Mobilization in Russia for Aug. 28-31, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a government resolution giving draft offices more time to execute conscription decisions. They no longer need to send an individual immediately to their unit during the current regular conscription campaign. They can do so in subsequent campaigns within 12 months of the decision. The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] passed the corresponding legislative changes, which Vladimir Putin signed in April. In July, lawmakers introduced a set of bills to the State Duma that would establish year-round conscription, although they have yet to vote on it.
The federal government also introduced a bill to the State Duma that would grant combat veteran status to members of the Storm-Z unit. The document refers to these former convicts, freed in exchange for fighting in the war, as individuals who signed a contract or entered into another legal agreement with the Ministry of Defense to serve in a special formation between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 1, 2023.
Furthermore, the government finalized a decision to increase the salaries of Russian soldiers by 7.6 percent starting Oct. 1, 2025, a significant rise from the previously planned 4.5 percent. This adjustment will raise the minimum salary for riflemen from 13,318 to 14,331 rubles [from $170 to $180], for machine gunners and snipers from 14,647 to 15,761 rubles [from $180 to $200] and for squad commanders from 19,976 to 21,495 rubles [from $250 to $270].
Army Recruitment
The 7x7-Gorizontalnaya Rossiya [Horizontal Russia] news outlet, citing Supreme Court statistics, reported that in 2024 Russian courts suspended 17,176 criminal cases "for other reasons"—three times more than in 2023. This is likely linked to the growing number of defendants being sent to the war. This figure does not include cases suspended already at the investigation stage, when defendants go off to war before trial. Before the war in Ukraine, there were around 1,500 such suspensions per year. The outlet also cited stories of crime victims and their relatives, who are trying to protect themselves from aggressors and prevent criminal defendants from escaping justice by going to war.
Russia’s Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov announced an increase in 2025 recruitment targets for contract soldiers but did not provide specific figures. According to him, overall army staffing targets are "generally being met." Earlier, Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] and researcher Janis Kluge estimated the approximate number of volunteer fighters signing contracts with the MoD. Based on national budget data, in the second quarter of 2025, 37,900 people signed contracts with the MoD. However, Kluge’s analysis suggests that the actual number of contract soldiers over six months may have reached around 191,000. Budget figures also show that in 2024, between 374,200 and 407,200 people signed contracts, while in 2023, the Russian Armed Forces were reinforced by 345,000 new recruits.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have identified the names of 125,681 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This number includes 13,575 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, since the previous update, the list has grown by 849 names, 50 of which are mobilized soldiers.
In addition, by August 2025, Mediazona together with Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet], prepared a joint estimate of war deaths based on the National Probate Registry and excess mortality among men aged 18 to 55. According to journalists’ calculations, by the end of summer 2025, the total number of Russian soldiers killed had reached around 210,000. In November 2024, a record death toll may have been recorded—about 3,000 killed per week. One reason for this surge was a sharp increase in lawsuits seeking to have servicemen declared missing in action or dead, which began in the second half of 2024. By August 2025, about 50,000 such cases had accumulated, with judges currently declaring more than 250 soldiers dead every day.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in the Zabaykalsky region has sentenced local resident Sanan Guseynov to 15 years in prison on charges of murder and illegal possession of firearms. In October 2024, Guseynov shot his ex-wife Yekaterina 12 times with a pistol. In February 2025, he signed a contract with the MoD and was deployed to the war, which led to his criminal case being suspended. By April, however, reports emerged that Guseynov had deserted his unit. He was apprehended, and a new desertion case was opened against him. A verdict in that case has not yet been issued.
A court in St. Petersburg upheld the sentence of 51-year-old mobilized soldier Yevgeny Strizhak, who had earlier been sentenced to six years in a penal colony for going AWOL. After serving a year and a half in combat, Strizhak sustained a "serious war injury" and returned home for treatment. He was expected to return to the frontline but stayed at home to continue his recovery. He eventually surrendered to the military police and was sentenced to one year of probation. Later, a medical evaluation board classified him as service fitness category "V" (partially fit for military service). He was assigned to a distribution unit in Voronezh to be redeployed to the frontline, but instead returned to St. Petersburg.
The independent Russian outlet Dovod reported that since February 2022, the Vladimir Garrison Military Court has received at least 314 AWOL cases, 14 of them in August alone. Earlier, Mediazona reported that over the course of the three-plus years of the war, 18,159 such cases have been opened nationwide.
In Rostov-on-Don, a court has sentenced two Ukrainian servicemen—27-year-old Ivan Perepelitsa and 29-year-old Oleksandr Matveichuk—to 20 and 13 years in a maximum security penal colony, respectively. Perepelitsa was convicted of participating in a terrorist organization and receiving terrorist training, while Matveichuk was convicted solely of participating in a terrorist organization. Both men were captured in the Donetsk region in December 2024 and later accused of committing crimes "against civilians in the Kursk region."
