Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 16-18, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Defense Minister Andrey Belousov announced that the military recruited nearly 410,000 people for contract military service in 2025. Infographics shown during the expanded board meeting of the Ministry of Defense set the annual plan at 403,000 and the "benchmark" at 420,000. This aligns with recruitment figures Dmitry Medvedev [Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council] previously reported. However, the Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] analyzed federal budget expenditures and found that only 262,700 people—fewer than 30,000 per month—received a sign-up bonus for enlisting during the first three quarters of 2025. Economist Janis Kluge estimated that approximately 290,000 people, or about 32,000 per month, signed contracts during that same period. For comparison, Medvedev claimed 450,000 people signed contracts and another 40,000 joined volunteer units in 2024, while federal budget data indicated that between 374,200 and 407,200 individuals actually enlisted. Belousov noted that two-thirds of this year’s recruits are younger than 40 and more than one-third hold a higher or vocational education; however, the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet pointed out that before the war, two-thirds of contract soldiers possessed such educational qualifications.

Belousov also stated that the Russian Armed Forces formed five new divisions, 13 brigades, and 30 regiments over the past year, while plans for 2026 call for the creation of an additional four divisions, 14 brigades, and 39 regiments. The minister also announced that the military completed the first stage of organizing army and divisional units and formations within the Leningrad and Moscow Military Districts.

In addition, Belousov stated that the MoD has managed to locate 48% of the servicemembers previously listed as missing in action, which is three times more than in 2024. According to him, the figure should reach 60% by 2026. The ministry also plans to introduce electronic ID tags for servicemembers.

Earlier, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet], based on the number of lawsuits filed in Russian courts, calculated that at least 90,000 servicemembers had been declared missing or dead. Thus, judging by Belousov’s words, the total number of missing in action could exceed 180,000.

During the board meeting, Belousov also disclosed the scale of Russia’s wartime spending. According to him, the MoD’s total expenditures in 2025 amounted to 7.3% of GDP, while non-military spending fell from 2.7% of GDP in 2024 to 2.2% in 2025. The remaining portion of the defense budget, he clarified, was directly tied to combat operations. From his comments, this means 5.1% of GDP went to the war effort, which Belousov noted was higher than last year.

Based on the Ministry of Economic Development’s forecast of 217.3 trillion rubles [$2.7 trillion] for 2025 GDP, Russia’s war spending against Ukraine can be estimated at 11.1 trillion rubles [$138 billion], and the overall MoD budget at 15.9 trillion rubles [$198 billion]—with around 82% of that amount going directly to combat operations. For comparison, the initial 2025 draft budget planned 13.5 trillion rubles [$168 billion] for national defense.

Vladimir Putin has signed a law that changes the procedure for sending servicemembers to a military medical board. Previously, the law On the Status of Servicemembers did not explicitly guarantee free transportation to the place where the military medical board is conducted. As a result, soldiers often had to pay their own travel expenses, even though members of volunteer formations such as BARS (Special Combat Army Reserve) were explicitly entitled by law to have such travel paid for. Under the new law, travel to the location of the military medical board will be covered for servicemembers, as well as for two family members or close relatives.

Army Recruitment

In Moscow, draft offices are refusing to accept draft notices that have begun to be issued through the unified national Draft Register rather than only via the mos.ru portal. One recipient of such a notice was told at the draft office in the Savyolovsky district that they had not issued it and was sent to the Unified Military Recruitment Center. A second man who received such a notice called the draft office in the Ramenskoye district, where he was told that it had been closed and no longer operates. Human-rights activists note that both men had draft deferrals, meaning they should not have received draft notices at all.

In the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Russia’s occupation "authorities" have increased the one-time sign-up bonus for signing a contract with the MoD from 400,000 rubles [$4,970] to 600,000 rubles [$7,450]. The increase takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

The Indian government said that more than 200 of its citizens were recruited by Russia to take part in the war against Ukraine. At least 26 have been killed, and seven are missing in action. New Delhi is in talks with Moscow about repatriating around 50 Indians; more than 100 have already returned home.

