Mobilization in Russia for Aug. 17-19, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment
In the second quarter of 2025, 37,900 people signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. The independent Russian investigative media outlet Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories] derived this number by reviewing federal budget expenditure data on payments to new recruits. This number is 2.5 times fewer than in the same period in 2024, when 92,800 people received bonuses for signing a contract. In total, 127,500 people received payments in the first half of this year, compared to 166,200 in the same period of 2024. Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, announced 210,000 new contract soldiers—a number 1.6 times higher than the official budget data indicates. However, researcher Janis Kluge’s analysis of regional budget payments to volunteer fighters diverges from the federal figures. He estimates the actual number of contract soldiers for the first half of the year could be around 191,000.
The Ukrainian project Hochu Zhit [I Want to Live] released the names of 628 Tajik citizens who signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense to fight in the war during the first six months of 2025. In April, the project published a list of 931 Tajiks recruited for the conflict, asserting that at least 196 of them had died. According to the project, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are among the leading countries from which Russia has recruited citizens. While Uzbekistan has prosecuted some of its citizens on charges of mercenarism for fighting in the war, there are no known reports of similar detentions or substantial prison sentences in Tajikistan.
The Prizyv k Sovesti [Call to Conscience] human rights coalition recorded mass violations during the spring 2025 conscription. In various regions, primarily in Moscow, roundups of conscripts took place, with them being detained on the streets and in public transport. Conscripts were fined for failing to appear on non-existent draft notices, schoolchildren and students were forced to undergo medical examinations, and draft deferrals due to health conditions or family circumstances were often not granted. In Moscow, the transition to alternative civilian service became more difficult: repeated applications resulted in criminal cases for draft evasion. At the same time, in other regions, the number of those entering alternative civilian service continues to grow. Human rights defenders note an increase in complaints about the arbitrariness of draft offices and describe the conscription process as an "administrative conveyor belt."
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
In Ukraine, more veterans of the Chechen wars from Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic] and the Irkutsk region (300 servicemen) have been killed than during the Chechen campaign itself (287 servicemen). According to the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet, about two-thirds of the former participants in the Chechen wars were mobilized in the fall of 2022. The list of the dead from these two regions also includes veterans of other armed conflicts. In Ukraine, 121 participants in combat operations in Syria were killed, along with four who had served in Afghanistan, five who took part in the invasion of Georgia, 11 who fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, and 10 in Tajikistan.
Relatives of 55-year-old Samara resident Galim Sh., who was killed in the war, claim he was coerced into signing a contract and entering a sham marriage. On Jan. 21, 2025, police detained him for being intoxicated, and just two days later he signed a military contract. His family believes he was pressured into doing so. On Jan. 25, he was sent to the frontline, and by late April they learned he had been killed. In June, it was revealed that the day before his deployment he had entered into a fictitious marriage with a woman now seeking compensation as the "widow of a soldier killed in the special military operation." His relatives allege this is a case of fraud.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In 2024, according to Interior Ministry statistics, 11,327 people in Russia died as a result of serious crimes—the highest figure since the start of the war and a 29% increase compared to 2023 (8,792 deaths). The total includes victims of murder, grievous bodily harm, terrorist attacks, hostage-takings with fatal outcomes, and attempts on the lives of public officials. The Interior Ministry directly links the rise in violent crime to the war and predicts that the situation will continue to worsen. Also in 2024, Russia recorded 2,395 cases of hooliganism, the highest number in a decade.
According to calculations by The Insider, an independent Russian investigative media outlet, garrison courts in Russia have issued at least 18,341 convictions for desertion and going AWOL since February 2022. A total of 18,470 servicemen have been involved in these cases. The vast majority—around 17,500—were convicted of going AWOL, while approximately 1,000 were convicted of desertion. Additionally, 94 people were convicted of evading military service by feigning illness. Since 2023, detailed statistics on these cases have been classified. This analysis is based on data from over 100 garrison courts that continue to publish individual verdict information. These figures do not include courts in occupied territories. The total number of deserters may reach 60,000, accounting for nearly 10% of Russian forces deployed in combat zones.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that it had thwarted a terrorist attack targeting the Crimean Bridge. According to the agency, a car loaded with explosives was transported through the Verkhny Lars border crossing into the Krasnodar region with the intention of later sending it to Crimea. The intelligence services stated that an "unwitting suicide bomber" was going to drive the vehicle across the Crimean Bridge. Those involved, including the driver, were reportedly detained, and criminal cases have been opened against them. However, the number of suspects and the specific charges have not been disclosed.
In the town of Glazov in Russia's constituent Republic of Udmurtia, the FSB has detained a citizen of a Central Asian country who allegedly planned to set fire to a freight train. The department also accused the detainee of justifying the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack on social media. A criminal case has been opened on charges related to the preparation of an act of terror and the public incitement of terrorist activity.
