Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 22–23, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
In the Chelyabinsk region, law enforcement officers conducted a raid and discovered an "illegal prayer room." They issued draft notices to 12 attendees, all of whom held Russian passports.
Commanding officers continue to coerce conscripts into signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense, according to numerous reports, prompting the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel to reiterate that such agreements have no expiration date. The channel’s legal experts also dissect common tactics that officers use to persuade young men to sign, and the project’s findings show that all of these methods rely on falsehoods. Meanwhile, in 99.9% of cases, evidence of pressure exerted at the time of signing does not provide a valid basis for terminating the contract.
A court in the Saratov region suspended criminal proceedings against Ivan Pivovarov, a former police officer and son of the region’s vice governor, for joining the war against Ukraine. Pivovarov faced charges of animal cruelty and intentional destruction of property, stemming from accusations by his former girlfriend in 2022 that included domestic violence, assault, threats, and the revenge killing of two of her dogs. Reports in September indicated that Pivovarov sought to avoid punishment by deploying to the front lines.
Aleksandr Nesterov, former general director of the Polyot [Flight] radioelectronics manufacturing plant in Chelyabinsk, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and will be deployed to the war. In November 2023, Nesterov was detained on charges of exceeding official powers for accepting and paying for unfinished work under a state defense order, causing damage to the state amounting to more than 100 million rubles [$972,000].
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel has reported that Sergey Kotov, former judge of the Lytkarinsky City Court [Moscow region], who was sentenced to nine years on charges of accepting a bribe, has applied to join the war effort.
Retired police colonel Mikhail Smirnov has confessed to the murder of journalist Maksim Maksimov which he had committed with his colleagues in 2004. Following his admission of guilt, Smirnov has expressed his desire to go to the war against Ukraine. It is known that before the murder, Maksimov had been investigating Smirnov's illicit activities.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The families of servicemen from the 11th Tank Regiment have recorded a collective appeal to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov, requesting assistance in finding their missing relatives. Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] has confirmed the authenticity of the video with one of the participants in the appeal, Galina Burim. According to the relatives, their loved ones had signed contracts with the MoD and had gone missing due to the fault of the command within a brief period. In some cases, a mere seven days passes between the signing of the contract and the reporting of the soldiers as missing in action, with some reports being made prior to the soldier's deployment on combat missions. The appellants claim that in the area of the village of Hlyboke, Kharkiv region, "everything is strewn with bodies and remains of the dead," and that soldiers are being sent to assault missions without preparation and cover.
A group of soldiers detained in a Yakutsk detention facility, where a fire broke out in the early hours of Dec. 20, claiming five lives, has written a letter to the head of the Russia's constituent Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Aysen Nikolayev. The soldiers raised concerns about the absence of automatic locks that release during fires. They also noted that wounded soldiers, who are legally entitled to rehabilitation, are being held in the facility.
Wave of Arson and Firework Explosions
Another ATM was set on fire in Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk region. A woman estimated to be between 32 and 40 years old is being sought as a suspect. Security camera footage shows her on the phone with unidentified individuals at the time of the arson. A criminal case has been opened for the deliberate destruction or damage of property. Earlier in Krasnoyarsk, a local pedagogical university student set fire to an ATM under the instructions of scammers. As a result, the student sustained first- and second-degree burns and was hospitalized in serious condition.
In Bryansk, a 76-year-old woman set a car on fire outside a police station. The vehicle belonged to an on-duty assistant but was not an official police car. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes, and the woman was detained. She told investigators that she had been incited to commit the arson by "FSB officers from Moscow," claiming that helicopters carrying operatives were supposed to respond to the fire.
In Kursk, Georgy Pilishvili, an associate professor in the Department of State and Municipal Administration at Kursk State University, has been detained for attempting to set fire to a police car during a conversation with an unknown individual who was directing his actions. Pilishvili was unable to complete the act "due to circumstances beyond his control." The court placed him in a pre-trial detention center for two months in a case related to an attempt on deliberate damage to someone else's property.
In the town of Novomoskovsk, Tula region, a 60-year-old man has been detained for throwing a Molotov cocktail near a district police station. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that he was acting under the instructions of unknown individuals who had stolen a large sum of money from him.
In Perm, two attempts to set ATMs on fire have taken place. On Mira Street, an unknown man detonated an unidentified device near the entrance to a Sberbank [Russia's largest bank] branch. According to eyewitnesses, a fire broke out, covering an area of 1 square meter. One person was injured in the incident and was taken to a hospital. This individual is suspected of this arson. However, according to the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] and Bolshaya Perm [Big Perm] Telegram channels, the arsonist was another person who has been detained. The second arson attempt occurred near a bank branch on Lenin Street, where the fire covered an area of 3 square meters, engulfing two ATMs. Passersby detained the arsonist, a 50-year-old woman. She suffered burns, as did one of the eyewitnesses who tried to stop her.
