Mobilization in Russia for Jan. 14-16, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
On Jan. 16, Vladimir Putin signed an annual decree, calling up military reservists for training in 2025. As in previous years, the number of reservists to be summoned for training is classified under the "for official use only" designation.
Alexander Beglov, Governor of Saint Petersburg has signed a resolution extending the ban on filming the aftermath of drone strikes and posting footage of air defense and electronic warfare systems in operation.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Aleksey Skomorokhov, the former founder of the Omega-Stroy company and a suspect in a corruption case involving the embezzlement of funds allocated for building housing for military personnel, has gone to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian Ministry of Defense have announced the first prisoner exchange of 2025, with 25 soldiers participating from either side. The Nash Vykhod [Our Way Out] Telegram channel published the list of Russian soldiers who returned home. According to an investigation by the independent media outlet Agentstvo [Agency], at least 13 of the 25 repatriated Russians were previously convicted of theft, robbery, vehicle theft or assault. Five of the returned Russians suffer from severe injuries, with nine having undergone full or partial limb amputations. Zelenskyy stated that among the Ukrainian returnees were defenders of the Mariupol city and the Azovstal Steel Factory. The exchanged Ukrainians also include those with severe injuries.
Artyom Ushakov, a 20-year-old resident of Krasnoyarsk, recorded a video describing how he was coerced into signing a contract with the MoD after reporting to a regional draft office with a conscription notice. Ushakov claims he was assured that he would be stationed in his home city if he signed the contract; however, he was instead deployed to the frontline, where he was wounded and suffered shell shock. Despite having shrapnel in his leg, Ushakov was redeployed to the Toretsk direction.
In a recent video address, servicemen from the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment reported being deployed on a combat mission despite having untreated injuries. Among them, a mother identified her son, 20-year-old Ivan Sh. from Kemerovo. Ivan had signed a contract with the MoD during his statutory military service in 2023. His mother said that she had not been able to contact him since Nov. 17. In December, Ivan's sister received a phone call from a fellow soldier who informed her that Ivan had sustained a leg injury and that his location was unknown. In mid-January, acquaintances sent a video to Ivan's mother, in which she recognized her son. She is now actively working to bring him home.
Servicemen from the 101st Regiment of the 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade have reported unlawful actions by their commanders. According to the soldiers, their military unit provides no basic training, and all essential equipment, including UAVs and medical supplies, must be purchased at their own expense. They also reported a lack of necessary logistics to support combat missions, including the provision of water, food, medical supplies and evacuation. The soldiers further alleged that their commanders instructed them to shoot wounded comrades. Additionally, they showed their untreated wounds, which did not prevent their command from redeploying them.
In Russia's constituent Republic of Buryatia, the family of a war participant has succeeded in securing his return home after appealing to the local human rights commissioner. The soldier in question is one of four brothers, three of whom have been deployed to Ukraine, with the eldest already killed, and the youngest conscripted for statutory military service. Meanwhile, their mother requires constant care. The Commissioner for Human Rights contacted the commander of the Eastern Military District, who approved the soldier's return from the frontline to the unit's home base.
Aleksey A., a 40-year-old soldier serving in the 1009th Regiment, recorded a video address accusing his commanders of extortion. After he was first wounded in June 2004, he requested a leave he was entitled to but was told he would have to pay 5,000 rubles [$49] per day of leave for the necessary paperwork. Aleksey paid 50,000 rubles [$490]. Upon his return, he was asked to pay an additional sum of 150,000 rubles [$1,470]. When he refused, he was sent back to the frontline. A month later, in November 2024, Aleksey was wounded again. When he returned to his unit, he was asked to hand over his wounded-in-action payout of 1 million rubles [$9,740] as a condition to continue undergoing medical treatment. Succumbing to the threats, Aleksey complied. Although a physician later declared him unfit for service and released him on medical grounds, his commanders disagreed and resumed their threats. After Aleksey’s wife petitioned the Military Prosecutor’s Office, the officer who was extorting the money learned of the complaint. According to Aleksey, his military ID and phone were confiscated, he was labeled a deserter and was beaten unconscious in a toilet. Aleksey says that once he is discharged from the hospital, his commanders promised to take him to the frontline in handcuffs and "zero him out" under their orders.
