Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 27, 2024–Jan. 5, 2025, CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

On Dec. 28, Vladimir Putin signed a series of bills into law, including:

• A law extending criminal and disciplinary liability for crimes against military service to members of "volunteer units." Military courts now have jurisdiction over cases involving volunteer fighters who, among other offenses, fail to obey orders, go AWOL, desert or destroy military property.
• A law introducing a tiered system of stricter punishments for armed rebellion, scaled according to the level of involvement (read more). It also expands the definition of treason by classifying voluntary participation in the activities of enemy state bodies and organizations as siding with the enemy.

On the same day, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree that rescinds sign-up bonus payments for convicts who conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense to fight in the war against Ukraine. The decree took effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Human rights advocate Sergey Babinets believes the authorities took this step to pressure suspects and defendants to enlist without waiting for a verdict.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

On Dec. 28, 2024, the MoD announced it had completed the fall regular conscription campaign. According to the ministry, it fulfilled the plan with 133,000 young people beginning their statutory military service. The MoD reiterated that conscripts are not deployed to the "special military operation" in the "new regions," which include the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It should be noted, however, that Russian authorities have called up conscripts from these occupied territories of Ukraine for the first time, although their numbers remain classified.

According to the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel, electronic draft notices were not issued during this conscription campaign, contrary to earlier concerns, and no restrictions were imposed on those who failed to respond to summonses. However, testing of the electronic Draft Register has already begun. Another feature of the fall campaign was the increased enforcement of previously unimplemented decisions by draft boards, where conscripts were sent to the military without undergoing medical examinations or draft board meetings. Lawyers anticipate that this practice will expand further in 2025.

As reported by the Idite Lesom! [Flee Through the Woods/Get Lost You All] Telegram channel, 170 large-scale roundups targeting young men were recorded during the 2024 fall conscription campaign, a significant increase from last year. The methods used in these roundups have also become more aggressive.

The Idite Lesom! Telegram channel also notes that the Draft Register and the Unified Military Register [a digital system intended to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices] did not become operational in 2025. Initially, the official launch was scheduled for Nov. 1, 2024. Later, Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], stated that the Unified Military Register would begin functioning on Jan. 1, 2025. However, in the new year, the official website of the register still indicates that it is operating in test mode and only in three regions of Russia.

The authorities of the Tomsk region have increased the bonus for signing a contract with the MoD from 400,000 rubles [$3,620] to 1 million rubles [$9,040], effective Jan. 1, 2025, as announced by regional governor Vladimir Mazur. According to Mazur, new recruits will receive 600,000 rubles [$5,430] within three days of signing the contract. The remaining 400,000 rubles [$3,620] will be paid in installments of 100,000 rubles [$905] every three months. Additionally, new contract soldiers will receive another 400,000 rubles [$3,620] from national authorities.

Starting Jan. 1, the sign-up bonus for military contracts in Russia’s constituent Republic of Bashkortostan has increased from 505,000 rubles [$4,570] to 1.6 million rubles [$14,500]. This bonus will be available until March 31, 2025. Additionally, the Ufa city budget has allocated 1.2 million rubles [$10,900] per recruit, while municipal districts in the republic are offering up to 300,000 rubles [$2,710].

Several suspects and convicts have been identified who are heading to war to avoid punishment. Those signing contracts with the MoD include:

• Daniil Sidorov, a former secretary and aide to Metropolitan Yevgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye. The 26-year-old priest is accused of sexual violence. In late November, Sidorov attacked a female student in the city of Yekaterinburg and attempted to rape her. He pleaded guilty to the charges in court.
• Pavel B., a 42-year-old dump truck driver, responsible for a crash that killed three people. In December, while driving under the influence in Petrozavodsk, he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a passenger vehicle. Three people died in the accident.

On Dec. 30, law enforcement officers conducted a raid near the central market in Arkhangelsk. During the operation, 12 men who had received Russian citizenship but had not registered for military service were issued draft notices requiring them to report to the military commissariat.

