Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 5–6, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Committee on State Building and Legislation of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] proposed adding a new article on "Assisting the Enemy in Activities Intentionally Directed against the Security of the Russian Federation" to the Criminal Code. Lawmakers introduced this amendment ahead of the second reading of a bill aimed at toughening penalties for armed rebellion. The measure targets foreign nationals and stateless individuals operating from within Russia who provide financial, logistical, advisory or other forms of aid to the "enemy,” with penalties ranging from 10 to 15 years in prison. The authors of the amendments also expanded the definition of "defecting to the enemy" and proposed extending the scope of the article on "confidential cooperation" with foreign states to include foreign nationals and stateless persons as well.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Deutsche Welle, citing relatives, reports that recruiters pressed hundreds of young Yemenis into fighting against Ukraine, after luring them to Russia with promises of good jobs. For its part, the SAM human rights organization notes that most of these Yemenis signed contracts rarely translated into Arabic and encountered brutal treatment upon arrival. Meanwhile, members of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism spoke with an Egyptian doctor named Hassan, who works as both a physician and translator for Russia’s Ministry of Defense, and learned that authorities deprived the new arrivals of their promised sign-up bonuses and stripped them of any way to stay in touch after sending them to the front. The journalists confirmed the enlistment of 227 Yemenis in the Russian army and documented six deaths, seven injuries, and three suicides. Human rights advocates estimate that between 500 and 700 Yemenis may now be fighting in Ukraine. Earlier, the Financial Times reported that recruiters had enlisted hundreds of Yemeni Houthis for the war.
In the Krasnodar region, law enforcement officers, Cossacks and employees of the General Directorate for Countering Extremism conducted a raid at a construction site. Law enforcement officers rounded up about a hundred workers, lined them up and delivered a speech encouraging them to sign contracts with the MoD and participate in the war against Ukraine promising Russian citizenship in exchange.
Tabriz Ibragimov, a professional soccer player, has been detained on his way to a scheduled event and conscripted into the army as part of the ongoing fall conscription campaign.
In Saint Petersburg, the Vasileostrovsky District Court has suspended the criminal proceedings against Eduard Ilyin, the former head of the district, who is facing multiple charges. He was released from custody after signing a contract with the MoD. The charges against Ilyin included accepting a total of at least 5.6 million rubles [$55,000] in bribes between January and August 2022.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 82,050 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 9,818 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 1,077 soldiers.
Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] has reported on the death of Artyom Antonov, a 19-year-old conscript from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan. Antonov was killed on Oct. 21 at the Ilinsky training range of the 60th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], having refused to deploy for combat operations in the Kursk region. According to the inspection materials, a lieutenant, during a firearms handling briefing, deactivated the safety mechanism of his assault rifle and fired a burst into the formation of soldiers, hitting Antonov in the head with a bullet. According to the deceased’s relative, Antonov may have been shot for refusing to sign the contract with the MoD and deploy to a combat zone. Antonov's family has asserted that the unit commanders subjected him to repeated torture for the same reason. Upon receiving the young man's body, the family discovered bruises on his body in addition to the bullet wound in his forehead. As reported by Antonov's brother to Mediazona, a criminal case was initiated as a result of the preliminary investigation, and the officer in question was suspended from duty. According to the Astra Telegram channel, the 22-year-old lieutenant who discharged the firearm was detained. He admitted to the crime but claimed it was unintentional.
Relatives of missing servicemen from the 7th Russian Military Base in Abkhazia have recorded an appeal highlighting "colossal personnel losses" and the lack of evacuation for wounded and killed soldiers from the battlefield. According to the relatives, commanders are extorting money from their subordinates and embezzling the funds of those missing in action, transferring the money to their own accounts. It is claimed that 168 soldiers have been killed over the past two weeks.
A contract soldier with diabetes is being sent to the frontline. In August, Artyom K. received a referral from the commander of the 15th Motorized Rifle Regiment to undergo a military medical board evaluation. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and deemed partially fit for military service. The commander transferred him to the 371st Regiment to await discharge. However, according to a lawyer handling Artyom's case, the regiment's chief medical officer saw his documents and medical records but disregarded them, approving his deployment to the frontline.
A court in Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] sentenced Sergey Asyapov, a participant in the war in Ukraine, to seven years and nine months in a penal colony for beating a woman to death. Initially, he was sentenced to eight years, but an appeals court reduced the term. In the fall of 2022, Asyapov left a penal colony to join the war and returned to the city of Ufa six months later after receiving a pardon. A year later, in the fall of 2023, he met 30-year-old Kamila Nizamova. During a walk they quarreled, and Asyapov assaulted her, causing injuries that led to her death. When issuing the sentence, the court considered Asyapov’s participation in the war, his decorations, and a wound he sustained as mitigating factors. The appeals court also took into account what it called Nizamova’s "immoral" behavior, claiming her insults "provoked the crime." Previously, Asyapov had been convicted at least three times for robbery and theft. However, the new verdict states that he has “no previous convictions.”
A court in the city of Vladimir sentenced 43-year-old Aleksey Demeshenko, who fought in the war against Ukraine, to nine years in a maximum security penal colony. Demeshenko was found guilty of murder and making death threats. The incident occurred on July 31, 2023, when an altercation in a bar resulted in Demeshenko fatally stabbing a patron and subsequently threatening two other men. Demeshenko volunteered for the war and returned to Vladimir for medical treatment in the fall of 2022 after sustaining injuries during the conflict.
Adam Dibirov, a resident of Russia’s constituent Republic of Dagestan who was recruited from a penal colony to fight in the war, was sentenced to two years and two months in a penal colony for two counts of making death threats, hooliganism and causing bodily harm. Dibirov, who joined the "Storm-Z" military unit, was severely wounded in an attack in June 2023, losing his arm and developing a brain-related personality disorder. Despite his injuries, Dibirov committed a series of violent acts earlier this year. In April, he threatened a stranger with murder in Rostov-on-Don. The following month, he attacked a man with a knife in the same area, wounded another, and later assaulted a woman while issuing death threats.
November 2024 has set a record for the number of new individuals added to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) list of terrorists and extremists over six years of monitoring. For the first time, the number of individuals marked with an asterisk indicating involvement in terrorism reached 272 in a single month. The total number of individuals added to the list also hit a historic high of 357 in a single month. Additionally, November was notable for the inclusion of two minors born in 2010.
The ATESH partisan movement’s Telegram channel has reported that an anonymous activist has successfully set fire to a relay cabinet near the city of Chekhov in the Moscow region. Activists claim that the cabinet was located on a railway section connecting Moscow and the Kursk region, used for transporting fuel and equipment for the Russian army.
Children and Educational System
The Ministry of Education plans to mandate that kindergartens display the national flag at their entrances, purchase recordings of marches and folk music for educational activities, and install decorations that will promote traditional spiritual, moral, and family values. Additionally, kindergartens will be required to create "patriotic boards," and schoolchildren will be taught how to march.
On Dec. 9, all schools across the country will hold "Talking About Important Things" [a compulsory lesson held every Monday in schools across the country] as part of the "Heroes of the Fatherland Day" celebrations. The primary focus of the lesson will be the participants of the war against Ukraine. Teachers are instructed to convey to students that "the participants of the Special Military Operation are the defenders of our country's future" and that their actions in Ukraine should evoke "the same strong emotions as the heroic deeds of the Soviet soldiers."
Longreads
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has published a report on how Moscow is fulfilling its fall regular conscription plan. Meanwhile, the Kavkaz.Realii [Caucasus.Realities, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet, has reported on the forced recruitment in Chechnya [Russia's constituent republic] for the war against Ukraine.