Mobilization in Russia for Feb. 10–11, 2023, CIT volunteer summary
Russia’s State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly] rejected a bill on administrative liability for failure to verify military service records when hiring employees. This initiative had been introduced to the Duma by the Legislative Assembly of the Kaluga region. The formal reason for the rejection was that no opinion of the bill had been issued by the Government.
Members of the State Duma proposed to entitle veterans of the war in Ukraine to free parking in the cities where street parking charges apply. Moreover, it is proposed to extend the veterans’ right to free parking even when they use a taxi or car-sharing.
As mentioned in our recent summaries, the first batch of the new combat uniform sets for Russian troops will be ready in one week. The uniforms are being manufactured under the order of the Ministry of Defense by a company called Gardarika, owned by a 22-year-old son of the deputy head of the Federal Property Management Agency. The clothing service of the Ministry of Defense told RBC [Russian media group] that the cost of one summer set of uniforms is 10,628 rubles. It should be noted that the cost of sets specified on Gardarika’s website varied from 130 to 210 thousand rubles, with different sections of the website showing different prices for the same sets. This led to a scandal, after which the company removed the prices from the website.
In Moscow, draft notices are still being issued, requiring a recipient to report to the military commissariat [enlistment office] for a data check-up. A resident of the Izmailovsky district of Moscow reported having found the draft notice in his mailbox.
A group of mobilized soldiers from the Kaliningrad region recorded a video appeal to Governor Anton Alikhanov. The men claimed that they had been transferred from the local area defense unit under the command of the “DPR” to the assault infantry, although they had never been trained for assault missions. “We are literally being led to the slaughter,” they said. Other than that, no record of the transfer was made in their military IDs, and their command was not transferred with them. The servicemen asked Alikhanov to contact the command. The government of the Kaliningrad region acknowledged the appeal and assured that the matter is being looked into.
Relatives of draftees from the 1231st Regiment (Russia’s constituent republic of Tatarstan) turned to the head of the region, Rustam Minnikhanov, with a request to intervene in the situation. The draftees were transferred under the command of the “DPR” military and were treated like "cannon fodder." They are sent to storm the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with only assault rifles in the mined area. The new command from the “DPR” tells them that “they are the future KIAs and that the new draftees will come to replace them.” Earlier, the video plea was recorded by the soldiers from the 1231st Regiment themselves.
More information is being published about mobilized soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine. Among them are Konstantin Zotkin from the Volgograd region, Yan Zimin from Bashkiria [constituent republic of Russia], two mobilized men Aleksey Markov and Aleksandr Angelov from the city of Kursk, Aleksey Alapanov from the Perm region [federal subject of Russia]. Also, we have discovered the 108th person killed in the strike on Makiivka. It is Vladimir Prokaev, who was previously listed as missing.
The Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet published its own list of those killed during the strike on the vocational school in Makiivka. It contains the names of 100 soldiers from the Samara region, most of whom were draftees.
Many relatives of the draftees still do not know about the fate of their loved ones. Some of them receive "conditional death notifications'' with requests to send DNA samples for identification. The Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We can explain] Telegram channel published several such stories.
A Stavropol region court found a contract soldier guilty of not returning to his unit. On Sep. 26, the service member was allowed to leave his base under the condition that he would come back by 3 pm that same day. He did not return by the specified time. According to the court’s sentencing statement, the accused decided to temporarily evade military service and rest. First, he went to Ryazan, then to Stavropol, then to Nevinnomyssk, where he was apprehended on Dec. 15. The service member admitted his guilt. The court sentenced him to five and a half years at a medium security correctional colony.
In the city of Vladimir, an army officer petitioned to take him off the military rolls and strip him of his reserve officer rank because of his objections to the invasion of Ukraine. A regional court, however, refused. The court decision stated that Dzhabbarov was not willing “to be a part of and have a rank in the military that is conducting an operation in a neighboring country.” The soldier points out that “while protecting the fatherland is a duty and responsibility of each citizen of the Russian Federation, there is no protection of the fatherland in what currently goes on.” The lower court and then the regional one both denied Dzhabbarov’s petition since he had not yet reached the army reserve age limit and could not be stripped of his military rank unless convicted of a major crime.
Ukrainian war participants from Bashkiria will be able to rest for free at the region’s sanatoriums. 60.2 thousand rubles per service member are allocated for their stays at the facilities.
Members of the disabled persons’ society of the [Russian constituent] Republic of Altai are making clothing for the soldiers at the front. Acting on their own, they conducted a fundraising drive, procured materials, and sewed a batch of balaclavas, hats, and sweatshirts as requested by the local military draft office. Local volunteers and entrepreneurs also helped.
In one of the schools in the city of Petrozavodsk, high school students were gathered for a patriotic lecture. Local resident Igor Podgorny, who drew a 100-meter copy of Pablo Picasso's anti-war "Dove of Peace" on the ice of Lake Onega on Feb. 1, reported about this on social networks. According to him, the children were told that “Russia cannot lose” and that it is “the duty of every boy from birth” to defend it. The students also learned that the mothers, who tried to get their sons deferred from service, allegedly thanked draft offices subsequently for taking them away. After all, those who did not join the army "became drug addicts."
Meanwhile, in New Moscow [territories annexed to Moscow in 2012], at school No. 547, tenth-graders were obliged to pass military training tests under the threat of non-certification. All the boys in the tenth grade passed the tests during a health and safety lesson.
Ivanovo school, students of 9th, 10th, and 11th grades were shown uncensored footage of the shooting of Russian soldiers at the “special military operation” on the “Lesson of Courage.” This brought the children to tears. “The girls cried for two more lessons in horror because innocent people got killed. Someone quarreled because of pacifist views”, the parents of the students said. Officials reported that the film about the war was produced by the command of the 98th Guards Airborne Division stationed in Ivanovo.
Vasily Sokolov, one of the former members of the Volunteer Company of Military Brotherhood [a state-backed entity that holds different pro-military events], reported that the Volunteer Company receives kickbacks from its employees after issuing them fake Federal Agency for Youth Affairs grants.