Mobilization in Russia for Dec. 9-10, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin has come out in favor of a proposal to require contract soldiers to submit DNA samples. He described the initiative as "important" for establishing paternity and addressing "a range of other issues, including financial and housing matters." Currently, authorities collect DNA samples from soldiers' next of kin to identify their remains. Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivilyova previously reported that relatives had already provided 48,000 such samples.

The Ministry of Defense is planning to classify extracts from the Unified Military Register [digital system to identify citizens subject to military service] as official military service documents. To achieve this, the ministry has drafted amendments to an order regulating military record-keeping at draft offices and other organizations. These amendments propose recognizing extracts from the Unified Military Register, along with extracts from the register of draft notices addressees, as official military service documents. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has clarified the implications of these changes.

After speaking with lawyers and human rights advocates about the amendments to the bill on armed rebellion introduced before its second reading, the Bumaga [Paper] independent media outlet concluded that "siding with the enemy" would include any cooperation with Ukrainian organizations, such as the Russian Volunteer Corps, the Freedom of Russia Legion or charities supporting Ukrainian military personnel, once the bill is passed. Additionally, the term "enemy" would encompass not only foreign states but also international or foreign organizations. Lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov predicts that this expansion will lead to a significant increase in criminal cases under related articles in 2025.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Authorities in the Voronezh region have launched a Telegram bot for recruiting contract soldiers for the war against Ukraine. Governor Aleksandr Gusev stated that the bot is intended for those interested in military service, providing information on key issues without requiring them to call or visit a recruitment center. Among the positions listed on the bot are "work at sea" and "construction worker (shift)." According to the Vyorstka media outlet, the former refers to service in a military unit in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, and the latter refers to service in a construction battalion tasked with building fortifications in a combat zone.

The For Human Rights project, citing human rights activist Valentin Bogdan, has reported that four convicts, accused of organizing mass unrest in Penal Colony No. 15 of Angarsk in the Irkutsk region, have applied to be deployed to the war in Ukraine. According to Bogdan, the convicts made this decision because they do not expect a fair trial, as "any case initiated for a riot carries a sentence of at least 12 years." The mass uprising occurred in April 2020, after guards beat an inmate, prompting other convicts to cut their veins in protest. After the riot was suppressed, the participants were subjected to torture, sexual assaulted and forced to confess to organizing the unrest.

On Dec. 8, 24-year-old university student Vladimir Kim was detained by police in the Moscow metro. Kim, who was on academic leave due to respiratory system issues, was taken to the Moscow military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street, a site used for the mass detention of men forcibly brought in during conscription roundups. According to Kim's mother, about 30 young men had been held at the military collection point since Dec. 6, with their parents searching for them. On Dec. 9, some of the detainees were transferred to the Danilovsky draft office. The young men were then sent to the Unified Military Recruitment Center on Yablochkova Street, from where they are expected to be transferred to military units.

The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost, you all] Telegram channel has published statistics on roundups of conscripts in Moscow. Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2023, human rights activists recorded 90 roundups. However, during this year’s fall conscription campaign, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 9, 125 such roundups have already been documented—and the conscription period is not yet over.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

In the Kursk region, one of the last representatives of the small Kerek people has died. Ivan Taymagar, 55, served in the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade and was killed on Sept. 13. The Kereks are an indigenous people of Chukotka. According to the 2010 census, the Kereks were considered the smallest ethnic group in Russia, with only four people recorded. The 2021 census later reported their number as 23.

Governor of the Vladimir region Aleksandr Avdeyev reported that more than 8,600 families of war participants from the region have received regional support measures in 2024. Based on this statement, it can be assumed that this is the number of residents from the Vladimir region participating in the war.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic], a participant in the war with Ukraine has been detained on suspicion of double murder. On Dec. 5, three workers from the Sverdlovsk and Kemerovo regions killed a farming couple they were employed by. The perpetrators were arrested the next day. One of them was identified as 36-year-old Stanislav K., who had previously been convicted multiple times, including for theft. In April 2024, he stated that "service in the special military operation" lay ahead for him.

