Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 2-3, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

On Nov. 29, the State Council of Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic] introduced a bill to the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly], which seeks to implement mandatory testing in schools, colleges and universities to identify students prone to "extremism" and "terrorism." The proposal is allegedly a response to a surge in incidents in which students have attacked civilians and educational institutions and set fire to draft offices and railway infrastructure.

At a specialized seminar at the Senezh Management Workshop in the Moscow region, officials of the Presidential Administration urged deputy governors to create regional versions of the Time of Heroes personnel program and offer government positions to participants of the war. They called for integrating war veterans into government and business structures, as well highlighting examples of their successful reintegration into society. In February 2024, Vladimir Putin announced the national Time of Heroes program, selecting an initial cohort of 83 participants from 44,000 applicants; some have already received official appointments. Earlier reports indicated that the seminar also provided guidance for deputy governors on preparing Russian citizens for the conclusion of the war in Ukraine.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Authorities in the Vladimir region have doubled the sign-up bonus for those concluding contracts with the Ministry of Defense to fight in the war against Ukraine. The regional bonus has increased from 400,000 rubles to 800,000 rubles [from $3,765 to $7,530]. Including the federal component, the one-time payment will now total to 1.2 million rubles [$11,300].

Roundups targeting students in Moscow continue, as reported by the T-Invariant media outlet, which documented recent cases involving students from prominent universities, including the Higher School of Economics [HSE] University, the National University of Science and Technology [MISiS], and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Among those drafted was Georgy Tarasov, chairman of the Student Council of HSE Faculty of Mathematics. Another HSE student, 22-year-old Artur Novik, was forced out of his apartment after his electricity was cut off and taken without outerwear or documents. Novik managed to contact his family, revealing that at the distribution center on Ugreshskaya Street, he had been tased for refusing to be photographed and fingerprinted. A MISiS student was detained in the metro and held for almost a day without contact with his family. He reported being held with around 30 other young men, most of whom were also apprehended in the metro. According to the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, such detainees are transported to both the Unified Military Recruitment Center on Yablochkova Street and the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street. Human rights groups have received 217 complaints about roundups and the forced transport of conscription-age men to draft offices in Moscow since the start of the fall regular conscription campaign. This shift in approach may be linked to an increased conscription quota in Moscow, with draft offices tasked to conscript 8,000 men this season.

Human rights organizations have also reported incidents in the city of Voronezh and the Tver region where young women dressed in civilian clothing are being sent to distribute draft notices in residential mailboxes. These women reportedly gain access to apartment buildings under false pretenses. In some cases, they are accompanied by law enforcement officers.

The Serditaya Chuvashia [Angry Chuvashia] Telegram channel published a photo showing an advertisement for contract-based military service placed on the fence of a kindergarten in Chuvashia, one of Russia's constituent republics.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

Four servicemen from the 132nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, who served in the headquarters, have fled their unit after learning that the command plans to deploy them to the forward positions for refusing to falsify casualty reports. This was reported to the Astra Telegram channel by the mother of Nikita Minatullaev, one of the escapees. The soldiers were detained after crossing the border into Russian territory; their current whereabouts remain unknown. Previously, Astra reported on the case of Lieutenant Oleg Guivik and Private Nikolay Poprukhin from the 132nd Brigade, who refused to proceed with their combat mission due to "criminal orders" from commanders and hid in the town of Toretsk, as well as the case of Vyacheslav Trutnev and Dmitry Ostrovsky, who deserted their positions after a company commander, under the influence of alcohol, ordered them to move through minefields.

The Vyorstka media outlet has discovered that the 810th Marine Brigade from the Russian-annexed Crimea has sustained the highest number of casualties among the units engaged in combat operations in the Kursk region. This is confirmed by the relatives of the soldiers, the marines themselves and posts in specialized social media groups and chats. The 810th Brigade is mentioned at least three times more frequently than other units in the Kursk direction. The missing servicemen, aged from 19 to 60, include both mobilized soldiers and contract soldiers. In less than one percent of cases, missing soldiers are found in hospitals. In four percent of cases, the bodies of those killed are retrieved from the battlefield, while in the remaining cases, the relatives are provided with no information regarding the fate of the missing. It is worth noting that about two percent of those gone missing in action in the Kursk region are conscripts.

