Mobilization in Russia for Feb. 11–12, 2023, CIT volunteer summary 

Deputy Chair of the Russian State Duma Committee on Education Yana Lantratova suggested a quota be established for preferential state-funded admission of the "special military operation" veterans into public universities. A bill aimed at implementing veterans' eligibility to state-funded tuition has already been drafted. "We need to ensure access to higher education to those who aspire to work in Russia, who strive for the better future of our country and are ready to fight for its sovereignty and national interests," Lantratova stated.

Despite the Kremlin's statements about the "partial" mobilization being complete, authorities of the city of Magadan will purchase 500 tactical backpacks and 500 dry rations seeking "to build a reserve capacity of resources for citizens called up for military service due to mobilization." To that end, tenders were announced by the state-run center for fire safety, rescue, civil protection, and area defense of the Magadan region. An estimated cost of a backpack is 3.3 thousand rubles, while an estimated cost of a dry ration is 1.3 thousand rubles.

It is planned to expand the list of military specialties. As explained by the deputy head of the working group on the issues of the "special military operation," Nikolay Zhuravlev, it is necessary to supplement the existing list of military specialties with new areas in demand for certain categories of specialists. According to him, it is also necessary to take additional measures to support military personnel and draftees, including free travel of military personnel and their family members to a duty location and provision of food.

Another draft notice to appear at a military commissariat [enlistment office] on Feb. 14, 2023, for clarification of military registration files was sent in St. Petersburg.

Governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, stated that thousands of residents of the region have already joined the regional territorial defense forces. The governor posted a video showing the training of volunteer fighters on his Telegram channel.

Draftees from the Russia's constituent republic of Tatarstan were returned to their regiment from a unit of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" after they appealed to Tatarstan authorities, which we wrote about in previous reports. This is reported by the Tatar-inform news agency with reference to the press service of the Head of Tatarstan.

Authorities of the Kaliningrad region saw an address by draftees to Governor Anton Alikhanov and asked the command to handle the situation, the governor's spokesman Dmitry Lyskov told RBC [media outlet]. "We, of course, as the government of the region, are aware of the situation and have already asked the command to handle this issue," Lyskov said. He didn't provide any details.

After similar addresses from Russian mobilized men and their relatives, women from the occupied territories of the Donetsk region also sent a video address to Putin. They plead to bring back their loved ones, who were mobilized in February of last year. Many of them did not have any military experience or specialty. The women additionally pointed out that inmates, who had been conscripted for war, were pardoned after 6 months only and left the war zone already, while their men have to continue fighting, "We have the impression that the war goal of the leadership is not victory, but the elimination of the male able-bodied population of Donbas."

On Sep. 13, 2022, Andrey Pakhomov, a military contractor returning from the "special operation", made a scene at hotel "Marton" in the city of Voronezh. He repeatedly hit a member of the Rosgvardia [the National Guard of Russia], who had been called to the scene. The city court found Pakhomov guilty of using violence against a representative of authority (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a government official (article 319 of the Criminal Code). The court, however, regarded the participation of the accused in the "special operation" in Ukraine as a mitigating circumstance, and his combined punishment amounted to a 60,000 ruble fine.

The Kuybyshev District Court in Omsk ordered a two-month detention for a local resident accused of attempted arson at a draft office. The Mediazona independent news outlet concludes that the detainee's name is Anton Platov. According to the prosecution, Platov is connected to the Feb. 9 unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the draft office building located on Magistralnaya St. in the city of Omsk, an incident we reported on in our summary for Feb. 9–10. Allegedly, he threw several Molotov cocktails into 2nd-floor windows. The bottles containing the incendiary mixture did not break, however, and no fire erupted.

An Amur region resident has been detained on suspicion of setting fire to a draft office. At around 5 a.m. on Feb.11, a group of unknown persons set fire to a row of window frames at the draft office building. The fire was quickly extinguished, no staff members were harmed, and no property was damaged. Roman P., a 29-year-old turner from the village of Magdagachi, has been identified as the suspect and has already confessed his guilt.

In the Moscow region, a man who damaged the railway track on the Kursk line is being sought. Between the Molody and Stolbovaya stations, a train driver noticed a suspicious man in camouflage doing something to the transport equipment. Later, damage to the railroad switch was discovered: it was blocked and tied with thick wire.

Information continues to come in about mobilized soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine. Among the deceased are Andrey Kanovets and Ivan Mishurov from the Novosibirsk region, Oleg Makrov from the Irkutsk region, a native of South Ossetia Alan Gabatov, Asmat Papshuov from Karachay-Cherkessia [Russia's constituent Republic], and Denis Rybolovlev from the Sverdlovsk region.

The Ministry of Defense demonstrates footage of the training of assault units of the Airborne Forces in the rear area of "special military operation".

The story about the fur coats that we reported on in our previous summaries has taken an unexpected turn. To remind you: widows of the deceased soldiers from the "DPR" were given fur coats, which were then taken away from them. According to journalist Lydia Nevzorova, the fur coats were stolen from a fur shop in Kherson. They were recognized by the owner of the fur salon, Olena Lapina. She left Kherson on Feb. 25, and the store was looted in May.

At the railway station in Krasnodar, five mobilized soldiers were denied boarding a train because they lacked the necessary documents. It is reported that the mobilized men were traveling to obtain equipment for their unit.

The Voyenny Ombudsmen [Military Ombudsman] project states that border guards of Moscow airports question the males who return to Russia. The questioning takes hours. The project's hotline receives information about the examinations held by the border guard service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) upon entering the country. The Military Ombudsman project highlights that authorities are unable to forbid Russian citizens from entering the country even if they had violated the law.

School students from Usinsk have crafted the candles out of tin cans, and school students from Krasnodar were forced to participate in a "patriotic campaign" dedicated to the city's 80-years anniversary of liberation from fascist invaders. The children were forced to carry a huge brown-and-black St. George's ribbon across the streets.

Reporters of the Sirena [Siren/Alarm] Telegram channel have visited the exhibition entitled Zavetam Verny [Faithful to CoVenant of Our ForefaZers] (we had reported the exhibition opening in our mobilization volunteer summary for Feb. 5-6) and asked the visitors their opinion of the war.

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet has published an article about mothers whose husbands were mobilized and the ways in which mobilization affects the demographic situation in Russia.