A draftee from the Kemerovo region told the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all!] Telegram channel that the Central Military District had received orders from higher authorities to deploy soldiers to the war despite, even those suffering from serious medical ailments and unhealed wounds.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Kursk region, six servicemen from the "V" Company of the 177th Naval Infantry Regiment abandoned their posts. Reportedly, each of them took an assault rifle with at least four loaded magazines.
In the early hours of Jan. 16, a 31-year-old soldier from Kalmykia [Russia's constituent republic], identified as Andrey B., allegedly stole a car in Volgograd. The vehicle was intercepted shortly after authorities initiated an emergency response protocol. The suspect was then handed over to military police. According to the Astra Telegram channel, he was held at a military collection point for personnel who had gone AWOL. His actions suggest that it may have been an attempted escape from the facility.
A local court in Novosibirsk has ordered the detention of 40-year-old Denis Gromov, accused of going AWOL. Gromov, who was reportedly detained following a fatal car crash on Jan. 11, has a troubling history. Local media outlet NGS-Novosti Novosibirska [News of Novosibirsk] reports that Gromov was convicted of murder in 2013 and sentenced to 21 years in a penal colony. It is believed that, while serving his sentence, he signed a contract with the MoD.
A man assaulted an Aeroflot employee at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in the morning of Jan. 14. According to a witness, the assailant, who was detained shortly afterward, attributed his actions to post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his participation in the "special military operation."
The Southern District Military Court issued its first verdict against an air defense officer whose mistake led to the downing of a Russian helicopter over the Black Sea and the deaths of three airmen. Captain Igor Pashkov, who served in a Crimean air defense unit, was convicted of negligence, which caused the accidental deaths of three people. The court sentenced him to two years and ten months in a penal settlement. Pashkov is also required to pay 5 million rubles [$48,700] to the MoD and 1 million rubles [$9,740] to each widow. On Oct. 18, 2023, while on combat duty, Pashkov received a report about an air target and dismissed warnings that it was a helicopter flying with its lights on, leading to the fatal incident. He filed a voluntary confession in May 2024.
A court of cassation has recognized the right of brothers and sons of mobilized soldiers killed in action to be exempt from statutory military service. This decision drew attention from the human rights organization Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School]. In 2023, authorities in the Kirov region attempted to conscript Ivan Smolnikov, but he challenged the draft board’s decision and appealed under the Military Conscription and Military Service Act, which exempts immediate male relatives of fallen conscripts. Smolnikov’s brother, mobilized for the war against Ukraine, had been killed in action. Although a higher-level draft board and a lower court initially rejected his appeal on the grounds that mobilization equaled contractual service, Smolnikov filed an appeal and won. The higher court ordered the draft board to reexamine his eligibility for exemption, ruling that mobilization is a form of conscription and that surviving brothers and sons are not required to serve. Finally, the court of cassation upheld this interpretation, giving immediate male relatives of mobilized soldiers who were killed in action the right to demand exemption from conscription.
Courts of the Southern Military District have issued verdicts in the following cases of going AWOL during mobilization:
- Oleg Shchetin, who had received a suspended sentence for drug-related offenses in the summer of 2023, signed a contract with the MoD while on probation. However, after beginning service, he fled from a temporary deployment point and was sentenced to six and a half years in a penal colony.
- Magomed Aushev left his unit, citing the need to care for his elderly mother. He was sentenced to one year in a penal settlement.
- Mobilized soldier David Iluridze was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for fleeing combat positions and reporting to his unit only two weeks later. Subsequently, he went AWOL five more times, each time for several weeks.
- Shamil Abazaliyev, previously sentenced to three years of probation for illegal drug trafficking, signed a contract with the MoD in February 2024. Despite this, he failed to report to his unit and remained at home until mid-April. Consequently, he was sentenced to six and a half years in a penal colony for his combined offenses.
In 2024, the Krasnodar Regional Court received seven criminal cases of high treason and confidential cooperation with a foreign state. Verdicts have already been issued in six of these cases, but their details remain classified. This marks a record number of high treason cases. Among those whose names are publicly known is Dmitry Polunin, a resident of Anapa, who was convicted in July for confidential cooperation with a foreign state. In October, Igor Lominoga, the director of a private security company, was convicted on the same charge.
