Mobilization in Russia for April 9-12, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment
Since the start of 2026, authorities in at least 35 Russian regions have increased payments for signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense, according to calculations by the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet. The highest payments are currently offered in Saint Petersburg at 4.1 million rubles [$53,000], followed by the Magadan region at 3.6 million rubles [$46,500] and the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra at 3.55 million rubles [$45,900]. Across the country, the average regional payment now stands at around 1.675 million rubles [$21,600]. At the same time, in some regions the increase has been offered only to those signing contracts for service in the Unmanned Systems Forces.
Recruitment materials offering students the opportunity to sign a contract with the MoD for service in the Unmanned Systems Forces have been posted on the websites and social media accounts of leading Moscow universities, including Moscow State University and Higher School of Economics. In most cases, this is being done as part of the national project Personnel for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. According to the program's website, specialists will be trained "from high school and college levels through universities." The advertisements promise a one-year contract, payments of around 5 million rubles [$64,600], academic leave and the possibility of transferring to a tuition-free place afterward.
The Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] has obtained an audio recording of a student recruitment event at a university in Karachay-Cherkessia [Russia’s constituent republic], where students were being encouraged to join the Unmanned Systems Forces. The presentation was conducted by Sergey Vyugin, who, before the war, served in a GRU [Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation] regiment in the city of Stavropol and in 2022 reportedly "carried out various assignments" in the Kherson region. Shortly afterward, he was wounded and later assigned to a recruitment office in the city of Cherkessk. The entire presentation lasted less than 10 minutes. During that time, Vyugin outlined the supposed benefits of service in the UAV forces: a "special one-year contract," a 2 million ruble [$25,800] signing bonus, a salary ranging from 210,000 rubles [$2,710] to 500,000 rubles [$6,460], additional payments for destroyed enemy equipment, a veteran’s certificate as a participant in the "special military operation" with a lifetime pension, and free medical treatment. He also placed particular emphasis on the possibility of receiving state-provided housing. In addition, Vyugin told students that out of the one-year contract, only seven and a half months would be spent in actual service, with the rest of the time devoted to preparation, training and leave. He presented this short-term service in the Unmanned Systems Forces as "a good alternative to statutory military service."
Artyom Vaganov, a 33-year-old music teacher from Yekaterinburg, accused of attempted murder of minors and involving minors in actions that pose a danger to their lives, has signed a contract with the MoD and gone to war. According to investigators, Vaganov invited students to his home and paid them from 20,000 to 60,000 rubles for a "breathing test," during which he suffocated them with a plastic bag over their heads. In November 2025, Vaganov was detained after a video of his "breathing tests" was posted online. He signed the contract while in a pre-trial detention center. He has been on the frontline for two weeks, since March 26.
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 208,755 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 18,452 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,203 soldiers, 121 of whom were mobilized. Mediazona also noted that the Russian authorities are trying to limit the spread of information about losses, with more than 1,500 court decisions found ordering to block "information revealing losses of personnel." Meanwhile, at the end of March, the Chuzhaya Voina Bashkiriya [Not Our War: Bashkiriya] project, which collected data on the killed soldiers from Russia's constituent Republic of Bashkortostan, was shut down.
On April 11, Russia and Ukraine conducted a 175-for-175 POW exchange. Additionally, the two countries conducted a seven-for-seven civilian prisoner exchange. According to the Nash Vykhod [Our Way Out] Telegram channel, almost 30 percent of the returning Russian soldiers were recruited from prisons, had criminal records, or were under investigation. The median time spent in captivity for those who returned to Russia was 5.5 months. The majority of the Ukrainian soldiers had been in captivity since 2022.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In Chuvashia [Russia’s constituent republic], six convicts who escaped from the Tomsk–Adler train on April 8 while en route to the war have been detained. They were found near the Ibresi station, where the escape took place. According to reports, this was their second deployment to the frontline after signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense. All had prior convictions for theft, sexual offenses and drug‑related crimes. Authorities said they may now face additional charges for the escape.
In Russia’s Amur region, a man born in 1964 was detained after setting fire to the porch of a police station in the city of Svobodny on the evening of April 9. No casualties were reported, while the building sustained only minor damage. Authorities have not specified which article of the criminal code he will be charged under.
The 2nd Western District Military Court has sentenced three ninth‑graders from Podolsk, all born in 2009, in a terrorism case. Two received six years and six months in a penal colony for minors, while the third was sentenced to six years. Investigators said that on the night of March 24, 2025, the teenagers set fire to a railway relay cabinet near the Grivno station after a stranger promised them a reward of 23,000 rubles [$300] via a messenger app. Police reported that "signs of tampering" were found on another relay cabinet, but it could not be opened or set on fire.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced a resident of the Rostov region, Daniil Panov, to 13 years of imprisonment in a case involving an act of terror. According to investigators, on May 26, 2025, he agreed to set fire to relay cabinets on a railway for a reward and carried out two arsons on June 10 and June 20, 2025, after which he was detained.
The Central District Military Court has sentenced a resident of Bashkortostan, Nikolay Nikolaev, to 15 years of imprisonment in a case involving an act of terror. According to investigators, in February 2025, acting on instructions from an unidentified person and for a reward, he set fire to a locomotive at a locomotive depot in Samara. The damage to the Russian Railways [Russian fully state-owned railway company] was estimated at more than 31 million rubles [$400,500].
The Nizhny Novgorod regional court has sentenced local resident Aleksey Ivankov to 17 years of imprisonment in a case involving treason, preparation for sabotage and money laundering. According to investigators, in the spring of 2025, acting on the instructions of a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence services, he photographed six base stations of mobile communication, for which he received 1,500 rubles [$19]. He was later offered to set fire to one of the stations, but was detained.
An employee of the administration in the occupied city of Mariupol was detained on charges of treason. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), he initiated contact with representatives of Ukrainian intelligence services via Telegram and passed them information about the locations of Russian soldiers.
The Russia-installed "Zaporizhzhia Regional Court" sentenced Elena Maksimenko and Viktoriia Tkachenko to 13 and 12 years in a penal colony, respectively, for treason. According to the prosecution, both women transferred money to Ukrainian forces: in May 2024, Tkachenko sent about 1,000 hryvnias [$28], while Maksimenko transferred a total of 24,220 rubles [$310] between December 2023 and June 2025 and, it is alleged, also posted appeals to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Both lived in the town of Tokmak and held Russian citizenship; Tkachenko obtained it after the occupation.
A regional court in Penza sentenced a local resident to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony on treason charges. According to investigators, in May 2024 he contacted a representative of Ukrainian intelligence via a messaging app and passed along information about a regional defense enterprise, as well as data on rail shipments of military vehicles, which authorities say constituted official secrets. The FSB reported his detention in May 2025; he had previously faced criminal charges.
Longreads
The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reports on the conditions under which wounded Russian soldiers are treated in military hospitals.