A man attempted to set fire to an ATM in Bologoye, Tver region, on Dec. 23. He was detained and has already confessed to the crime. According to police, he acted on instructions from unknown criminals who persuaded him to commit the offense. The 56-year-old man faces charges of attempted property damage through arson.
On the evening of Dec. 20 in Reutov, Moscow region, two elderly women set fire to a police car. The incident began when an 80-year-old woman called law enforcement to report a theft. While the responding lieutenant was interviewing the "victim," the second elderly woman set his vehicle on fire. The car was completely destroyed, and criminal charges of deliberate property destruction were filed against the arsonist. According to preliminary reports, the elderly women were acting on instructions from unknown individuals.
Criminal charges have been filed against a fifth-grader and two ninth-graders for setting fire to a snow removal vehicle in Tobolsk. According to investigators, the teenagers received instructions through a messenger app from an unknown individual who promised to pay them for the arson. The boys are accused of committing an act of terror, with the older teenagers being placed in a detention facility. The fifth-grader, who is below the age of criminal responsibility, was sent to a juvenile detention center in Tyumen.
In Saint Petersburg, a court has ordered 20-year-old Stepan Kosarev to be held in pre-trial detention for two months for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a draft office. The man is accused of committing an act of terror. Reports indicate he was a victim of scammers.
Additionally, the Kolpinsky Court in Saint Petersburg has ordered the pre-trial detention of 70-year-old pensioner Aleksander Nikiforov until Feb. 20. On Dec. 21, he set fire to two ATMs and attempted to ignite a third. He is also being charged with committing an act of terror.
68-year-old Antonina Zolotaryova, who set fire to a Sberbank branch on Sredneokhtinsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg on Dec 21, has been remanded in pre-trial detention on charges of committing an act of terror.
A court in Petushki, Vladimir region, placed a 73-year-old English teacher under house arrest after she set fire to a local police station on Dec. 21. The elderly woman explained that she carried out the act on the instructions of scammers she had spoken to by phone. She has been charged with property damage.
In Rostov-on-Don, an 84-year-old man has been charged with hooliganism after launching a firework inside a Sberbank branch on Dec. 20. He stated that he acted under instructions from scammers.
Police detained a 27-year-old man from Ufa suspected of setting fire to a Russian Post branch. The man confessed to the crime, stating that he had been persuaded to commit the act by phone scammers who had previously defrauded him of 10 million rubles [$97,200].
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A soldier from Russia's 5th Tank Brigade, who left his unit about a week before to visit his family, has died by suicide shortly after meeting with his loved ones, according to reports from the Baza Telegram channel. Authorities had declared the serviceman missing and launched a search, accusing him of going AWOL.
In the town of Gus-Khrustalny in the Vladimir region, flyers were posted requesting assistance in finding a local man identified as Nikita Evlakhin, an army private labeled as a "deserter, prone to rape." Investigative journalists from Dovod [independent Russian media outlet] confirmed that Evlakhin, a resident of the area, fought in the ongoing war. Military police told Dovod that Evlakhin had not only fled the frontline but had also raped an underage girl in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Assistance
Authorities in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia’s federal subject] have stopped issuing financial compensation for soldiers injured on the frontline, choosing instead to provide health resort treatment and rehabilitation programs. The payments, previously amounting up to $4,860, will no longer be made after Dec. 11, 2024. Between 2022 and 2023, over 300 residents of the region received such payments. Officials argue that the cost-saving measures will allow for better support of those involved in the war effort, including their families. Funds previously allocated for payments will now be redirected toward increased compensation for fuel supplies as well as medical care and recovery programs.
Miscellaneous
Monuments honoring participants in the invasion of Ukraine will be established in every city and district of the Stavropol region. Governor Vladimir Vladimirov has initiated a public vote to select a template for the memorial. The chosen design will be available for use by municipal and district authorities that lack the resources to create their own projects.
Aleksandr Anidalov, a deputy of the Saratov Regional Legislative Assembly, revealed that the region has taken on significant debt to compensate participants in the "special military operation." According to Anidalov, the regional budget is in a "catastrophic" state, with cuts already made to all social programs.
Longreads
The Insider, an independent Russian investigative outlet, has published an in-depth report on how Russian universities are targeting political and anti-war activists.
The 7x7 – Horizontal Russia media outlet in collaboration with a psychologist from the Nasiliu.net [No to Violence] center, has explored the increasing trend of women using search engines to find out how to send men to war.
The Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reviewed hundreds of obituaries from Tatarstan and Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republics], where a growing number of young and old volunteer fighters have recently been buried. The report includes some of their personal stories.