On New Year's Eve, police conducted a raid on migrants in Saint Petersburg. Reports indicate more than 1,000 people were detained, although it remains unclear whether they were issued draft notices.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The Russian MoD announced a 150-for-150 POW exchange with Ukraine. However, according to Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, 189 people returned to the country, rather than the 150 claimed by Russia. Among those exchanged were defenders of the Azovstal Steel Factory and Snake Island. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the number of returnees. This marks the 11th prisoner exchange in 2024.

Valery Limarenko, governor of the Sakhalin region, has stopped publishing obituaries of local residents killed in the war since Dec. 18. Previously, such notices appeared every two to three days. According to Limarenko's published statements, 182 servicemen from the region were killed between September and December 2024. This represents 22.5% of the total confirmed casualties in the region since the start of the invasion.

Reports have emerged of the death of 43-year-old former Russian national football [soccer] team player Aleksey Bugaev in the war. In September 2024, a Krasnodar court sentenced him to nine and a half years in a maximum security penal colony on attempted drug trafficking charges. After the sentencing, Bugaev's lawyer announced that his client planned to join the "special military operation." According to the Baza Telegram channel, Bugaev spent about two months in a combat zone.

Following the Astra Telegram channel's report on drug, fuel and weapons trafficking in the 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, an inspection was arranged in the unit. Serviceman Kirill Dyomin, who had previously conducted his own investigation and submitted the collected evidence to journalists, was informed by his fellow soldiers that a general's inspection had been conducted in the brigade on the order of Russia’s Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov. However, the servicemen accused by Dyomin of fuel and drug trafficking, as well as torture, retained their positions. Dyomin himself was not transferred from the military unit where he had previously been tortured with electric shocks. Meanwhile, threats of criminal prosecution for going AWOL have resumed. Dyomin expressed concern that his return to the unit could jeopardize his personal safety, citing explicit death threats from his commanding officers. In an effort to address these concerns, he approached the Military Prosecutor's Office of Saratov for assistance.

Families of soldiers from the 1194th Regiment have reported unlawful actions by their commanders. According to their claims, the servicemen had their mobile phones confiscated upon arrival at the military unit. Commanders allegedly demanded payments ranging from 20,000 rubles [$180] to 50,000 rubles [$450] for admission to a hospital with an injury. Those who refused to pay were reportedly threatened with execution. The spouse of a deceased soldier has recovered an audio recording of a conversation between commanders in which the servicemen are referred to as "slaves" who can be "tied up." The soldiers and their families have appealed to the Military Prosecutor's Office, the Investigative Committee, the president's administration and the MoD to investigate the commanders’ actions. In response, they received only a statement indicating that their appeals would be "given consideration."

Wave of Arson and Firework Explosions

On Dec. 26, in a mall in the city of Shakhty, Rostov region, a 57-year-old man set off fireworks inside a store. The incident resulted in no injuries or fires. The man was detained and explained to the police that he had acted on the instructions of scammers who had previously extorted 600,000 rubles [$5,430] from him.

On Dec. 25, a 22-year-old woman threw three bottles of flammable liquid at a gasoline station in Krasnoyarsk. Passersby and gasoline station employees managed to detain the arsonist and extinguish the fire. No injuries were reported. According to preliminary findings, she fell victim to scammers. A criminal case has been initiated against her for attempted destruction of property by a publicly dangerous way, and another case has been initiated against an unidentified individual for incitement to commit an act of terror.

Also on Dec. 25, a 62-year-old woman set off fireworks in post offices in Yoshkar-Ola under the instructions of scammers. Earlier, they had defrauded her of more than 1.7 million rubles [$15,400]. The woman has been detained, and a criminal case for hooliganism has been initiated against her.

On Dec. 27, a 70-year-old woman in Kursk attempted to set a fire in a Multifunctional Public Services Center. She was detained by citizens who were nearby at the moment of the arson. During questioning, the woman stated that she had been coerced into committing the crime by phone scammers claiming to be Federal Security Service (FSB) officers. A criminal case has been initiated against her for an act of terror.

