Mobilization in Russia for April 6-8, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Relatives of wounded participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have acquired the right to take up to 35 days of additional unpaid leave after Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding bill into law. Moreover, close relatives may take up to 14 days of unpaid leave in the event of a service member’s death.

Clergymen may soon receive combat veteran status when they minister to military personnel in the combat zone for at least four months, according to a new bill introduced in the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly]. The proposed legislation would also recognize wounded priests as disabled war veterans. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, 309 chaplains currently serve in the conflict, while about a thousand priests have visited the combat zone in total since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022. All of these clergymen would be covered by the proposed changes.

Another group of State Duma members introduced amendments to legislation governing the federal budget to allow the write-off of federal loans if the regions use the funds to support the war effort and finance national projects.

The government endorsed a bill drafted by the Ministry of Justice to allow stateless persons to enlist in the Russian Armed Forces, granting them a right that foreign nationals already have. They would be limited to enlisted and non-commissioned officer ranks and would qualify for a simplified citizenship process upon completing their service. In 2024, 89,118 stateless people entered Russia, according to data from the Federal Security Service. The proposed changes to the Military Conscription and Military Service Act have yet to be considered by the State Duma.

The State Duma passed a bill in both its second and third readings that extends the validity of a draft board decision on regular conscription to one year. Before the second reading, amendments were introduced specifying that the new provisions will not apply to decisions made during the fall 2024 regular conscription. If a conscription decision is not carried out during the spring 2025 regular conscription, the draft office will be able to send the conscript to service during subsequent conscription periods without requiring a new medical evaluation board. This could apply, for example, if a conscript broke his leg before being sent to the military and was unable to respond to the draft notice, or if a court imposed interim measures during a dispute with the draft office but later rejected the claim.

However, the conscription decision can be revoked if the conscript becomes eligible for a deferral or exemption—in such cases, he can request a review of the decision by the draft office. The amendments also allow for the creation of draft boards that serve multiple municipalities. The bill will come into force upon publication, which means that it will take effect immediately after being signed by Vladimir Putin.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

The authorities of the Vladimir region have increased payments for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense for the second time in 2025. The regional payment is now 1.6 million rubles [$18,600], up from the previous amount of 1 million rubles [$11,600]. Taking into account national bonuses, individuals who sign a contract in the Vladimir region will receive a total of 2 million rubles [$23,200].

Dmitry Mochalovsky, an IT specialist who had been issued summonses in Moscow despite his diagnosis and attempts to appeal the draft board’s decision, has officially been registered for military service in Kemerovo, at his place of registration. There he was deemed partially fit for military service. This was reported to Astra by Olga Balabanova, Mochalovsky's lawyer. According to her, unlike Moscow, where Mochalovsky was being persecuted, the authorities in Kemerovo acted strictly in accordance with the law.

The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has noted that courts rarely consider appeals against draft board decisions as grounds to terminate criminal cases initiated against draft dodgers, and sometimes even view court filings as an element of conscription evasion and an abuse of the right to legal protection.

In the Krasnodar region, Rashid Murad Ogly, a Sochi resident who assaulted his former romantic partner, has signed a contract with the MoD to participate in the war. This was reported by the victim, Oksana Bashkirova. She stated that the investigator did not inform her of this development. Murad Ogly has already been deployed, according to the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel. The man was detained in December 2024 on charges of grievous bodily harm, following an assault in which Bashkirova lost an eye and sustained severe injuries. She also mentioned that she had sought police assistance as early as April 2024 when Murad Ogly first assaulted her, but her case was initially rejected.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Since the start of mobilization, one in ten mobilized soldiers from the Irkutsk region and Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic] has been killed in the war, according to calculations by the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet. Among the 900 recorded deaths, 440 were from the Irkutsk region and 476 from Buryatia. This accounts for at least 10% of the mobilized soldiers from these regions—5,000 and 4,000 men, respectively. The actual number is likely higher, as the estimate is based only on confirmed open sources. Mobilized soldiers comprise approximately 17% of all recorded war casualties in the outlet’s database.

Ibragim Vezir Ogly Aliyev, a conscript from the 80th Tank Regiment of the 90th Tank Division, told his mother that his unit was forcing him to sign a contract. If he refused, they threatened him with prison time on fabricated charges. His mother reported that he is currently being detained, subjected to psychological pressure, and threatened with imprisonment to coerce him into signing the contract. Aliyev, who has just two months left of his statutory military service, recorded a video in advance stating that he does not intend to sign the contract. The 90th Tank Division has been repeatedly mentioned in sitreps (1, 2, 3) for forcing conscripts to sign contracts and, in some cases, forging signatures on related documents.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced the creation of mobile medical commissions to conduct on-site medical examinations of wounded servicemen in their units. These mobile teams will determine whether soldiers should be referred to a military medical board and identify those in need of treatment and rehabilitation. The measure aims to reduce the burden on military medical boards based in military hospitals. Russian soldiers frequently report being sent back to the frontline despite untreated injuries. In some cases, they are denied hospital treatment altogether and are told to recover directly at the frontline.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the Tyumen region, a war participant, while on leave, stabbed a female acquaintance to death. The murder occurred on Jan. 14. He is currently in custody.