At a roundtable discussion in the State Duma, Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivilyova has revealed that 48,000 DNA tests have already been submitted by the families of Russian soldiers for the purpose of identifying the remains of their loved ones. In response to this, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma Andrey Kartapolov suggested to "not announce these figures" anywhere else. In addition, Tsivilyova stated that, as of now, all men who enter into a contract with the Ministry of Defense are required to submit DNA tests, which are then entered into the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

Drunken soldiers shot and killed Major Dmitry Khalyavin on the territory of the "LPR." He had recently signed a new contract with the BARS volunteer unit, departed for his duty station on Nov. 14, arrived at the unit on Nov. 19 and was killed on Nov. 21. Soldiers Sergey Barbashov and Pavel Cherkasov took turns firing rounds from an assault rifle at the officer's head and then threw grenades at his body. The suspects have been detained, and it is presumed that the conflict may have been caused by a remark directed at them. A criminal case has been initiated for murder committed in a group in conspiracy.

In the Leningrad region, two participants in the war with Ukraine have been detained on suspicion of two murders. The murders were reported by a soldier named Denis. According to him, another soldier, Roman, killed Pavel Teptsov during the summer following a quarrel that arose while they were drinking alcohol together. The soldiers buried the body in a garden plot. In September, Roman suspected a man named Sergey of theft. Together with Denis, they assaulted him to death and then hid the body. A criminal case for murder has been initiated, and Denis, who reported the crimes, is currently a witness.

According to Astra, a female resident of Saint Petersburg has filed a police report about the rape of her 13-year-old daughter by Vladislav K., a 19-year-old conscript soldier, serving in the 333rd Radio Engineering Regiment. There has been no report of a criminal case being initiated.

A 24-year-old conscript from Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic], with a medical condition that should have exempted him from military service, has been deemed fit for military service with minor restrictions. The young man attempted to appeal the draft board's decision in court. However, the latter sided with the draft office.

In Saint Petersburg, 62-year-old Pyotr Pustovoy has been arrested on suspicion of arson on a railway. According to investigators, on the evening of Nov. 29, Pustovoy set fire to a switching post at the Rybatskoye railway station. After his arrest, he claimed he received a phone call from unidentified individuals who allegedly instructed him to burn the post to destroy "bugs" there. He is facing charges of committing a terrorist attack.

The Central District Military Court has ordered activist Rafail Shepelev from Yekaterinburg to undergo compulsory treatment after doctors diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. Shepelev had been active in protest rallies in Yekaterinburg. Fearing persecution, he fled to Georgia in 2021. Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he reportedly attempted to join a unit fighting as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On Oct. 12, 2023, Shepelev went missing near the border of the Tskhinvali region. It was later revealed that he had been arrested in Vladikavkaz for petty hooliganism. Subsequently, the Federal Security Service (FSB) charged him with justifying terrorism and participating in a terrorist organization.

A consortium of women’s NGOs, as part of the Algorithm of Light project, conducted a study revealing that 2,284 women in Russia were killed due to domestic violence between 2022 and 2023. The study identified 65 criminal convictions for murders of women involving participants in the war in Ukraine.

Assistance

The Tula Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church provided the 91st Airborne Logistics Brigade of Russian Airborne Troops with a mobile chapel disguised as a medical unit.

In Mari El [Russia's constituent republic] and the Chelyabinsk region, sledge hockey teams are being formed for veterans of the war in Ukraine who sustained injuries. Similar teams have already been established in Sakhalin and the Tula region.

Children and Educational System

For the first time in 2025, questions in the Unified State Exam [graduation examination in Russia’s schools] on history will feature 11 individuals associated with the war in Ukraine. This was discovered by journalists from Vyorstka after reviewing sample exam questions. Among the listed figures are Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat unit; Kanamat Botashev, a pilot killed during a mission with the Wagner Group; and Colonel Olga Kachura, who was born and killed in the Donetsk region. The exam will also include other questions related to the war in Ukraine.

Longreads

The Pervy Otdel [First Department] human rights project published an interview with photographer Grigory Skvortsov, who faces charges of treason for allegedly sending a publicly available book on Soviet bunkers to the United States.