In the Russian-occupied part of Luhansk region of Ukraine, the FSB has detained a resident of the town of Antratsyt who is suspected of manufacturing explosives at the direction of Ukrainian intelligence services to target a Russian soldier. According to the department, the manmade explosive devices from components supplied by the "Ukrainian side" to carry out "acts of terrorism and sabotage." The FSB also claims that the detainee provided the Security Service of Ukraine with information on the location of units of the Russian Armed Forces. He has been charged with treason and with the illegal acquisition, possession and manufacture of explosive devices.
The Saint Petersburg City Court sentenced 20-year-old Nikita Nikitin, a resident of Ivanovo, to eight years in prison for preparing an act of sabotage. Investigators said that in November 2024 he planned to set fire to an electrical substation in exchange for $2,500. Nikitin admitted filming the site but said he never intended to attack it, claiming he only wanted to fool his handlers by producing a fake video of the blaze with artificial intelligence.
In a separate case, a military court sentenced Rostislav Zhuravlyov, a native of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, to 16 years in prison for the bombing of a car in Moscow belonging to former Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer Vasyl Prozorov. Authorities announced his detention in April 2024, shortly after the April 12 blast that sent Prozorov to the hospital with moderate injuries.
Zhuravlyov was convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack that caused serious consequences, as well as of illegally transferring explosives. Prosecutors had requested a 15-year sentence. He pleaded guilty under a pretrial deal, and his case was separated from that of four others—Vladimir Golovchenko, Ivan Paskar, Mykhailo Chuprun and Yaroslava Khrestina—who are still awaiting trial. Two remain wanted by authorities.
The Appellate Military Court in Vlasikha reduced the sentences of three Ukrainians convicted of attempting to bomb a checkpoint in the occupied town of Tokmak by six months. Vladislav Vodolazsky received 12.5 years under two articles: one for attempted international terrorism and one for illegal actions with explosives. Vitaliy Fedosenko was sentenced to 14.5 years under the same articles, plus an article for manufacturing explosives. Sergey Dzyuba received nine and a half years for illegal actions involving weapons and explosives.
The Kurgan Regional Court sentenced a Shadrinsk resident to six years in a penal colony on treason charges. According to intelligence reports, the man sent information about the location of a military unit in the district to Ukrainian intelligence via Telegram. The report states that the Shadrinsk resident supported opposition political beliefs and took a pro-Ukrainian stance on the "special military operation." The FSB noted that the individual was underage when the information was transmitted and was detained in September 2024.
A 54-year-old power engineer employed at a production plant in Rostov has been sentenced to 13.5 years in a maximum security penal colony by the Rostov Regional Court, having been found guilty of high treason. According to law enforcement authorities, the engineer—whose identity and place of employment have not been disclosed—allegedly passed information regarding the location of Russian military equipment to "Ukrainian counterparts" in April 2024. The FSB claims that the data could have been used to target the Russian Armed Forces. The agency reported his arrest in July 2024, stating that "communication devices used to relay information to Ukrainian intelligence were seized during a search of his residence."
Mehriban Lukinskaya, a 55-year-old native of Azerbaijan, has been sentenced to five years in a penal colony by the Ryazan regional court. The conviction was issued under charges related to "confidential" cooperation with foreigners, but the details of the case remain classified.
The Tula regional court has sentenced local resident Vitaly Grechishkin to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony for state treason. According to investigators, on Aug. 29, 2023, the 45‑year‑old Grechishkin transmitted to Ukrainian intelligence services via a messenger application information about the location of air defense systems in the region and the coordinates of a local fuel and energy facility. According to the court, the man contacted a participant of the Atesh partisan movement via Telegram and informed him about the location of Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. The report does not specify which particular fuel and energy facility Grechishkin disclosed.
Children and Militarization
In 2025, 28,383 people were admittedto Russian universities under the quota for participants in the war in Ukraine and their families—74.2% more than a year earlier. Currently, military personnel and their relatives have received about 5% of state‑funded places in Russian universities this year. In 2025, the separate quota amounts to 50,957 places, according to data from the Ministry of Education and Science. The share of students admitted under this quota is 55.7% of its total volume. Last year, with a comparable quota volume (50,496 places), the fill rate was lower—32.3%.
In the Belgorod region, an investigation will be conducted into the "military-patriotic" camp "Armata." Parents complained to Vyacheslav Gladkov [governor of the Belgorod region] about mistreatment by instructors. According to the mother of one child, an instructor suddenly threw a grenade or a stun firecracker at the children’s feet, causing them to feel dazed and develop severe headaches. After that, the instructor laughed and left. During an alarm drill, children were also shot at with air rifles using rubber bullets to make them run faster. The woman added that the instructors spoke to the children harshly, used obscene language, and threatened punishments such as "shooting off their fingers" or "stuffing them with a grenade."
"Talking About Important Things" lesson [a compulsory lesson held every Monday in schools across the country] will be introduced for preschool children aged 3–7 starting Sept. 1 in several Russian regions and in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Vyorstka media outlet noted that half of the "Z-literature" (pro-war literature) titles have been removed from the recommended list of "patriotic" books for schoolchildren. In the June version, the section "For Our Guys" (ZĐ° nashikh), dedicated to the war in Ukraine, included 16 books, while in the new edition only 8 remain.