Mobilization in Russia for December 26–27, CIT volunteer summary
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that "serious money" had been allocated to support mobilized and professional servicemen through a lump sum and a monthly allowance. Additionally, 34 billion rubles were allocated for the construction of fortifications in the regions bordering Ukraine. In addition, he said that one of the main responsibilities of the government is to control the distribution of funds spent on the "special military operation".
Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov stated that the Government has not yet formed its view on a change in tax policy regarding citizens who have left Russia: "We could probably say that by providing certain services from abroad on the territory of the Russian Federation, a tax can be paid from this... And we actually want to make sure that taxes are paid without creating any negative incentives... Therefore, we are weighing proposals by members of the State Duma, and the government will decide on its position."
Chairman of the Human Rights Council Valery Fadeev said that the working group on the "special operation" consisting of 8 council members will begin work in 2023.
Military commissariats [enlistment offices] in St. Petersburg continue to contact employers to confirm information about their employees subject to military registration.
A serviceman was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for failing to appear for service during the mobilization period, the Grozny Military Court reported. According to the court, the man did not return from leave on Sept. 22, 2022 with an intent to evade military service and remained in Rostov-on-Don until Oct. 12. He was sentenced to 2 years in a general regime corrective colony.
Aleksandr Ryazanov, a contract service member of the Guards motorized rifle regiment stationed in Chechnya, could not resign from service after the "partial" mobilization was announced. Despite the expiration of his contract, the Grozny Military Court barred Ryazanov from leaving the service, citing mobilization restrictions. Aleksandr will serve until the mobilization is officially finished, according to the court decision.
A father of many children from the Stavropol region tried to appeal against his mobilization. Aleksandr Semenov, a father of three, challenged the decision of the draft board. The civilian court decided that since at the time of filing the case Semenov was a service member, the case should be taken up by a military court and returned Semenov’s case back to him without giving it a hearing.
A garrison military court in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky found the serviceman Aleksey Breusov guilty of refusing to participate in combat in Ukraine. Breusov was mobilized on October 6 but refused a commanding officer’s order to go to war even as he was “fully aware of the announced mobilization drive.” As a result, Aleksey was convicted of violating Article 32, part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code (refusing to participate in military or combat activities) and sentenced to 20 months in a penal settlement. Breusov is appealing against his conviction to the Pacific Fleet Court.
In the Moscow region, 8 draftees, 20 to 44 years of age, were detained. The men got tired of serving and traveled by themselves from the Luhansk region to the town of Podolsk near Moscow where they headed to a police station to turn in their weapons. Most of them were drafted in the Kaliningrad region. The police called military detectives who then sent the draftees to one of the units stationed in the Moscow region where they will await the ruling in their case.
Yet another group of draftees from the Perm region was dispatched to the “special military operation” zone from the training camp in Yelan. The Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of artillery draftees being part of a battery of Giatsint-B towed 152mm field guns belonging to the western military district.
Ivan Isaev, 45, whose spleen was removed following a car accident 10 years ago has been drafted as part of the mobilization drive. His wife keeps fighting for Isaev being declared unfit for military service. She filed a suit, talked to law enforcement, went to the military board, and even wrote to Putin. Ivan Isaev himself is currently at the collection point at Kazan Expo where draftees are awaiting deployment to Ukraine.
The first death of a draftee from Tyumen. Today, two Tyumen soldiers were buried: Aleksey Rozhkov, a draftee killed on Dec.10, and Ivan Tsapenko, a contract soldier. In Novosibirsk, mobilized soldier Aleksandr Vasilyev, 35, was buried.
As the New Year approaches, regional and municipal heads visit the combat area to meet the servicemen mobilized from territories of their authority. Head of Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic] Artur Parfenchikov visited the defensive positions in the so-called Luhansk People's Republic where the mobilized men from Karelia are deployed. A post about his visit on the VKontakte social media network provoked a heated argument between the regional authority officer and the wives of the mobilized, who addressed a wide range of issues including poor supplies and terms of duty. Head of the city of Kaluga Dmitry Denisov spent several days in the “special military operation” area last week. He delivered additional sets of uniform, as well as equipment, letters and anti-drone guns to the mobilized soldiers from Kaluga.
Injured soldiers not yet ready to return to the front line are deemed fit by the hospital of Volgograd, as reported by Natalia, whose mobilized brother received treatment in that hospital. According to Natalia, a resident of the city of Volzhsky, her brother Aleksandr Ilyushin was mobilized in early October and after only a couple of weeks sent straight to the war zone where his unit performed combat missions without proper support. Having sustained a concussion while serving on the battlefield, Aleksandr was sent to the Volgograd Hospital No. 413 under the Ministry of Defense. Patients of the hospital complain that they are deemed fit even though they have not fully recovered from their injuries and still suffer from serious health issues. Natalia notes that such complaints were presented by a large number of patients, exposing the growing trend of overzealous healthcare workers sending servicemen in poor health condition back to the front line in an effort to please the bosses.
