Mobilization in Russia for Jan. 23-26, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Legislation
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) [right-wing populist and ultranationalist political party] has introduced a bill in the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] that proposes to exempt individuals who join "volunteer units" from statutory military service. Current legislation already exempts mobilized men and those who sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense from statutory service but does not extend this exemption to volunteer fighters.
Lawmakers have also introduced a bill in the State Duma that would allow authorities to freeze the assets of individuals suspected of sabotage. The bill’s authors propose amending the law "On Combating the Laundering of Criminally Obtained Incomes and the Financing of Terrorism" by adding "saboteurs" to its provisions.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed a government resolution to systematically issue combat veteran certificates to all individuals participating in the war against Ukraine as members of "volunteer units," eliminating the need for them to submit an application.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, announced that in 2024, 450,000 people signed contracts with the MoD to participate in the war, while another 40,000 joined volunteer formations. According to Medvedev, the goal for 2025 is to maintain the "current pace." It is worth noting that federal budget expenditure data for the first half of 2024 indicate that 166,200 individuals received the sign-up bonus for concluding contracts. During the third quarter, between 40,000 and 83,000 contracts were signed. Data for the fourth quarter are currently unavailable. Earlier, the independent investigative outlet Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories], in collaboration with the Conflict Intelligence Team, reported on how authorities inflate statistics on the number of contract soldiers sent to the war.
Avenir Ovchinnikov, an Orenburg resident who attempted to sell his own son, avoided punishment by going to war. The 21-year-old, who has a prior criminal record for theft and robbery, valued his 18-month-old son at 1.5 million rubles [$15,200] and found a potential buyer, who turned out to be an undercover operative. In early December, Ovchinnikov was detained while receiving the money and was sent to a pre-trial detention center. A criminal case was initiated against him for human trafficking. However, the case was recently suspended at the request of the head of a contract military service recruitment office after Ovchinnikov signed a contract with the MoD. The child's mother is currently serving a prison sentence.
Sergey Oleynik, who was sentenced in March 2024 to 11 years in a maximum-security penal colony for murder, has returned to his native village near the city of Novosibirsk after participating in the war. In the summer of 2021, Oleynik shot and killed his acquaintance, Andrey Tyryshkin, with a sawed-off shotgun after Tyryshkin refused to repay a debt of 30,000 rubles [$300]. The final verdict against Oleynik was issued in March 2024. This was his second prison sentence. After serving only a few months, Oleynik signed a military contract in July 2024 and was sent to the war. By the end of the year, he was reportedly seen back in his home village. The sister of the murder victim contacted the MoD, which confirmed that Oleynik had indeed signed a contract.
Gennady, an 18-year-old resident of the Chelyabinsk region, who reported to a draft office to confirm a serious illness, was conscripted into the army. At the end of 2024, Gennady, who suffers from congenital hydrocephalus, was looking for a job, which required him to present a military ID. To clarify the protocol for processing documents declaring him unfit for military service, he visited the draft office. Instead, he was sent to a military collection point and then to a military base. Currently, Gennady is serving in the Chebarkul garrison in the Chelyabinsk region, where his condition has deteriorated. However, according to his parents, the medical unit has ignored his complaints. The command has already offered Gennady to sign a contract, promising him continued service in Chebarkul, but he refused. His parents are now trying to secure a military medical evaluation to bring their son back home. However, lawyers warn that this process will likely be difficult and protracted.
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 90,019 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 10,531 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,293 soldiers, 164 of whom were mobilized.
Aleksandr Barlet, who sustained a gunshot wound from employees of the commandant's office in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, resulting in the loss of a kidney, has accused Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Redko, the head of the Commandant's Office No. 6 in Donetsk, of torture and physical abuse. Barlet claims that Redko personally beat him at the commandant’s office, attempted to destroy his passport and inflicted a knife wound on his arm.
