBC News Russian, nearly 20,000 Russian soldiers under the age of 25 have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Of those, at least 502 were conscripts who were later killed in combat, some after signing contracts with the MoD. Journalists have noted an increase in the number of young people aged 18 to 25 killed in the war since March 2024, while other age groups have not shown a similar trend. At that time, an amendment was passed allowing individuals detained on suspicion of committing a crime to avoid prosecution by enlisting in contract military service.
Since the beginning of January, some conscripts serving on the Russia-Ukraine border in the Belgorod region have not received their daily allowance of about 4,000 rubles for serving in the "counter-terrorism zone." Soldiers stationed along the border reported this to the Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], a court is trying Eduard Dementyev, a 34-year-old war participant from the city of Chita, who is accused of murder with exceptional cruelty. According to investigators, in May 2025, during a drinking gathering, he became jealous of an acquaintance over his former partner and then stabbed the man at least 24 times. Investigators say Dementyev spent more than 30 minutes filming what was happening, mocking the dying man, posing with him and sending the footage to the woman over whom he had become jealous. Dementyev had previously been convicted multiple times on charges including robbery, theft, armed robbery, disrupting the operation of custodial institutions, drug possession and violence against a public official. While serving a sentence, he signed a contract with the MoD, served in a Storm-Z unit, was pardoned in 2023 and returned to Chita, after which he was once again convicted of theft. At the hearing, he pleaded guilty to the murder and stated that he wanted to return to the war once again.
Criminal proceedings have been opened against Yevgeny Yuyukin, a 37-year-old war participant from the Volgograd region, and his brother under charges of group sexual violence. According to reports, the two men used a plastic bottle to sexually assault an acquaintance. Both brothers have been detained and have confessed to the crime. The serviceman had previously been convicted of theft, making death threats and drug-related offenses.
The Volgograd Regional Court has upheld on appeal the sentence handed down to Aleksey Dudkin, a mercenary of the Wagner Group: six years in a penal colony on charges of twelve counts of theft, unlawful possession of ammunition and drug trafficking.
In Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic], the military commissar of the Almetyevsk district, Ruslan Kornikov, has been detained in a bribery case. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), he was caught in the act while receiving 700,000 rubles [$8,730]. Investigators believe Kornikov reached an arrangement with a businessman involved in recruiting for contract military service, agreeing to provide "protection" in exchange for payment. Kornikov allegedly passed the businessman personal data of individuals who had independently applied to the draft office, after which paperwork was prepared to show that the volunteers had been recruited by the businessman. As a result, between November 2025 and March 2026, the businessman processed four such recruits and was set to receive 1.2 million rubles [$15,000], more than 1 million rubles [$12,500] of which was intended for Kornikov. Accomplices of the commissar were also detained in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions. They allegedly demanded 1.3 million rubles [$16,200] from recruits in exchange for assignments away from the frontline. Among those detained was a deputy brigade commander for armaments.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced Crimean Tatar Seyran Asanov to 20 years in prison on charges of treason, participation in a terrorist organization and undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities. According to investigators, after the start of the full-scale war, Asanov joined the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Battalion and, from the summer of 2024, took part in combat as a rifleman. He was captured in November of that year, after which criminal charges were brought against him. Because Asanov obtained a Russian passport following the annexation of Crimea, he was also charged with treason.
The Domodedovo City Court has ordered the pretrial detention of 60-year-old local resident Galina Umyarova for two months on charges of aiding terrorist activities, after she transferred 219 rubles [$2.73] through paid reactions on Telegram to the Freedom of Russia Legion. According to investigators, the funds were sent deliberately. Umyarova denies the charges, however, saying her account had been hacked and the transfer was made without her knowledge. Her defense also argued that she did not have control over the account at the time. Her lawyer requested that she be placed under house arrest, citing difficult family circumstances including a husband with cancer and two elderly relatives, aged 84 and 94, who depend on her, but the court rejected the request and closed the hearing.
In the Rostov region, law enforcement officers detained two unemployed residents of Rostov-on-Don on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack and deliberately damaging property. According to investigators, the men set fire to an electrical substation in Bataysk on instructions from an anonymous user on Telegram. The FSB said the men were also involved in setting fire to a cellular tower in Rostov. Both suspects have been placed in custody.
A court in Saint Petersburg has ordered the pretrial detention of 62-year-old pensioner Svetlana Shestakova in connection with a terrorism case. On the evening of April 1, she allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail toward a fuel pump at a gas station. The bottle did not reach its target, and no one was injured. She was detained at the scene. Preliminary reports suggest Shestakova may have been manipulated by phone scammers.
The FSB has stated that they had prevented an attempted assassination of a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Moscow, which was planned by the Security Service of Ukraine. The explosives were allegedly discovered during an inspection in the trunk of an electric scooter, disguised as a household charging station. The law enforcement officer was supposed to be remotely targeted near a business center in Moscow.
The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced 22-year-old Ilya Romanov, 20-year-old Maksim Kondratyev, to 20 and 22 years in a penal colony, and 16-year-old Vladimir Kutuzov to nine years in a juvenile correctional facility. The residents of the Ivanovo region were tried on charges of an act of terror, participation in a terrorist community and involving a minor in the commission of a grave crime. According to investigators, in March 2025, acting on instructions from online handlers, they set fire to two climate control cabinets of a cellular base station in Kineshma, causing damage exceeding 1 million rubles [$12,500]. They were promised a reward for the arson, which they never received. The young men were detained on March 24, 2025.
The Khabarovsk Regional Court has sentenced a 51‑year‑old local resident to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of high treason. Investigators said that in February 2025 the man corresponded with a representative of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and provided text and graphic materials showing the location of a Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] facility in Khabarovsk. He did not plead guilty and refused to testify, but the court ruled his guilt proven based on the correspondence and witness testimony.
In Kostroma, 35‑year‑old resident Aleksey Larionov has been sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of high treason and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization. Prosecutors said that in early 2025 he established contact with representatives of "a group banned in Russia" and, "under their direction," began distributing "propaganda materials" in the region. According to the FSB, he was also tasked with preparing a CV and seeking employment at a military‑industrial company in Kostroma, but was detained before carrying out that assignment.