Mobilization in Russia for April 23-26, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Vladimir Putin signed a bill amending the Law on Education, under which widows and widowers of participants in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the war in the Donbas since May 2014 will be able to enroll in state-funded bachelor's and specialist's degree programs without taking entrance exams, under a separate quota. The law also applies to close relatives of employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Surviving spouses who remarry lose this right. Simplified admission rules already apply to war participants themselves, law enforcement officers who served in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and their children.
Putin also signed a bill into law that amends Article 179 of the Labor Code, prohibiting the dismissal of veterans of the "special military operation" during layoffs if their qualifications and productivity match those of other employees. The rule applies to individuals who have already returned from service and reinstated their employment contracts. Authorities previously guaranteed that mobilized and contract soldiers would retain their former jobs during their service and for three months afterward. The law will take effect Sept. 1.
Putin also signed a bill granting two family members or close relatives of a severely wounded Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] fighter free travel to the fighter's place of treatment. Families of military personnel and volunteer fighters already receive this benefit.
Army Recruitment
Governor of the Vladimir regionAleksandr Avdeyev has signed a decree raising the regional sign-up bonus from 2.1 million rubles [$27,900], set in July last year, to 2.3 million rubles [$30,500]. As a result, including the national payment of 400,000 rubles [$5,310], recruits heading to the war from the region will receive a total of 2.7 million rubles [$35,800].
Residents of the Vladimir region are also receiving notifications about recruitment into what is described as "alternative contract service." The messages present contract-based military service as an alternative to conscription and claim that it does not involve participation in the "special military operation." Those interested are promised a 1 million ruble [$13,300] sign-up bonus and service as a signaler in a unit within the region, with salaries starting from 70,000 rubles [$930].
Similar mailings are also being sent to students at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. The emails, addressed primarily to male students without draft deferments and those in their final years, state that recruitment is underway for army units "outside active combat zones” and “related to unmanned aerial vehicles." Those who sign what is described as a one-year contract are promised a payment of 1.9 million rubles [$25,200] and a monthly salary starting at 100,000 rubles [$1,330], including regional bonuses. They are also guaranteed that their academic debts will be cleared, that they will be given an individual study plan for the duration of their service, and that their place in student housing will be retained.
A mobile contract recruitment point has been set up in the courtyard of the Khabarovsk College of Technosphere Safety and Industrial Technologies, where students are being offered to sign a "contract for the special military operation." A banner has also appeared on the college building promoting service in the Unmanned Systems Forces, promising a sign-up bonus starting at 2.1 million rubles [$27,900].
According to Irina Kasyanova, the human rights commissioner for the Omsk region, the number of people held in penal colonies and pre-trial detention centers in the region decreased in 2025. If in 2024 there were 3,888 inmates, by Dec. 31 the number had fallen to 3,203, which is 32.8% of the system’s total capacity of 9,774 places. Overall, the population declined by 685 people, or 17.6%, over the year. The commissioner noted that one reason for the decrease was that some of the convicted individuals had signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
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 213,858 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 18,518 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,670 soldiers, 39 of whom were mobilized.
Russia and Ukraine conducted a 193-for-193 POW exchange. Russia's MoD has acknowledged the "humanitarian efforts" of the United States and the United Arab Emirates. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the returning Ukrainians include servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, border service and other departments, including wounded soldiers and those involved in criminal cases in Russia. According to the Nash Vykhod [Our Way Out] project, among those returned to the Russian side are POWs whose relatives had previously made public appeals to the project. Among the returned Russians are severely wounded soldiers who were not included in previous exchanges.
Social media pages and media outlets of the Belgorod region have posted wanted notices for five servicemen who are presumed to have gone AWOL from their military unit. The notices state that the wanted individuals previously resided in the Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. The phone number listed in the wanted notices belongs to the headquarters of the 69th Motorized Rifle Division, which is fighting in the Kharkiv region.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Serviceman Daniil Marakasov was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a case involving the murder of his pregnant wife and was stripped of his military rank.