In Saint Petersburg, law enforcement officers have detained two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, who, according to investigators, threw a Molotov cocktail at a post office on Bolshevikov Avenue on Dec. 25. No one was injured in the attempted arson. A 17-year-old resident of Sestroretsk has been charged with an act of terror committed in a group in conspiracy. He has been placed in pre-trial detention until Feb. 26. The second suspect has also been placed under arrest until Feb. 25 and has partially pleaded guilty.

A 20-year-old university student from Luga now faces a second criminal charge after setting off a firework inside a central bank branch in the center of Gatchina on Dec. 16. Initially charged with hooliganism, she is now being investigated for an attempted act of terror. The girl became a victim of scammers. According to her, they were able to get around $900 from her.

According to Fontanka [pro-Russian media outlet of the Leningrad region], the number of arson-related incidents has climbed to 18, with charges ranging from an act of terror to hooliganism and deliberate destruction of property.

Just this year, two more arson incidents took place in the Krasnogvardeysky district of Saint Petersburg. These included damage to a cellular tower and a trolleybus network power cabinet, followed by an attack on a roadside distribution panel. Authorities have launched three terrorism-related investigations in response.

In Vladivostok, a 50-year-old woman set off a firework inside a bank on Dec. 23, after falling victim to scammers. She now faces a charge of an act of terror, which could lead to a sentence of 12 to 20 years in prison.

Following the recent increase in arson cases, authorities in Krasnoyarsk forbade gas stations from selling gas into any containers except directly into vehicles’ gas tanks.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Donetsk, commandant’s office employees attempted to abduct Aleksandr Barlet who had earlier complained of unlawful mobilization and fraud committed by the commanders of the 116th Regiment. As officers were arresting him, they opened fire, wounding Barlet and his father. Barlet is currently in intensive care in serious condition. Police are pressing charges against the victim accusing him of assault with a knife while Barlet’s father is charged with assaulting the officers with a bat. Meanwhile, Barlet’s attorney found out that the man had been assigned to 110th Motorized Rifle Brigade where someone is receiving his pay while Barlet is listed as having gone AWOL. His personal file states that his pay goes to bank accounts unknown to his family.

Former Wagner Group mercenary Aleksey Khokhlov, 48, who had been previously convicted, is facing criminal kidnapping charges. ASTRA found out that in August 2024, the man kidnapped an Oryol region woman and attempted to rape her. Investigators could not find evidence of rape and are only pursuing the kidnapping. According to ASTRA reporters, Khokhlov had been previously convicted of multiple thefts and murders. In 2022, he signed up to fight in Ukraine and was granted pardon.

The Southern District Military Court will hear the case of Maksim Potekhin, a mobilized soldier from the Moscow region. According to investigators, Potekhin has murdered an officer in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Potekhin lost contact with his family on April 10, 2024. Two weeks later, his mother and the wife of another mobilized soldier, Pavel Fursenko, reported that military police had detained Potekhin at the frontline, accusing him of murder. However, relatives claimed that the commander had been missing for six weeks before the alleged incident. Potekhin’s family also reported that he was being held in an illegal prison in the village of Zaitseve, in the Luhansk region.

The Investigative Committee released 21-year-old Artyom Razmakhnin, a participant in the war in Ukraine, suspected of murder. On Dec. 15, while on leave, Razmakhnin assaulted Danil Sidorov in a sauna. Ten days later, Sidorov died in the hospital. The Investigative Committee refused to open a criminal case against Razmakhnin, who has since returned to a combat zone. The victim's wife has launched a petition demanding that the perpetrator be brought to justice.

The Belgorod region police are searching for three deserters who left their positions with assault rifles. According to Baza, privates of an assault company Yaroslav R., Vladislav Yu. and Khafiz I. deserted on Dec. 30. So far, the search has yielded no results.

A man who ran away from the army was detained in Saint Petersburg. He allegedly left the unit in June and was declared wanted on Dec. 24.

A court in Nalchik sentenced contract soldier Ruslan Khasanov to five years' probation for going AWOL. In July 2024, the man left his unit and was living at home with his family until the end of September. Earlier, Khasanov's own brother was killed in the war. The court recognized his brother's death as a mitigating factor.