A father of four from Saint Petersburg, mobilized on Sept. 23, was discharged and sent back home only after three months (on Dec. 23) following multiple complaints. Although his children experienced psychological difficulties as a result of mobilization, his wife does not blame Putin himself, but the officials from the Ministry of Defense who execute Putin’s orders.
A mobilized soldier who brought throwing weapons from the “special military operation” area was arrested in Rostov-on-Don. A resident of Surgut, Vladimir M., 31, was on his way back home via Rostov-on-Don when he was arrested at the station carrying knuckles and shurikens on him. M., who has previous criminal history related to drugs, had allegedly found these weapons during combat activities and decided to take them home as souvenirs. M. has given a formal statement and a criminal investigation is being carried out. Two servicemen were found dead, presumably due to a drug overdose, in the suburbs of Moscow.
Two locals suspected of preparing an attack on a military commissariat [enlistment office] were killed during the arrest in Kabardino-Balkaria [constituent republic of the Russian Federation]. A criminal investigation on preparing a terrorist act was launched against 40-year-old Murat Shadov and 55-year-old Timur Marshenkulov on Dec.26. According to the investigation, two men planned to attack the military registration and enlistment office in the city of Chegem. The suspects resisted the arrest and were killed.
Baza reports on an attempt to set a military commissariat located on Lenin Avenue in Podolsk on fire. A video appeared a little later showing this was a married couple of pensioners. The circumstances are being clarified.
Mediazona published a story of a Uralian man who set military commissariat on fire to save conscripts from the war. He spent six months in jail and then left the country.
The @PaperKartuli media outlet published a story of 20-year-old Saveliy Frolov from Moscow, who disappeared when he tried to leave for Georgia through the Upper Lars checkpoint on Oct. 31, 2022. A month later, it turned out that Russian security forces made Frolov the first person accused of treason for "defection to the enemy." On this accusation, a young man faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly preparing to join the Freedom of Russia legion, the real existence of which is not proven.
The police caught a passenger on the subway to take him to a military commissariat. 22-year-old Alexander Samotsik entered the Slavyansky Boulevard station, where he was stopped by the police for a document check. After the check, the passenger was not released, but instead taken to the Kuntsevsky military commissariat. Alexander is being sent to serve in the army from Moscow, in spite of the fact that he is assigned to a military commissariat in Kaluga.
Anton Kuznetsov, from Volgograd, was sent to serve at a military base, despite a pre-written application for an alternative service.
According to the Yakut politician Vitaly Obedin, the youth of the city beat the security forces and a military commissar last Friday during an attempt to round-up recruits in one of the city nightclubs.
In the Yuzhnoportovy district of Moscow, janitors are offered to volunteer to dig trenches in the Donbas. Their payment is supposed to be 8 thousand rubles per day, and 50 thousand rubles will be immediately transferred to their accounts as a lump sum payment. According to witnesses, workers massively refuse such an offer: two janitors in the neighboring area have already been killed in the war.
An UAZ vehicle marked with letter Z [“special military operation” symbol] will go to the front from the Rostov region. According to Bataysk Cossack ataman Ivan Rysev, the vehicle was stuffed with humanitarian aid and gear for the Russian Army. “All these things were bought with money taken from schoolchildren and kindergarteners.” The family of a soldier was provided with rotten firewood. Officials from the city administration of Uryupinsk sent rotten firewood to a resident to heat her house. In Izhevsk, an advertisement for the delivery service of "Gruz-200" [Cargo 200 — KIAs] has appeared.
More than twenty soldiers from the Tyumen region did not receive a regional payment of 100 thousand rubles from the governor. This was reported by the wives of soldiers sent to the “special military operation” zone.
According to Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Social Development, special programs have been arranged for families of mobilized soldiers with children including New Year’s parties, skating rinks and tickets to various shows. In addition, they can book a visit of Father Frost for free, for which a special “battalion of Fathers Frost” has been formed. Meanwhile, on Dec. 25, a New Year's party was held for children of mobilized men in the club-house of the military unit No. 25356 (Slavyansky district of the Krasnodar region) with the assistance of the "Committee of Soldiers' Mothers" together with the command of the military unit.
The Novaya Gazeta blog publishes the story of an officer who refused to participate in the “special military operation”. Criminal punishment for the refusal of a serviceman to participate in combat was introduced in Russia in September. The first suspect under the new article was career officer Dmitry Vasilets, who refused to participate in the “special military operation”. He told why for the first time in his life he did not follow the order and why he was ready to go to prison for his convictions.