Mobilization in Russia for Aug. 14-17, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment

The authorities of the Saratov region introduced a new sign-up bonus of 500,000 rubles [$6,260] for former law enforcement officers who are ready to go to war with Ukraine. Retired employees of the police, Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard], the prosecutor’s office, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Investigative Committee, and other security agencies can apply for it if they sign a contract for military positions to be staffed by sergeants and soldiers between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025. Former law enforcement officers will also be able to receive sign-up bonuses of 400,000 rubles [$5,010] from the national budget and 700,000 rubles [$8,770] from the regional budget, as well as municipal payments and payments from other sources. The 7x7-Gorizontalnaya Rossiya [Horizontal Russia] news outlet notes that this is the first case in Russia of introducing a separate payment for retired law enforcement officers for signing a contract to participate in the war.

A court in Moscow suspended the criminal case over the murder of a 22-year-old woman from Nigeria due to the deployment of the suspect, Vladimir Shilontsev, to the war with Ukraine.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Relatives of 19-year-old conscript soldier Georgy P. reported that the young man and his fellow servicemen were being forcibly coerced into signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Since June 26, Georgy has been serving in the 104th Logistics Brigade in the city of Chita. According to him, he and other soldiers were taken one by one into a stuffy, poorly ventilated office and kept there until they signed a contract. After spending a long time in the room, Georgy felt unwell, and under pressure he agreed. He then spent several days in the local infirmary with a high fever. Later, the conscript attempted to submit a report to terminate the contract, but was refused on the grounds that "he had made that decision himself." The Investigative Committee, where relatives filed a complaint, stated that in recent days about 10 complaints had been received regarding this unit.

Contract soldier Denis Chernyshov went AWOL after his command denied him leave. In April, his child was born, but a few days later his wife died from complications of childbirth, leaving him the sole guardian of the newborn. Despite this, he signed a new contract on May 10. The child is currently living with Chernyshov’s sister, but she cannot obtain legal guardianship because his command has refused to grant him leave on family grounds. In a video address, Chernyshov said he was forced to go AWOL, otherwise his son would be taken away. A court hearing on restricting and potentially terminating his parental rights is scheduled for Aug. 25.

Konstantin Zotov, a 34-year-old resident of Ivanovo, was denied discharge despite being wounded and officially declared unfit for duty by a military medical board. Zotov had volunteered for the war in the summer of 2023 and was wounded that October. After about a year of recovery, a medical board classified him as fit for limited service, with a red stamp indicating conditions incompatible with military service. This decision was upheld by the Central Military Medical Commission. Zotov presented the decision to his unit, but commanders refused to accept the documents, claiming the conclusion could be forged. In July, he underwent another evaluation in Donetsk, which again assigned him the same fitness category, this time with a blue stamp. He was sent back to the frontline the very next day. Meanwhile, Zotov had been raising his 8-year-old son from a previous marriage alone; the boy now lives with his grandparents.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

Yury Nemtin, a serviceman with a previous criminal record who returned from combat with injuries, has been detained in connection with the rape of a woman in the village of Ust-Kishert, located in Russia’s Perm region [Russia’s federal subject]. Authorities have opened a criminal case against him.

Three farmers from the Moscow region have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and illegal confinement. They allegedly chained up a worker and demanded that he sign a contract with the MoD.

Investigators in the Novosibirsk region have detained two high school students, aged 14 and 15, on suspicion of attempting to carry out an act of terror. According to investigators, teenagers followed instructions from an unidentified individual, acquiring gear and fuel with the intent to set fire to relay cabinets along the Karga-Ubinskiy railway section. Their actions reportedly did not disrupt train operations. The youths were promised 20,000 rubles [$250] for completing the task, though they claim their handler refused to pay. The pair is also suspected of involvement in the arson of a mobile phone tower. A court has placed both under house arrest.

A court in Samara has sentenced Maksim Semyonov, a local resident, to 12 years in a penal colony on charges of terrorist attack. Prosecutors allege that on July 22, 2024, Semyonov participated in the arson of a telecommunications tower as an act of protest against the war, reportedly "acting as part of an organized group." Two days later, the same group is said to have set fire to a Mi-8MT military transport helicopter. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported the helicopter arson at the Kryazh military airfield near Samara in late July 2024.

A 47-year-old resident of Sevastopol, Sergey Bondarashik, has been charged with treason for allegedly cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence services. According to investigators, between January and October 2023 he sent via Telegram photographs and information about the deployment sites of Russian military and specialized equipment, as well as other facilities of the Russian Armed Forces, to unidentified representatives of Ukraine’s intelligence services.

A court sentenced 26-year-old Alina Grek, a resident of annexed Simferopol, to 15 years in a penal colony on charges of treason, preparing a terrorist attack and taking part in training for terrorist activity. Law enforcement officials say that in September 2023 she began working with Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate for money. She allegedly bought components for an incendiary mixture and photographed a railway relay cabinet in Crimea. Then in January 2024, investigators say, she prepared and ignited the flammable liquid for practice. Soon afterward she was arrested and placed on the extremist and terrorist registry maintained by Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation.

At least 16 convicts, half of them sentenced under political articles, have received additional prison terms without evidence of guilt, based solely on conversations with cellmates, according to the OVD-Info independent human rights project. One of those targeted is former serviceman Maksim Ivannikov from Chita, already serving 15 years on charges of treason, making public calls for extremism, participating in a terrorist organization and aiding terrorism. Authorities opened a new criminal case against him on suspicion of attempted escape and hostage-taking at a pre-trial detention center, after fellow inmates allegedly reported an offhand joking conversation.

Assistance

In the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject], the second phase of the Heroes of Yugra program has been launched, which helps veterans of the war pursue education and find jobs in government structures. Out of 486 applicants for the first round, 77 were admitted; seven of them have already been appointed to managerial positions in the region.

Local authorities also announced a new initiative for soldiers, which will provide grants of up to 7 million rubles [$87,700] for agricultural projects — funds earmarked for participants in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Longreads

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has published the story of a Russian man who signed a military contract before the war to pay off his debts but ended up on the forward positions, nearly lost his life, and eventually fled the country.

Meanwhile, the Azattyk Asia media outlet reported on how teenagers from Central Asian countries are being recruited to assemble UAVs at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan.