Mobilization in Russia for Aug. 23-30, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The Ministry of Defense prepared an order under which military officials will be able to request and obtain access to information about service members and their relatives, information the ministry plans to use to assess the service members' fitness for military service. The order applies to active-duty service members whom officials are appointing or have already appointed to certain military posts, as well as those intending to sign a contract for such posts. An ordinary conscript or a person liable for military service does not fall under the order. The information officials will obtain will include, for example, data on bank accounts, income, marital status, procedural actions, criminal prosecution, criminal records, wanted status, places of incarceration, health status (including psychiatric disorders, drug addiction, HIV, and hepatitis), failure to fulfill debt obligations, and participation in political associations. The decree also says officials may request similar information about close relatives and spouses of people of interest to the MoD. The military will be able to obtain data from the Unified State Register of the Civil Registry Office, tax returns, Rosreestr [the official Russian government agency responsible for maintaining real estate property records, land surveys, and mapping], and other agencies.

The government approved amendments to the Family Code that would allow commanders of military units to certify service members' real estate transactions when no notary is available on site. The changes would amend Article 35, which currently requires a spouse's notarized consent to dispose of jointly owned property. Under the bill, a special procedure would apply to service members serving "in a hard-to-reach or remote area where there is no notary" — a commander or the head of a military unit, formation, or military educational institution would be able to certify the service member's signature on the consent.

Army Recruitment

Over the course of the summer, at least 11 Russian regions and occupied Sevastopol increased their payments for signing contracts with the MoD:

in Dagestan [Russia’s constituent republic], the regional payment was raised from 500,000 rubles [$5,820], set in July 2024, to 2.7 million rubles [$31,400]; municipalities also provide additional payments of varying amounts;
in the Amur region, the regional payment was more than doubled, from 1 million rubles [$11,600] to 2.1 million rubles [$24,400];
in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the combined regional and municipal payments were increased from 2.1 million rubles [$24,400] to 2.8 million rubles [$32,600]; in addition, the bonuses were extended to foreign nationals;
in the Smolensk region, the regional payment was increased from 1.6 million rubles [$18,600] to 2.1 million rubles [$24,400];
in Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], the regional payment was increased from 1 million rubles [$11,600] to 1.5 million rubles [$17,500], with another 200,000 rubles [$2,330] provided by local businesses;
in Karachay-Cherkessia [Russia’s constituent republic], the regional bonus was increased from 2.4 million rubles [$27,900], set in April this year, to 3.1 million rubles [$36,100];
in the Kamchatka region, the regional payment was increased from 2.1 million rubles [$24,400] to 3 million rubles [$34,900];
in the Primorsky region, the bonus was similarly increased from 2.1 million rubles [$24,400] to 3 million rubles [$34,900];
in the Kaliningrad region, the regional payment was increased from 1.5 million rubles [$17,500] to 2.5 million rubles [$29,100];
in the Pskov region, a payment of 3.25 million rubles [$37,800] was introduced for those joining the Russian Airborne Troops; for all other contract soldiers, the payment remained unchanged at 800,000 rubles [$9,310];
in Chuvashia [Russia's constituent republic], the bonuses were increased from 2.1 million rubles [$24,400] to 3.1 million rubles [$36,100];
in occupied Sevastopol, payments for those signing contracts were increased from 1 million rubles [$11,600] to 1.5 million rubles [$17,500], while for those joining the Unmanned Systems Forces, they were raised from 1.5 million rubles [$17,500] to 2.5 million rubles [$29,100].

The Vyorstka media outlet, citing human rights advocates, reports that residents of at least 17 Russian regions have complained over the past month and a half about forcible detention and coercion to sign contracts with the MoD. Reports have come from the Primorsky, Krasnodar, Khabarovsk, Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, Orenburg, Omsk, Ulyanovsk, Penza, Kirov, and Amur regions, Udmurtia [Russia's constituent republic], Buryatia, Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic], and the Jewish Autonomous Region. Human rights advocates have documented men being abducted from the streets, taken to military units, beaten, threatened with having drugs planted on them, and forced to sign contracts while intoxicated. According to the advocates, members of vulnerable groups are frequently targeted, including men with alcohol or drug dependencies, mental or physical health problems, as well as elderly and single men and those with criminal records.