Aleksey Kartashov, a mobilized father of two from the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], was sentenced to three years in a penal colony for going AWOL. In March 2023, Aleksey was granted a two-week leave. Upon arriving home, he declares that he would not return to the war "under any circumstances." A criminal case was opened against him.

According to the tally by Dovod [independent Russian media outlet], over 132 criminal cases were initiated against refuseniks in the Vladimir region during 2024. Since the beginning of the invasion, more than 220 criminal cases have been filed related to the charge of desertion.

A man from Uzbekistan has been sentenced to four years and two months of restricted freedom for participating in the war in Ukraine on the Russian side. The 39-year-old traveled to Moscow in April 2023 to find seasonal work. In June of the same year, he signed a contract with the MoD. In December 2023, he refused to extend his contract and returned to Uzbekistan, where he voluntarily turned himself in to the police.

The Novorossiysk Garrison Court has sentenced contract soldier Andrey Krokhalyov to six years in a penal colony for forgery and weapons theft. The soldier discarded 52 hand grenades in a tree line to avoid the paperwork required to return them to storage.

Two commuter trains were set on fire in the Moscow region on the night of Dec. 30. In Lobnya, the fire in one train was quickly extinguished, causing no significant damage. However, in Dmitrov, the driver’s cabin of another train was completely destroyed by fire. In connection with the arson, Daniil Kulakov and A.D. Zharov were detained in Moscow. The suspects claim that an unidentified individual, whom they contacted via Telegram, offered them 100,000 rubles [$900] to set the train on fire and provide video evidence. Kulakov and Zharov are charged with attempted and actual acts of terror.

The FSB also reported the detention of a Russian citizen accused of plotting an attack on an officer and a military blogger under the direction of a handler from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence.

In a separate case, the FSB announced the detention of a man in the Moscow region on suspicion of treason. According to law enforcement, the suspect allegedly established contact with Ukraine MoD via Telegram and collected and transmitted photos of an energy infrastructure site in the Moscow region in exchange for money.

In Yekaterinburg, the FSB detained four teenagers accused of planning a terrorist attack. Authorities claim the youths, born in 2007 and 2008 and allegedly sharing the ideology of a terrorist organization banned in Russia, were preparing an attack in crowded areas of the city. The FSB said it had seized components for an improvised explosive device and communication devices containing instructions for its assembly. Additionally, two of the minors are suspected of involvement in an arson attack on a police vehicle in the early hours of Dec. 22. One of the suspects has reportedly confessed. A court ordered the pretrial detention of three of the teenagers until Feb. 26, while the fate of the fourth detainee remains unclear. The group faces charges of preparing a terrorist attack and manufacturing and possessing explosives.

In the occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region, FSB officers killed a man they identified as a "Main Directorate of Intelligence agent" and "saboteur." According to reports, he was allegedly preparing an act of terror in the occupied area. During his apprehension, he reportedly resisted and was killed by return fire.

The First Western District Military Court has sentenced Anton Dunayev, a Saint Petersburg resident, to eight years in a penal colony on charges of participation in a terrorist organization. According to investigators, in mid-2023, when Dunayev was still 17 years old, he submitted an application to join the Freedom of Russia Legion. He allegedly painted anti-war graffiti and distributed leaflets in the town of Vytegra. Case files also state that Dunayev created a channel on a messaging platform to collect information about Russian security service personnel. He was detained in March 2024 after allegedly planning to set fire to a draft office. Dunayev was found guilty on four charges: participation in the activities of a terrorist organization, preparation of an act of terror, knowingly providing false information about planned explosions and treason.

Children

Students in Russian schools will be encouraged to read books by pro-war authors at the end of the academic year. Putin has issued a directive to this effect, with updated reading lists expected to be updated by the summer holidays.

Assistance

The Union of Journalists of Russia plans to teach storytelling and content promotion to veterans of the war in Ukraine. To support this initiative, the union has applied for a grant of 1.2 million rubles [$10,900].