Mobilization in Russia for December 27–28, CIT volunteer summary
Vladimir Putin signed a law on free social services for disabled war veterans. Previously, only persons affected by emergencies or ethnic conflicts, as well as minor children, could receive free social services.
Military training centers will appear in Russia. By order of Mikhail Mishustin [Russia's Prime Minister], they will appear at state universities in 16 regions of the country. The document says that the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture will be engaged in the creation of such centers.
The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation will work on the issue of including additional IT specialties in the list for deferment from military service, head of the ministry Maksut Shadayev said.
Employees of the Novosibirsk State University are called to the mobilization department. They must bring documents before Feb. 15. The University rector’s order stating that was sent to the employees. It states that the University should prepare a plan for reconciling the cards of employees in reserve and those who might be subject to conscription.
There is no need to create a "mobilization economy" in Russia, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov said. The government, he said, “has enough leverage to solve emerging problems”.
Russians who should have been mobilized , but left the country during the period of "partial" mobilization, may be limited in their right to work in public authorities. The State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] member Oleg Golikov (from United Russia — Putin’s ruling party) began to prepare the corresponding bill. Another State Duma member from United Russia, Nikolay Brykin, wants to recognize Russians who left the country after the start of the war as foreign agents. In making such a proposal, Brykin hides behind concern for the Russian economy, “... cowards-defectors appeared, they are traitors to the Motherland. <...> For myself, I made a clear decision: I will initiate a law recognizing these parasites as foreign agents!” Meanwhile, Senator Sergey Tsekov proposed to confiscate the property of Russians who left the country after the start of the war, “These liberals and traitors should lose everything in Russia. All property must be confiscated in court and used to help fighters in the special military operation zone ".
Deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called Russians who left the country “traitors” waiting for the defeat of the Russian Federation and its demise. He proposed banning them from entering Russia. The Vyorstka media outlet also discusses the criticism Medvedev's posts have received from the authorities and "patriotically minded" groups.
Economist Vladislav Inozemtsev believes that it is “only a matter of time before those who left will have their property confiscated”. A comprehensive package of measures to counter the fleeing from the second wave of mobilization can be implemented rapidly, he suggests.
Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic] specialists who left the country during the "partial" mobilization will have difficulty finding employment in their former workplaces. Several large companies in Tatarstan have introduced an unspoken taboo against re-employing former employees who left for Kazakhstan, Armenia, and other states shortly after the announcement of mobilization, as reported by Realnoye Vryemya [Real Time] online newspaper.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense continues posting footage of Russian and Belarusian troops engaged in joint combat training on training grounds of Belarus. Another group of mobilized men was formed at the Kazan Expo assembly point in the Republic of Tatarstan. The footage shows the mobilized being seen off by their families.
Twelve more Russian refuseniks were brought to the basement in Zavitne Bazhannya in the Donetsk region, according to the Astra Telegram channel. Furthermore, Astra reports on yet another, thirteenth basement used as a detention center for Russian troops unwilling to fight. It is located in the village of Amvrosiivka in the Donetsk region.
Wives of the mobilized soldiers from the city of Volgograd complained of poor conditions in the “prison for refuseniks” where their husbands are being detained. On Sept. 26, nine residents of Volgograd were called up for mobilization, and in November they were deployed to the “Donetsk People's Republic”. Having refused to participate in hostilities on Dec. 20, they were placed in the so-called “prison for refuseniks.” According to the men, there is no medical assistance, they are being given one ration pack once a day, and they receive threats of physical violence. Families of the men filed a collective appeal to the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office and the Chief Military Investigative Department outlining the crimes committed against their relatives and demanding their immediate release.
In the city of Yekaterinburg, families of the mobilized men killed in the war against Ukraine will receive a payment of 30,000 rubles under the decree signed by the mayor of the city Alexey Orlov. Earlier, news came out about one more lumpsum payment of 20,000 rubles due to be granted to families of the mobilized citizens. Meanwhile, the Bryukhovetsky district administration of the Krasnodar region reported on having provided Christmas trees to families of the mobilized.