Abductions of local residents in the Penza region subsequently sending them to war are continuing. For example, on the evening of Aug. 19, 33-year-old Aleksandr Stepanov from the Mokshansky district was detained after leaving his home in the village of Zarya to go to a store. Men in civilian clothes handcuffed him, put him in a car, and took him to a draft office. There, they assaulted him, issued him a new passport and military ID, and then took him, along with two other abducted men, to the settlement of Roshchino in the Samara region, then to Millerovo in the Rostov region, and from there to Donetsk. Stepanov is currently out of contact.

Against the backdrop of reports about people being forcibly sent to war, the Penza regional Interior Ministry complained about citizens who have increasingly been "standing up for the rights of offenders, obstructing their detention." In a press release, the agency said that "some residents" continue to post online material about men being detained and subsequently taken to draft offices. The agency assured the public that such claims were "untrue" and that the detentions were carried out to "prevent offenses and crimes." At the same time, the agency said that "police officers ... do not transport citizens to draft offices," while acknowledging that unknown individuals may impersonate Interior Ministry officers and saying that a "comprehensive investigation" is immediately conducted in such cases.

In the city of Cheboksary, police officers on May 15 detained a 19-year-old local resident, David Fyodorov, on the street under the pretext of checking his documents, even though he had his passport with him. Law enforcement officers took him to several police stations and allegedly found something illegal on his phone. After that, Fyodorov was assaulted and threatened with prison if he refused to sign a contract with the MoD. He was forced to agree, after which he was issued a military ID and underwent a military medical examination. On May 16, he was sent to a military unit in the city of Yekaterinburg, and on May 18 he was transferred to occupied Donetsk. Fyodorov was promised that he would serve in the Unmanned Systems Forces, but on July 22 he was sent on a combat mission with an assault unit, and he has not been in contact since. On July 23, he was listed as missing.

At least 47 of Russia’s 50 leading universities are encouraging students to sign contracts with the MoD, primarily for service in the Unmanned Systems Forces, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta]. At 44 universities, the advertisements appeared on official websites and social media; at least 12 held special recruitment events; and four may have introduced quotas for recruiting contract soldiers. At least 46 of Russia’s 50 top universities are encouraging students to sign contracts to serve in the Unmanned Systems Forces. At some universities, students facing expulsion are offered the opportunity to sign a contract, with promises of academic leave, scholarships or state-funded university places after their service. In addition, 32 of the top 50 universities have educational programs focused on developing or operating UAVs, and at some institutions students have been required to attend related classes.

Recruitment centers have appeared at Moscow’s Tushinskaya and Skhodnenskaya metro stations, advertising "alternative service" with a promise that recruits will not be sent to war. According to a brochure, the offer includes "alternative service" with a sign-up bonus of 2.3 million rubles [$26,800], a monthly salary starting at 130,000 rubles [$1,510], a five-day workweek with two days off, and all benefits available to military personnel, while exempting recruits from regular military conscription and promising that they will not be sent to a combat zone. The brochure says recruiters are seeking signalers, communications engineers, IT specialists who would work on programming and operating drones, and drivers between the ages of 18 and 45. The service would be based in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region. According to the recruiters themselves, those joining the program sign a standard military contract with the MoD’s Africa Corps. Human rights advocates and lawyers point out that no such separate contract exists, nor is there any military alternative service program.

The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel has reported that major Russian companies have begun compiling lists for draft offices of employees exempt from mobilization. As an example, the channel cites internal documents from EVRAZ, one of Russia's largest steel producers with over 70,000 employees. The documents include an order stating that employees who are Russian citizens and military reservists, will be included in the list of those exempt from mobilization, with a copy of the order to be sent to the Nizhny Tagil draft office in the Sverdlovsk region. Individuals who have been granted deferrals are asked to confirm their "consent" to this decision. Notably, workers born in 2002 and 2003 were excluded from the exemption list.

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 242,747 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 20,114 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,659 soldiers.

Russia and Ukraine conducted a "special stage" of a POW exchange under a "10-for-10" formula. Ten Ukrainian servicemen who fought on the Donetsk axis and had been listed as missing in action have returned home. Further details of the exchange have not been disclosed.

Another conscript serving at a military unit in Boguchar, Voronezh region, was coerced into signing a contract. Vladislav Kuznetsov, 21, from the Saratov region, was drafted on Nov. 13, 2025, and assigned to the 237th Tank Regiment in Boguchar. On July 25, with three months left in his service, relatives informed him of his mother’s death. Less than an hour later, his commanders pressured him into signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, convincing him it would help him get to her funeral faster. The following day he tried to back out of the contract, but his commanders refused to accept his request and his family’s appeals to the prosecutor’s office went nowhere. He has since been sent to the Pogonovo training range outside the city of Voronezh and, according to his father, is being prepared for deployment to the frontline. It has also recently come to light that 22-year-old Aleksey Polyakov from the Kemerovo region and 20-year-old Aleksandr Safonov from the Kursk region were similarly coerced into signing contracts. Human rights advocates and media outlets (1, 2) have reported numerous other such cases.

