Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 26-27, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Spouses of participants in the war against Ukraine may be granted the right to free higher education within the established quota if a new bill, introduced to the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] by members Yaroslav Nilov and Nina Ostanina, is passed.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
The Ministry of Defense is introducing changes to the Regulation on Military Registration, requiring draft offices to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs within five days if a citizen fails to report for initial military registration. These changes follow a recent amendment to the citizenship law, which allows authorities to revoke the citizenship of individuals who acquired Russian nationality but failed to complete primary military registration. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] project reminds naturalized citizens that they have two weeks after obtaining citizenship to register for military service either in person at a draft office or via the Gosuslugi public services portal. Experts clarify that authorities can only revoke acquired citizenship if a person ignores a draft notice during the initial registration process. A "new citizen" already listed on military rolls and later receives a draft notice for a data check-up will not lose citizenship for failing to appear. However, the proposed regulatory changes would allow authorities to revoke citizenship for individuals who register through Gosuslugi but subsequently ignore a draft notice for a data check-up.
Igor Pushkaryov, the 50-year-old former mayor of Vladivostok, who was sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony for bribery and abuse of office, has joined the war in Ukraine. In October, it was reported that Pushkaryov had successfully signed a contract with the MoD on his second attempt. Recently, his lawyer confirmed that Pushkaryov has been deployed to the frontline.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
In 2024, 843 soldiers deserted the Russian army with assistance from the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] project, exceeding the total number of deserters during the war's first two years, according to the project’s founder, Grigory Sverdlin. On average, 71 people sought help from human rights advocates every day. Additionally, activists helped 22,000 people avoid conscription into the Russian army by securing deferments or arranging alternative civilian service.
Wave of Arson and Firework Explosions
A firework was set off inside a bank branch in Syzran. No injuries were reported, but a 43-year-old man from the Ulyanovsk region was detained as a suspect. Preliminary reports indicate that he acted under instructions from phone scammers.
Another "unauthorized" firework display took place in Moscow's Red Square on Dec. 25. The next day, law enforcement detained a 62-year-old woman as a suspect. She explained that she had acted on instructions from someone posing as a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer. The scammers allegedly convinced her that her money was being used to fund the Armed Forces of Ukraine and defrauded her of 9.3 million rubles [$93,200]. They promised to return her money if she launched the firework as instructed. According to the Baza Telegram channel, a criminal case has been opened on charges of hooliganism.
A Moscow court has ordered a 65-year-old local resident I. Zelinsky to be held in a pre-trial detention center for throwing two Molotov cocktails at a police car near the Arbat police station on Dec. 24. He is accused of conspiring and committing an act of terror in a group, as well as causing deliberate damage or destruction of property with severe consequences. Zelinsky claims that scammers who directed his actions threatened to murder his wife.
A 16-year-old youth who was arrested earlier, has been placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly setting fire to a United Russia [Putin’s ruling party] office in Arkhangelsk. A resident of Gus-Khrustalny in the Vladimir region was arrested after ramming his car into a former military commissariat [draft office] building and then setting his vehicle on fire. Meanwhile, a 19-year-old student who attempted to set off fireworks near ATMs at the Megapolis shopping center in Yekaterinburg has been released on recognizance. He was also required to record an apology video. Law enforcement officers have reclassified his criminal case from attempted destruction of property to the more serious charge of terrorism.
According to Baza, Russia has launched widespread raids on fireworks stores in response to a recent wave of arsons and firework launches near banks, Multifunctional Public Services Centers and other facilities. The inspections began two days ago, with police instructed to warn vendors and store owners to carefully screen customers and avoid selling pyrotechnics to elderly people using phones during purchases. Law enforcement officers are seizing a substantial portion of fireworks during these raids.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Fighters of the West-Akhmat battalion opened fire at a traffic police checkpoint in the Grayvoron district of the Belgorod region. According to a military police officer, the driver of the stopped Niva did not have a driver’s license. When the police officer demanded the driver provide one, a UAZ vehicle arrived at the checkpoint instead. Five soldiers got out of it and began firing shots into the air and at the ground in front of the police officers. They then disarmed the officers under the threat of murder. One of the fighters, according to the police officer, took out a grenade, pulled the pin and pressed it against the chest of a traffic police officer, threatening to kill him if the documents were not returned. Another fighter threatened to take down the entire checkpoint and asked the commander for permission to do so. A total of nine servicemen from the Akhmat unit participated in the attack. After receiving their documents back, the fighters left.