From the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to April 4, 2025, at least 30 traffic accidents involving army vehicles and other military vehicles occurred in the Belgorod region. As a result of these accidents, 20 people were killed and another 32 sustained injuries of varying severity, according to calculations by the Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet based on open sources. In most cases, military personnel were responsible for the accidents—often while intoxicated—failing to yield to civilian vehicles, running red lights, ignoring safe distances, attempting to overtake or driving into oncoming traffic. However, as the Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet found, they were often not imprisoned—courts typically imposed only fines. In one case, a soldier involved in an accident was classified as a witness rather than a defendant.

In the Moscow region on April 4, German Milonas, a 25-year-old resident of Shatura, was detained for a series of arson attacks, according to the Baza Telegram channel. Before his detention, the man had allegedly managed to set fire to several locations in Krasnogorsk, Lyubertsy and Mytishchi. After one of the arsons, he was identified via a CCTV camera and subsequently detained. His phone allegedly contained video recordings of arson attacks on cell towers in Krasnogorsk and Lyubertsy. He also reportedly told investigators that he had been carrying out assignments from handlers in Ukraine and had earned a total of $1,500. A criminal case has been initiated against him for an act of terror.

The "Supreme Court of the Donetsk People’s Republic" sentenced a 17-year-old resident of Dokuchaievsk, a town in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, to six and a half years of imprisonment for treason. According to the prosecution, in 2023-2024, he "carried out tasks for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)" and passed information about the locations of Russian soldiers to the SBU using his mobile phone. The case against him was heard behind closed doors. The court disclosed only the first letter of the convicted individual’s surname—Ch. Until he reaches the age of 19, the teenager will serve his sentence in a juvenile penal colony.

An 18-year-old man from Simferopol was sent to a pre-trial detention center on charges of preparing a terrorist attack. The Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB) identify him as a member of the "international neo-Nazi movement NS/WP [National Socialism/White Power]," recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. According to investigators, he planned to set fire to a mosque in Simferopol on the instructions of a "handler from Ukraine." He was promised $1,000 for this act. The detention of the Crimean resident became known on March 28.

A court in the Moscow region sentenced Roman Mayorov, a resident of Shchyolkovo, to four years and 10 months in prison for "confidential cooperation with a foreign state." According to investigators, Mayorov exchanged messages on WhatsApp from December 2023 to January 2024 with Dmitriy Karpenko, a member of the Ukrainian intelligence services. Initially, Mayorov believed the case materials referred to Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Karpenko who publishes interviews with Russian prisoners of war on his YouTube channel. In the spring of 2024, Mayorov was subjected to several consecutive administrative arrests before facing criminal charges and being sent to a pre-trial detention center.

The First Western District Military Court sentenced Ilya Kholopov to seven years in prison for intended treason and participation in a terrorist organization. According to the indictment, the young man communicated with a bot from the Freedom of Russia Legion and sent his application to the organization's email and to the Russian Volunteer Corps. In March 2024, he decided to cross the border on his own, but was detained by law enforcement officers while still on the train. He pleaded guilty to some of the charges.

Children and Educational System

In annexed Crimea, in Bakhchisaray, the Young Commanders School has begun—a course for 120 children from Crimea and part of the Kherson region under Russian control. For 10 days, the teenagers will be trained in tactics, medical preparation, handling of weapons, and driving.

In the Magadan region, funds are being raised for war participants at children's events. For instance, the Umka kindergarten presented a musical at the city puppet theater, raising 100,000 rubles [$1,160] for assistance to Kolyma soldiers of "the special military operation."

Miscellaneous

In the Ulyanovsk region, the budget deficit will increase by 920 million rubles [$10.69 million] to provide one-time sign-up bonuses for those who enlist with the Ministry of Defense to participate in the war with Ukraine. As a result, the region's budget deficit for 2025 will total 1.456 billion rubles [$16.93 million].

The Activatica activist team has prepared an analysis of anti-war actions. According to their calculations, the number of such actions in 2024 decreased by almost half (359 actions in 2024 compared to 664 in 2023). The reduction mainly occurred due to fewer one-person pickets — even this type of activity is increasingly targeted by authorities. The number of direct-action events also decreased: 233 such actions were noted in 2023, compared to 145 in 2024.