Emil Zhenishbekov, a conscript from Krasnoyarsk who has been fighting in court with the Ministry of Defense for over a year over a forged contract, is being prepared for deployment to the frontline. Zhenishbekov, who was drafted in April 2025, says his signature on the contract was forged. His commander initially offered him a driver’s position, which he accepted, after which he was made to submit a transfer request. A month later he learned from his commanders by chance that he had become a contract soldier. His mother was shown a copy of a document he said he had never signed, and an independent forensic examination confirmed the signature was not his. The court, however, refused to consider it, citing the testimony of commanders. His conscript service was due to end on April 8, but instead of being discharged he was taken from his unit under the pretext of a trip to Abakan and transported to a training range in Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region. He has been held at the unit for five months. On Aug. 24, his commanders demanded he submit a request for frontline deployment, and after he refused, filed an insubordination report and warned him of criminal charges or forced deployment. Meanwhile, he allegedly received "a document confirming that his discharge papers had been sent to the Central Military District."

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Nalchik, war participant Isropil Galaev was sentenced to one year of restriction of military service for negligent homicide. According to the court, the contract soldier was at home in Ingushetia [Russia’s constituent republic]and, while intoxicated, fired into the air from a signal pistol that had been modified to fire live ammunition. One of the bullets struck his cousin in the head, and the victim later died. Galaev himself reported the incident to the police and pleaded guilty.

In Ufa, patrol police officer Nurlygaianov was detained on suspicion of organizing, together with an accomplice, a scheme to steal payments made to contract soldiers being sent to the frontline by arranging sham marriages. According to investigators, recruits were selected from among people who had been administratively detained. After a sham marriage was arranged, the men were persuaded to grant the female accomplice a notarized power of attorney giving her access to their bank accounts. The police officer used his access to information about people held under administrative detention to identify potential recruits to be sent to war. The scheme operated from January 2025 to April 2026. The victims were often people who abused alcohol and were particularly vulnerable to pressure. At the same time, women willing to enter into sham marriages with prospective contract soldiers were recruited. In at least one case, after a man was sent to war, a payment of 2.2 million rubles [$25,600] was received. According to investigators, the police officer and his accomplice withdrew the money in cash and spent it on personal expenses. One of the sham marriages was later annulled by a court.

A court in Yakutsk has sentenced Aleksandr Stepanov, who fought in the war in Ukraine, to seven years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of hooliganism, auto theft, weapons trafficking and intentionally causing moderate bodily harm. Stepanov was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center, from which he was sent to war. He later returned after being wounded and, in 2025, committed a series of additional offenses. Stepanov was placed under house arrest but escaped. He was subsequently placed on a wanted list by the authorities and detained a month later in Ulan-Ude.

Children and Militarization

The Yekaterinburg-based company LIGA Group will stop producing laptops and instead manufacture UAV flight simulators designed for high school students. The simulators consist of a computer running specialized software, connected to a joystick and a virtual-reality headset. The systems are to be installed in school classrooms where students are taught how to operate UAVs. The Ministry of Education has launched the program for students beginning in eighth grade.

Assistance

The Labor Ministry of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] has drafted amendments to the regional Code of Administrative Offenses that would establish administrative liability for employers that fail to meet the quota for hiring war veterans. Since December 2025, organizations with 100 or more employees have been required to set aside 1% of their jobs for them and to report their vacancies to the employment service every quarter. The size of the fines has not yet been set, and the amendments are expected to take effect in November 2026.

In the Krasnoyarsk region, a law on mandatory quotas for war veterans took effect on Sept. 1. As in many other regions, organizations that employ 100 or more people will be required to reserve at least 1% of their jobs for "veterans." The quota does not include jobs being held for employees who went to war under contract or through mobilization. The number of jobs expected to be set aside has not been specified, but the government estimates that roughly 1,500 organizations fall under the law.

Longreads

A correspondent for Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] took a job at one of the recruitment centers for contract soldiers and described how the recruitment pipeline works.

The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet has reported on two cases of domestic violence by war veterans in which the women, after beatings and threats, were unable to obtain protection from the police.