Former Italian chef Gianni Cenni, who moved to Russia for work and signed a contract with the MoD in November 2024 to participate in the war, was captured by Ukrainian forces a few months later. He is now set to be extradited to Italy, where he reportedly faces arrest. According to media reports, the 51-year-old Italian is accused of murdering a colleague and molesting a nine-year-old girl.
Relatives of soldiers from the 55th Motorized Rifle Brigade have recorded an appeal to Vladimir Putin and the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces. They expressed concerns about their family members being transferred to the 114th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which they claim is rife with hazing, strained relations among servicemen and tense interactions with commanders. According to the relatives, these issues have resulted in significant casualties, with only two soldiers reportedly surviving out of a group of 30. The families are requesting that the transfer order be revoked or that their loved ones be reassigned to either the 35th or 74th Motorized Rifle Brigades. Previously, wounded soldiers themselves had also raised complaints about this transfer.
Sergey Nikonov, a Yakutia [Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia)] parliament member convicted of rape, was injured in the war and may now qualify for amnesty. In December 2023, Nikonov was sentenced to 10 years in a penal colony for assaulting and raping businesswoman Natalia Lvova. However, in July 2024, he left the penal colony to serve on the frontline, where he became the commander of an assault unit. In August, Nikonov sustained injuries and returned to Yakutia. It was recently revealed that he had been awarded the Medal of Zhukov, which, under current legislation, fully exempts him from criminal liability. After completing his treatment, Nikonov is expected to return to the frontline.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in Kursk has arrested 26-year-old Armed Forces of Ukraine soldier Yevhen Fabrysenko on charges of sexual violence and the murder of civilians. Investigators claim that Fabrysenko and "unidentified AFU servicemen" killed at least six residents of the village of Russkoye Porechnoye in the Kursk region between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. They are also accused of "rapes and other acts of a sexual nature" against six women, whom they subsequently murdered. Fabrysenko faces charges related to terrorism and sexual violence.
Mediazona, using leaked data and the Russian Interior Ministry's wanted list database, has identified that at least 2,150 residents of the "DPR" and 700 natives of the "LPR" have been placed on the national wanted list for going AWOL. The leaked table contains approximately 8,750 surnames marked as "1 AC" and another 2,500 as "2 AC". These designations were the former names of the "People’s Militias" of the "DPR" and "LPR" following their incorporation into the RuAF and until recently.
The publication also details the case of one such deserter—former "DPR People’s Militia" fighter Yevgeny Kutuev. In April 2024, he left his unit after his fiancée suffered a stroke. Kutuev was declared wanted, detained in the Moscow region and brought to trial. He never signed a contract with the MoD and does not consider himself a Russian soldier. However, he pleaded guilty to avoid being sent to a penal colony. He was sentenced to five years of probation and now must return to his unit.
In Arkhangelsk, a mobilized soldier was sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony for going AWOL. The military court determined that after being granted leave in late February 2024 until March 6, the soldier chose not to return to the frontline, instead going home to his wife and child. In October, upon learning of his fugitive status, he voluntarily turned himself in to the military investigation department.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained the leader and ten members of a criminal group accused of exploiting Russian soldiers in the Rostov region. Posing as police officers, the group allegedly arranged meetings between servicemen and underage girls, subsequently blackmailing them for money. The suspects face charges of kidnapping and extortion.
In Kazan, an attempt was made to set fire to a gunpowder factory. According to the SHOT Telegram channel, an unidentified young man, resembling a teenager, threw a bottle of flammable liquid at a factory building. The fire was swiftly extinguished, and authorities are actively searching for the perpetrator.
In the Krasnodar region, a 19-year-old young man has been detained on suspicion of setting fire to three restaurants in the early hours of Jan. 26. During interrogation, the detainee claimed he was a victim of fraudsters who hacked his social media account and threatened to use his personal data "for unlawful actions." They demanded that he set fire to the restaurants, promising to pay him 35,000 rubles [$360]. As a result of the incidents, one of the restaurants suffered serious damage, while the other two reopened the next day. There have been no reports of injuries. Authorities are currently deciding whether to initiate a criminal case.