The court in Arkhangelsk has sentenced 22-year-old Maksim Shavarin, a student at the Northern Arctic Federal University, to 12 years in a penal colony on charges of committing an act of terror. According to the prosecution, in April 2025, Shavarin, acting on the instructions of phone scammers, set fire to four police vehicles parked near a local police station.
The 2nd Eastern District Military Court has sentenced five defendants in a case involving arson attacks in cities of Chita [Primorsky region] and Birobidzhan [Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region]. Aleksey Grebenyuk received a total sentence of 13.5 years, including his previous sentence; Sergey Pakulov was sentenced to 10.5 years; and Vladimir Armashov was sentenced to a total of eight years, including his old probationary sentence. Two minors at the time of the crimes, Aleksey Chumak and Pavel Muromsky, were sentenced to nine and a half and eight years, respectively. According to investigators, the teenagers, acting on the instructions of a "handler" from the Signal messenger, set fire to a communication station in Birobidzhan and later to a sports club in Chita, which was recruiting and training fighters for the Wagner Group. Additionally, Chumak and Muromsky involved Pakulov and Armashov in an attempt to set fire to a cell tower and planned to set fire to another sports club in Chita. All defendants were found guilty on charges related to terrorism.
The 2nd Western District Military Court has sentenced Vadim Selin, a 35-year-old loader, to a total of 18 years of imprisonment through partial concurrent sentencing: seven years for spreading "fake" information about the army, six years for justifying terrorism and 13 years for participating in a terrorist organization. According to the prosecution, Selin was involved in the Freedom of Russia Legion and allegedly received 50,000 rubles [$620] from the organization. Half of the sum was supposed to be spent on equipment and the other half was to be stashed. He also left 25 comments in the unit's chat, some of which were deemed to justify terrorism and contain "fake" statements about the Russian army. Selin was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center in July 2024. He denied the charges, stating that the investigation and a state-appointed lawyer, who allegedly collaborated with the investigation, provoked him into giving a false confession. The prosecution sought a 20-year prison sentence for him.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced 37-year-old Yury Boyko, a resident of Prokhladny in Kabardino-Balkaria [Russia’s constituent republic], to 17 years in prison on charges of attempted high treason and involvement in a terrorist organization. According to investigators, Boyko allegedly established contact with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in January 2024. The following month, he reportedly boarded a bus to Russia’s Belgorod region with the intention of crossing the border, but was intercepted and detained before doing so.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced the arrest of two individuals from the Yaroslavl region—one from Yaroslavl and the other from Rybinsk—on charges of high treason. According to the FSB, the suspects allegedly "initiated contact with representatives of Ukrainian intelligence" via Telegram in May 2025. Investigators claim they were gathering information on regional infrastructure and air defense systems. In return, they were reportedly offered payment in cryptocurrency and assistance in acquiring a European Union passport.
FSB operatives have arrested 56-year-old Oleg Kuryayev, a driver from Moscow, on suspicion of high treason. The arrest followed a series of administrative charges that began in July, when law enforcement searched his apartment. The next day, a court detained him for allegedly disobeying a police officer. Upon his scheduled release, Kuryayev was charged with petty hooliganism—an accusation repeated twice more in the following days. Although he was expected to be released on Aug. 28, FSB operatives reportedly transferred him directly to their headquarters, where he was subjected to physical abuse involving a stun gun. The following day, a court formally charged Kuryayev with high treason. According to his lawyer, investigators allege that he photographed infrastructure sites and shared the images with Ukrainian intelligence services. Kuryayev has pleaded not guilty.
Children and Militarization
Russia’s Ministry of Education has directed schools to open the academic year with speeches from "special military operation veterans" and parents decorated with state honors. But in 2025, many regions cancelled or cut back the traditional back-to-school assemblies. In the Kursk and Belgorod regions, ceremonies will be limited to first-graders and graduates because of the "drone threat." Rostov, Chelyabinsk and Bryansk regions are also scaled back. Some schools are barring most parents: in Krasnodar, only one or two per class will be admitted.
Assistance
Head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov announced a new housing program for veterans of the war in Ukraine and their families. Eligible families will be able to obtain apartments through subsidized mortgages on a priority basis. To qualify, they must be registered in the republic, show a need for better housing and have an income above the poverty line.
Longreads
The Sibir.Realii, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, published the story of Yelena Antiosova, whose two sons were mobilized in September 2022 and, a year and a half later, taken prisoner. She says authorities never informed her of their fate and offered no help in locating them.