In Saint Petersburg, a 51-year-old former security guard named Khalezin has been detained for threatening violence against a teenager. He had previously been detained on suspicion of sexualized violence against minors. In September 2024, Khalezin was released from pre-trial detention and sent to the war with Ukraine, but for unknown reasons, he returned from the frontline after just three months. The man now faces trial under misdemeanor charges.

In Saint Petersburg, a contract soldier who had gone AWOL from his unit was detained. The 34-year-old private from Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic] had previously faced multiple criminal charges for theft and failure to pay alimony. He left his military unit back in April.

A resident of the Krasnoyarsk region has been sentenced to three years in a penal colony for damaging 13 posters advertising military service. The 39-year-old resident of Zheleznogorsk was found guilty of discrediting the Armed Forces. He was detained in August 2024. After his detention, the man explained that he had a nervous breakdown due to the war, in which several of his acquaintances had been killed. He was forced to record a video apology.

In Nizhny Novgorod, a citizen of Russia and Germany, born in 2003, has been detained on charges of preparing a railway explosion. Law enforcement officers allegedly found "a ready-to-use improvised explosive device" at the young man's residence and correspondence with "a representative of Ukrainian intelligence services" on his phone. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the detainee testified that he planned to blow up railway tracks in Nizhny Novgorod in November 2024 for financial compensation. Previously, he had also set fire to an electrical panel and painted five graffiti for payment. A criminal case on sabotage has been initiated.

The Moscow regional court has sentenced 33-year-old design engineer Sergey Korotky to two years and three months in a penal colony for unlawful impact on critical information infrastructure. On Jan. 11, 2023, upon his dismissal, Korotky deleted a terabyte of information, including thermal calculations for research in the field of advanced missile weaponry. More details on Korotky’s case are available in an article by Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet].

A military court in Moscow has sentenced a 30-year-old man from Belgorod to 16 years in prison for high treason and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to the FSB, he collected information about the locations of Russian military personnel in the Belgorod region and passed it to the Ukrainian side. He was also accused of distributing propaganda flyers in Belgorod.

A court in the Kaluga region has sentenced 77-year-old pensioner Olga Morozova to one year on probation for attempting to set fire to a draft office. In June 2023, scammers defrauded her of over 800,000 rubles [$8,000] and then suggested she settle her debt by committing arson at a draft office. Morozova agreed, and on July 31, 2023, she went to the draft office, poured solvent on a window and set it on fire before being immediately apprehended.

A court in Tatarstan has sentenced 20-year-old student Tatyana Davydova to 1.5 years on probation for attempting to set fire to a draft office under the influence of scammers. The fire only damaged the door, and Davydova was immediately detained.

Miscellaneous

In all districts of the Leningrad region, a new position will be introduced: Deputy Head of Administration for the Support of Participants in the War Against Ukraine and Their Families. The aim is to appoint military personnel to these positions.

Andrey Gurulyov, a member of State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] representing the Zabaykalsky region, proposed hiring women as trolleybus drivers in Chita to address a staffing shortage. Sixteen drivers in the city have signed contracts with the MoD. A similar situation has arisen in Irkutsk, where at least 15 trolleybus drivers have left to join the military due to low wages. Similarly, the mayor of Novokuznetsk in the Kemerovo region has called for the formation of a "women’s battalion" of drivers to address the shortage.

Longreads

The online media outlet Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] compiled cases of physical violence against women in the Volga region perpetrated by soldiers returned from the war and examined the broader issue of domestic violence in Russia. Meanwhile, Vyorstka investigated the structure of the sex work industry in occupied territories. According to the publication’s sources, at least 300 women are currently involved in prostitution in occupied territories, earning between 500,000 rubles [$5,000] and 1.5 million rubles [$15,000] per month, with Russian soldiers being their primary clients.