According to the Astra Telegram channel, Vladislav Dmitriev, a previously convicted serviceman of the 41st Motorized Rifle Regiment, was detained in the town of Porkhov in the Pskov region on suspicion of murder. According to investigators, Dmitriev was drinking with his acquaintance Aleksandr Afanasyev. At some point, the two men argued and Dmitriev struck Afanasyev 15 times on the head with a hammer, causing his death. Dmitriev then set fire to the body and the house where they had been drinking in an attempt to cover up the crime.
In Volgograd, 52-year-old contract soldier Aleksandr Verbitsky, under the influence of drugs, broke into Lyceum No. 3 with a knife. In the summer of 2024, he went to Vladivostok, where he signed a contract with the MoD and was deployed in Ukraine as part of the Tigr volunteer battalion. On Dec. 6, he was awarded a medal by the MoD. Verbitsky came to Volgograd on leave for the New Year and planned to return to the frontline on Jan. 6. According to investigators, Verbitsky "found" N-methylephedrone on the ground and used it for four days. On Dec. 25, under the influence of drugs, he attempted to enter the educational institution, threatening students with a knife, but was stopped by the lyceum’s security guards. After his detention, Verbitsky was sentenced to three days of administrative arrest for refusing a medical examination. Later, the Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case had been initiated on charges of hooliganism and large-scale illegal drug trafficking. Verbitsky was placed in pre-trial detention for two months.
The number of criminal cases against Russians who refused to fight doubled in 2024, according to Mediazona, an independent Russian media outlet. In 2024, courts received 10,308 criminal cases for failing to execute orders, going AWOL and desertion. This compares to 5,517 such cases in 2023, bringing the total number of cases against "refuseniks" since the start of the full-scale invasion to 15,902. Most cases were initiated under the charge of going AWOL—over 14,182 cases have been filed in court, with rulings already issued on 12,460 of them. Additionally, 1,037 cases were initiated for failure to execute orders, and 683 cases were opened for desertion.
The FSB reported the detention of a Sakhalin resident suspected of collaborating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). According to law enforcement officers, the man established contact with the SBU and then went to the Belgorod region, where he "carried out a reconnaissance mission to collect strategic information and photographic materials" about the Russian Armed Forces. A criminal case has been initiated against him for collaboration with a foreign state, and he has been taken into custody.
The FSB announced that US citizen Eugene Spector has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage. He was accused of allegedly transferring "biomedical information" about Russians to the United States. Spector, a former chairman of the board of directors of the Medpolymerprom company, was previously sentenced in 2022 to three and a half years in a maximum security penal colony and fined over 14 million rubles [$140,300] for mediating the payment of a substantial bribe. In August 2023, Spector was placed in a pre-trial detention center in connection with the espionage case.
The Yaroslavl Regional Court has sentenced 19-year-old Vladimir Pravdukhin from Yaroslavl to 15 years in prison on charges of committing sabotage. According to the prosecution, the young man agreed to an offer from an unknown individual, with whom he had communicated via a messenger app, to commit arson in exchange for a reward of 100,000 rubles [$1,000]. On Dec. 26, 2023, Pravdukhin set fire to a transformer at the Filino railway station in Yaroslavl. The next day, he attempted to burn down a city transformer substation that supplied electricity to apartment buildings. The fire quickly extinguished itself and the substation remained undamaged. Pravdukhin never received payment for the arson attempts.
The Vyorstka media outlet analyzed changes in the list of terrorists and extremists maintained by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring). In 2024, a record 3,152 individuals were added to this list, an increase of 1,324 (or 72%) compared to the previous year, which also set a record with 1,828 entries. Many of those included in the list have not committed actual extremist or terrorist crimes and are being prosecuted for political reasons. Vyorstka also discovered that a record number of minors —161 individuals—were added to the list in 2024. Four of the youngest entries this year were born in 2010; they were just 14 years old at the time of their inclusion.
Children
In the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], four Avangard military-patriotic centers have been opened, where schoolchildren are taught to "shoot and obey." The centers hold five-day training camps for schoolchildren. There, children are put on duty as orderlies, taught to help the "wounded" and undergo drills. All these skills "will help in military service and in life in general," said Oleg Kozhemyako, the region's governor.
Hundreds of schools and kindergartens across the country held campaigns to collect presents, "humanitarian" aid and New Year cards for participants in the war against Ukraine. The NeNorma project reports on some of these campaigns.
Assistance
Christmas trees were sent to the war in Ukraine from Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic]. Meanwhile, in a hospital near Volgograd, medics were forced to hand over one day's wages for the needs of the frontline. Those who refused were threatened with being "put on notice."
Longreads
The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] has published stories of Russian volunteer fighters who fight for Ukraine, while Mediazona reports on Ukrainians and other foreigners held in temporary detention centers, where attempts are being made to recruit them for the war.