The Novosibirsk Garrison Military Court sentenced contract soldier Vadim Galyautdinov to five and a half years in prison on charges of causing minor and grievous bodily harm. According to the court, on the evening of Aug. 13, 2025, the serviceman attacked two brothers with a knife in a residential courtyard, one of whom was a minor, after becoming angered that they were walking a dog without a muzzle. Galyautdinov had previously been convicted twice of causing grievous bodily harm.
The Pyatigorsk Garrison Military Court sentenced a serviceman to six years in a penal colony on charges of going AWOL. According to the prosecution, on Oct. 22, 2025, the man failed to report for duty and until Dec. 1 "spent his time at his own discretion" in the Stavropol region, after which he voluntarily reported to a police department.
The Kursk Garrison Military Court sentenced Lieutenant Colonels Igor Karamyshev and Dzhamaldin Otegenov of the 448th Missile Brigade to six and five years in prison, respectively, on charges of abuse of office. The court found that they repeatedly organized the collection of money from subordinate servicemen, demanding that they hand over bonus payments received for participation in combat operations. In total, they received more than 7 million rubles[$93,000].
The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian soldiers Vitaly Slobodenyuk and Bohdan Holovanov, both members of the Azov Brigade, to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony. The two were convicted of participating in a terrorist community and undergoing terrorist training. The charges were based on Russia's designation of the Azov Brigade as a terrorist organization.
In a separate ruling, the court increased the sentence for another captured Azov fighter, 30-year-old Ruslan Kolodyazhny, from 26 to 29 years. Kolodyazhny had been previously convicted of murdering two civilians in Mariupol. However, prosecutors successfully applied additional "terrorism" charges to his case based solely on his membership in the Azov Brigade, leading to the extended sentence.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported the detention of seven individuals in Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk and Yaroslavl in connection with a plot to assassinate the leadership of Roskomnadzor [Russia's internet censorship agency]. Law enforcement shot and killed an additional suspect during the arrest. Criminal cases have been initiated against the detainees for illegal arms and explosives trafficking, while authorities are also "considering" holding them accountable under the article for preparing an act of terror. According to intelligence services, the young individuals were recruited by Ukrainian special services via Telegram to bomb the vehicle of a Roskomnadzor employee. Law enforcement identified the deceased Moscow resident, born in 2004, as the group's leader and stated that he offered armed resistance. During the raids, it is claimed that an improvised explosive device, a Makarov pistol, two gas pistols, radios and "neo-Nazi paraphernalia" were seized. According to unconfirmed reports, the detainees may include 19-year-old Sofia Chepik, a member of the Aliy Lebed [Scarlet Swan] movement, which opposes internet censorship.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ivan Blagodatskikh, Ilya Kudinov and Akhmed Ramaldanov to nine, ten and eight years in prison, respectively, in a case related to an attempt on terrorist attack. Kudinov and Blagodatskikh were also charged with involvement in terrorist activity. According to investigators, in the early hours of Jan. 3, 2023, the three young men planned to set fire to a draft office in the Sovetsky and Zheleznodorozhny districts of Rostov-on-Don using Molotov cocktails, but were detained by the FSB on their way to the attack site. A key role in the case was played by a classified witness identified as "Ivanova," who, as Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] has reported, was an acquaintance of Kudinov and Ramaldanov and had been acting as an FSB agent since at least Dec. 23, 2022. She took part in discussions of the plans, the preparation of the incendiary mixture and accompanied the defendants until their arrest. Bottles containing the flammable mixture were found in her backpack.
The Central District Military Court sentenced 22-year-old Tolyatti resident Matvey Kartsev to 15 years in a penal colony on charges related to two terrorist attacks and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to investigators, in November 2024 he joined a terrorist organization, whose name has not been disclosed, after which he carried out arson attacks on a relay cabinet in the Stavropol district of the region and a cell tower in the town of Zhigulevsk.
Assistance
According to Nina Ostanina, the Chair of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] Committee on Family, Women and Children, there are 4,528 orphans in Russia who took part in the war against Ukraine and are nowwaiting to receive housing certificates, despite a law that came into force last December granting them priority access to such benefits. In addition, 560 orphans who were killed have left behind widows and children, whom lawmakers also propose to provide with housing on an accelerated basis. Overall, according to the Accounts Chamber, more than 180,000 orphans in Russia were awaiting housing as of 2025.