Aram Simonyan, a 39-year-old former inmate who signed a contract with the MoD, has described torture and extrajudicial killings by commanders. According to Simonyan, 102 of the 108 convicts who signed contracts alongside him at penal colony IK-24 in Russia’s Volgograd region and were sent to the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Luhansk region were killed by artillery strikes and UAV attacks. Commanders reportedly recorded them as missing in action. Simonyan said that after he refused to take part in an assault, he was beaten and thrown into a "pit." He was later transferred to a basement with other members of a so-called "penal unit," where they were tortured with electric shocks. He also alleged that the unit’s battalion commander, Aleksey Korchagin, personally took part in firing-squad executions of subordinates. After being wounded in the summer of 2024, Simonyan did not return to his unit due to death threats, was declared AWOL, and is now in hiding. Military police reportedly went to his registered address in Pyatigorsk and sprayed pepper spray on the apartment door, which is currently occupied by a tenant.

A conscript sent to Russia’s Belgorod region for statutory military service who suffered a leg injury during a firefight has succeeded in securing compensation from the MoD. He sustained a fractured foot during the engagement, but his unit refused to issue an injury certificate, preventing him from qualifying for compensation. After being discharged from service, he took the case to court, which ruled in his favor. Commanders appealed the decision, arguing that conscripts do not take part in combat operations and claiming the injury was non-combat in nature. However, the appellate court upheld the ruling. The compensation amounted to 3 million rubles [$37,300], which the young man received only after filing a complaint against the unit with the Military Prosecutor’s Office.

In the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], an 18-year-old local of Vladivostok has successfully defended his right to alternative civilian service in court. As a result, the judge ordered the draft office to consider the young man's application. The draft office initially rejected the application for alternative civilian service due to the submission deadline being missed. The applicant was supposed to submit in October 2024, while he was in the 11th grade, and not in May 2025, as he did. Human rights activists emphasize that missing the deadlines for submitting applications is the most common reason for refusals, and the share of those who undergo alternative civilian service instead of regular military service is only 0.1 percent.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

FSB [the Federal Security Service] officers detained a father and daughter in Sochi on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist organization and preparing to join it. According to the agency, while in Sukhumi, they contacted a person via Telegram whom the FSB describes as a representative of a "Ukrainian terrorist organization" and a recruiter of volunteers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Acting on his instructions, the detainees allegedly gathered information about Russian military personnel, including the coordinates of air defense facilities, and planned to travel to Ukraine to fight against Russia, the agency claims.

Children and Militarization

In Russia's constituent Republic of Tatarstan, in the city of Nizhnekamsk, orphans were given a master class on assembling parts for FPV drones. According to the deputy director of the orphanage, such events develop fine motor skills and "facilitate patriotic education."

Assistance

The Defenders of the Fatherland Fund in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] has become the leader in Russia in terms of employment of veterans of the "special military operation," with 87 percent of the applicants finding work. To date, the fund has received applications from over 14,000 military personnel across the country, including 4,300 disabled persons. 55 percent of veterans and 45 percent of servicemen with disabilities were employed.

Longreads

The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet reported on how local residents in one settlement in the Irkutsk region attempted to divide compensation payments for a slain serviceman.

Vazhnyye Istorii published an extensive investigation into how recruiting for the Russian army is organized. According to its findings, such bonus schemes are in effect in at least 31 regions, and in 21 of them they operate at the level of the entire region. The payments range from hundreds to 6,000 thousand dollars per person and are frequently differentiated by the perceived "value” of the recruit: migrants and foreigners are priced higher than local residents. In a number of regions where recruitment targets were failing, the payouts were sharply increased, including in small municipalities. These expenditures are comparable to spending on ambulance services, social benefits, infrastructure and health care. Moreover, in some regions, the expansion of recruiters’ bonuses coincided with cuts to other social program budgets.

The 7x7—Gorizontalnaya Rossiya [Horizontal Russia] news outlet reported on the Time of Heroes personnel program and what it means for the future of Russia’s "new elite."

The Astra media outlet published the story of a young mother from Donetsk who fell into the hands of the local FSB. She experienced their full range of methods firsthand, from threats and "carousel" detentions to beatings and electric shocks.