Some of the Irkutsk region draftees have complained that they are not receiving payments promised by the government. Yevgeniy Pospelov, 36, from the town of Ust-Kut, has not been paid for over three months, his wife told the taiga.info news outlet.
More on draftees’ benefits. President of the Union of Russian Attorneys Igor Trunov told journalists that draftees now have the right to cryopreserve their sperm free of charge and their families are entitled to infertility treatment within allocated quotas. Within the framework of the Federal Mandatory Health Insurance Fund, citizens can also utilize the preserved genetic material free of charge as long as medically necessary.
Upon returning from the front, an orphan from the city of Bratsk in the Irkutsk region lost his place on the waiting list for state housing he is eligible for and he is now 4,000 spots behind from where he was prior to his deployment. This is in spite of the law recently passed by the regional government that specifies that orphaned war veterans would be first to be allocated apartments.
In the Chelyabinsk region a drunk draftee beat his commanding officer to death. According to the Mgorsk.ru news portal, the man has been placed in detention for two months. The incident occurred on Dec. 23 inside a compartment of a staff train car belonging to a military echelon at the Misyash train station in the Chelyabinsk region. The senior sergeant attacked the captain and the latter died at the spot from the injuries he sustained. Both parties to the conflict were drafted as part of the “partial” mobilization.
The building of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division has completely burned down in the Rostov region. The fire started in the early morning of Dec. 27 in the village of Persianovsky near Novocherkassk and destroyed one of the buildings built in 2016.
In a military unit in Kazan, a 33-year-old soldier, Almaz G., who was stealing from his colleagues, was detained. The soldier had been previously convicted of larceny. One of the mobilized soldiers complained about the man, saying that Almaz made his way into his tent and stole a hunting knife. As it turned out, Almaz managed to steal belongings from his colleagues for 70,000 rubles [~$970] for the entire time of his service.
In Moscow, a citizen of the Zaporizhzia region has been detained at work, fired and taken to a draft office. He was threatened with beatings and forced to sign his consent to mobilization.
In the run-up to the end of the autumn conscription, Meduza [independent news website] tells what Russian citizens do to not get into the army (and what lawyers advise them to do). One of the subjects of this article inflicted himself about 20 stab wounds.
Ded Moroz [Grandfather Frost] and Snegurochka [Snow Maiden] have congratulated children in Krasnoyarsk, whose fathers are now at the front. New Year's gifts were accompanied by greeting cards from the Governor of the region, Aleksander Uss, and a postcard from the mayor of the city, Vladislav Loginov.
In Magadan, a "curator" was appointed for the wife of a volunteer. However, when her six children were not invited to a "Children New Year Party" organized by the governor, the curator advised her to share one sweet gift for all the children.
A video showing year 3 students of school No. 20 of Cheboksary citing a poem by Natalia Bratskikh, glorifying the "nameless heroes of the“special military operation" was recorded.
Based on open data, the Vyorstka media outlet found that there have been explosions and fires on the territory of 72 military commissariats [enlistment offices], military bases, warehouses, and other military facilities in Russia, as well as in the occupied Crimea, since Feb. 24.
In Krasnodar, a funeral service allegedly handed out promo leaflets of the “1 + 1” campaign claiming that dead military personnel account for 92% of their work. As part of the campaign, families of killed servicemen were proposed to unite in order to receive a discount on burial. The Pandora funeral company itself stated that they had not launched such a campaign, “It’s the work of swindlers not ours. We have already filed a report with the police, they are looking into it. We do not hold such a campaign."
The Antifond anti-war fund has summarized tips on how to protect your labor rights in case of exactions "for the needs of the army" at work. Compulsory whip-rounds to buy clothing and gear for soldiers are illegal, but many people are not informed about this or do not know how to refuse them.
The demand for psychologists’ services has grown in Russia. A dramatic increase in the number of requests for help this year fell on the periods when the war in Ukraine began and the mobilization was announced.