A court in Kazakhstan sentenced a man to four and a half years in prison for fighting alongside Russia's Wagner Group in Ukraine. According to investigators, the man joined the group in the fall of 2022 and served as the head of an artillery depot. He returned to Kazakhstan on July 28, 2023. A criminal case was subsequently initiated against him for illegal participation in an armed conflict in another country.
In the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], a court sentenced a man from Omsk to six years in a penal colony for preparing to commit smuggling. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the man had planned to organize the export of military goods produced by Omsk companies.
The Supreme Court of North Ossetia–Alania [Russia's constituent republic] sentenced a 21-year-old man from the Altai region, Ilya Zabolotsky, to five years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of treason. According to investigators, in December 2023, Zabolotsky planned to travel to Ukraine to join one of its military units but was detained in North Ossetia.
On Dec. 17, a court in Birobidzhan sentenced Nadezhda Omelchenko to three years on probation on charges of inciting activities aimed against Russia's security. According to investigators, Omelchenko encouraged mobilized soldiers to disobey orders and refuse to participate in combat.
In the Krasnoyarsk region, a 39-year-old man has been detained on suspicion of planning to set fire to a Russian Post branch. Law enforcement officers claim that the suspect acted under the direction of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] in exchange for financial compensation. A criminal case has been initiated for the preparation of an act of terror.
Courts have issued verdicts in 25 cases related to attacks on polling stations during the March 2024 elections [1, 2, 3]. According to reports from Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet], based on media and law enforcement sources, there were 47 such attacks across 30 regions. Sentences have been handed down in 24 cases, with the most common penalties being suspended sentences (10 cases) and fines (5 cases). Three individuals received prison sentences.
Assistance
Authorities in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] have approved a new benefit for families of soldiers participating in the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Family members traveling to visit soldiers on leave will be reimbursed up to 25,000 rubles [$240].
Children and Educational System
Russian kindergartens and schools have begun holding events dedicated to the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, declared by Putin. According to the Vyorstka media outlet, children are being shown military relics, forced to record video addresses for Russian soldiers and tasked with organizing aid for the frontline.
During the upcoming "Talking About Important Things" lesson, which is compulsory every Monday in schools across the country, high school students (grades 10-11) will discuss quotes from Putin on education in observance of Student Day, scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20.
Russian schools are increasingly incorporating military-oriented education into their curricula, including training in drone operation and combat-related skills. According to the Doxa online student magazine, schools across 39 regions spent nearly 540 million rubles [$5.26 million] on such programs in 2024 alone.
A high school in Kholmsk, located on the island of Sakhalin, recently held the first session of an extracurricular course titled "Military Affairs" for ninth graders. The lesson, titled "Practical Survival Skills During the Special Military Operation," was taught by Nikolay Trubnikov, an instructor specializing in "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland," who recently returned from the war.
Longreads
The Kavkaz.Realii [Caucasus.Realities, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet interviewed Ivan Chuvilyaev, a representative of the Idite Lesom! project, about how attitudes toward Russian deserters have shifted in Western countries.
The Novaya Vkladka [New Tab] media outlet published a piece about Nina Nikiforova, a pensioner whose five sons went to fight in Ukraine, one of whom was killed. In March 2024, she was awarded the title "Woman–Mother of the Nation."
Vyorstka reported on disputes involving the relatives of those killed in Ukraine over "death gratuity" payments.
PS Lab conducted in-depth interviews with 25 relatives of soldiers and, based on the findings, produced a study on the perspectives of those whose loved ones were drafted after 2022, focusing on their views of the government and the war.
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reported that Ukrainians released from Russian penal colonies are often detained for months at a migration center in the Orenburg region. They are reportedly offered contracts with the Russian army in exchange for freedom, money, and Russian citizenship.
Mediazona published an extensive investigation on how scammers have been pressuring Russians to hand over their savings, take out loans and set fire to draft offices. According to the outlet, since the start of the war, scammers have organized 187 arson attacks on draft offices and other sites across Russia, 92 of which occurred in 2024. The victims of these schemes are most often prosecuted for property damage (79 cases), terrorism (28 cases) and hooliganism (21 cases).