On the evening of Jan. 25, an unknown person set fire to a gas station in Rostov-on-Don. The fire, which started around 11 p.m., was extinguished by first responders. Authorities are actively searching for the arsonist.
In Krasnodar, the FSB detained a 57-year-old pilot. According to intelligence services, the civil aviation aircraft commander contacted a fundraiser for the AFU and, at his instruction, transferred funds via cryptocurrency to a specified account for Ukrainian military assistance. A criminal case for treason has been initiated against him.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced Roman Romanenko to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of high treason. The reasons for initiating the criminal case and the circumstances of Romanenko's arrest remain unknown.
Maksim Kosyachenko and Tatyana Turiyeva, detained in 2023 on charges of two "terrorist attacks" targeting railway facilities in Crimea, have now been accused of attacking a military airfield using UAVs on Aug. 16, 2023. At that moment, the Russian MoD reported an attack of three drones on the Kaluga region, while Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence claimed responsibility for an attack on the Shaykovka military airbase located in the same region. Additionally, the case against Kosyachenko and Turiyeva has been expanded to include episodes of planting explosives at Russian Armed Forces facilities. Based on these incidents, a new case of a terrorist attack has been initiated.
A court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 61-year-old Ukrainian citizen Mykola Oliinyk to 14 years in prison in a case related to an attempted assassination of Volodymyr Matsak, the Russian-appointed head of the village of Vesele in the Zaporizhzhia region. Oliinyk was found guilty of participating in a terrorist organization, preparing for a terrorist attack and trafficking weapons as part of an organized group. He was detained in October 2023 while undergoing treatment for stomach cancer. According to Oliinyk, he had refused to carry out the task assigned to him by the servicemen, delayed taking action and avoided retrieving weapons from a cache because he did not want to kill anyone.
Assistance
In Tyumen, city authorities have introduced financial assistance to cover memorial expenses as a benefit for the families of servicemen killed in the war. The payment allocated for this purpose is set at 25,712 rubles [$260].
Miscellaneous
A list with the data of more than 900 missing residents of the Sudzha district has been published by a local Telegram channel. Almost half of those listed—405 people—are residents of the town of Sudzha. An additional 102 people are reported missing from the village of Zaoleshenka, and 88 from the village of Goncharovka. It was stated that the list will continue to be updated via a Telegram bot.
The Russian Presidential Administration has admitted that appointing Nikita Gorelov as head of the administration of Sosnovka in the Kirov region was the "most unfortunate" example of assigning veterans of the war in Ukraine to administrative posts. Gorelov has spent months publicly accusing local deputies and officials of corruption, leading to ongoing conflicts. During a seminar held by the Presidential Administration, his case was highlighted as an example of "how such programs should not be implemented." According to a source close to the Administration cited by the Vyorstka media outlet, there is speculation that "this experiment will soon be discontinued."
In the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], a soldier was disqualified from running for a district council member position following a lawsuit by a rival candidate. The disqualification stemmed from the independent candidate’s failure to include his duty station in his application, despite providing a certificate from his unit commander confirming his service location. Prior to this, the soldier had complained about pressure from his superiors.
The Kyiv Independent has revealed individuals involved in the operation to evacuate over 33,000 pieces of art from museums in the city of Kherson during the RuAF’s retreat from the right bank of the Dnipro River in November 2022. Among them were Dmitry Lipov, head of the communications center of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and "commandant" of Kherson during the occupation; Sergey Patrushev, head of the museum affairs department of Crimea's Ministry of Culture; Elena Morozova, director of the Chersonesus Taurica museum in Crimea; and Mikhail Smorodkin, director of the Sevastopol Defense Museum.
Longreads
Journalists from the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet have investigated the reasons behind the deaths of conscript soldiers in the Russian army.