Mobilization in Russia for Jan. 25-26, 2023 CIT volunteer summary
Mikhail Sheremet, a member of State Duma [the lower house of Russia’s legislative assembly] from the Crimea region, offered to change the status of the “special military operation” due to the supply of tanks to Ukraine, “I believe that we now need to discuss the issue of changing the status of the special military operation in Ukraine, considering the new challenges presented to our country. Events taking place now have crossed the lines of a regular military conflict. Changing the status of the special military operation will allow us to shift the economy of the country to a war economy and mobilize all the resources for our common victory.” Fellow State Duma members have not supported the colleague’s initiative and have deferred the issue of potential change of status of the “special military operation” to the Kremlin. In response to a question, Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, “At this moment such a topic is not on our agenda.”
The age of conscripts will not change during the spring [regular biannual] conscription campaign. St. Petersburg’s city council published a document on Thursday, Jan. 26 that states that the age limits of conscripts will stay the same during the spring conscription — 18 to 27 years old. Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, has stated today that he does not see the necessity in changing the age of conscripts in time for the spring conscription. According to him, the corresponding initiative by the Ministry of Defense has not been formalized yet.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed an order on monthly social payments to draftees. The document states that payments are accrued from the date of appointment to a military position until the day of release. If a draftee signs a contract, payments are due until the date when a contract enters into force. The amount of payments should be 195,000 rubles [about USD 2,800] per month.
Speaking in the State Duma, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow [Russian Orthodox Church, MP] spoke about citizens who left Russia after the mobilization was announced. He believes they uphold "false values imported from outside", such as the fear of death, and also suggested thinking about the systems of upbringing young people in the spirit of "patriotism". In addition, the head of the ROC, MP asked for additional social benefits for army chaplains, since, according to him, "they are the most desirable target of the enemy."
The General Staff of the AFU in its morning sitrep reports that a new wave of mobilization in Russia will be launched at the end of February. By Jan. 29, all public and private institutions must submit lists of employees holding reserved occupations.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, Belarus has completed the training of mobilized Russians from the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division, part of the 1st Tank Army. However their combat effectiveness is doubtful by estimate of the UK intelligence. We were reporting earlier about the recent dispatch of mobilized soldiers from various regions of the country (mainly Siberia) to Belarus.
The Bryansk military commissariat [enlistment office] commented on the recently appeared photographs of the draft notices sent to local residents demanding to report to the military commissariat. An employee of the military commissariat told the Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet journalist that draft notices were sent just in case martial law would be introduced. She said they were working “ahead of the curve” — “you never know what could happen.” When asked about what "wartime" means to them, the woman refused to answer, saying that she could not discuss "such things over the phone."
The mobilized Artyom Titenkov eager for a “special military operation” was buried in the Krasnoyarsk region. Mobilized Andrey Minashkin from the Republic of Tyva [Russia’s constituent republic] was also killed. The names of four more mobilized who were killed during the strike on Makiivka became known: Pavel Bukharov, Oleg Davydov, Anton Evseev and Viktor Ryabov. The funeral of the killed in the war Samarans will be funded from the city budget. The guard of honor, the orchestra and transportation costs will not be paid by the relatives of the deceased soldiers. Officials estimated the funeral of each mobilized soldier at 150 thousand rubles.
The mobilized soldiers who had been held in a pit for a breach of discipline in the Zaporizhzhia region, as we mentioned in our previous summary, are reported to have been released from the pit once the video showing them was spread by the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the news] Telegram channel.
An armed man in military uniform appeared the other day near a cafe in the town of Biryuch in the Belgorod region. Subscribers of local Telegram channels reported that the serviceman was drunk. A video was shared showing this man pointing the weapon at other people; the men who accompanied him can be heard asking him to calm down and “put the gun away.” Meanwhile, in the town of Pushkino near Moscow by the river Ucha a passer-by found a Shmel rocket-assisted infantry flamethrower. Mine clearance operators who arrived at the scene found the flamethrower with ammunition inside, sealed and prepared for transportation.
According to ASTRA media outlet sources, on Jan. 25, in the Verkhneuslonsky district of Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic], traffic police officers stopped a car in which there were four mobilized Russians, one of them had a Makarov gun with him. The military explained that with the "permission of the commander”, they went to visit relatives in Russia. The traffic police handed over the soldiers to the military commandant's office.
A private from Omsk had got 5 years and 3 months of probation for not showing up for service, according to the Omskoye Grazhdanskoye Obyedineniye [Omsk Civil Association] Telegram channel. On Jul. 12, Ruslan Akhmetov did not return to service from vacation, but on Aug. 10, he nevertheless arrived at the military unit. However, five days later he again left for Omsk and came to the investigation department only on Oct. 13.
A person who was detained on suspicion of setting fire to a relay cabinet on the tracks of the Russian Railways near Bryansk, got arrested for 10 days. He was only charged with a protocol under the article “petty hooliganism” because of active cooperation with law enforcement officers.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has published another footage showing combat training of mobilized soldiers at one of the training grounds.
A mobilized man from the Krasnoyarsk region was registered in a liquidated military unit. His wife is afraid he might go missing.
The authorities of Naberezhnye Chelny will spend 300 million rubles on the war needs, out of which 150 million will be spent to help the residents of the occupied regions and to restore the infrastructure there, 100 million will be paid for the meals of the children of war veterans, large families and security officials and about 50 million — for kindergarten fees for war veterans’ children. The announced amount is 33 times the annual city budget for health care.
A surgeon from the Omsk hospital and a mother of three was mobilized. Attempts to get a draft deferral with the help of lawyers and appeals to the authorities were unsuccessful, therefore the woman had to leave for Kazakhstan.
The Ministry of Health sends doctors an offer to undergo additional training in military medicine. The information was confirmed by a published letter from Director of the Department of Medical Education and Personnel Policy in Healthcare of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Lyudmila Letnikova. On a special educational portal, doctors are taught to treat gunshots and mine-explosive wounds, as well as to receive a large number of wounded. Also worth noting, that the program was launched in early October.
Lyubov Sidorenko, a mother of 11, is fighting for her mobilized son who was wounded in the war to be operated on at a “civilian” hospital. The woman thinks that her son is not receiving proper treatment for his wounds that resulted from a mine explosion.
In Chuvashia [Russia’s constituent republic], local retirees are knitting wool socks for the mobilized soldiers as part of the program called Dolgoletie dlya vsekh [Long life for everyone]. Meanwhile in the Kursk region, firewood for the “special military operation” participants is being cut at the local “forests and groves.” More than 150 cubic meters of firewood has been transferred to the military service members so far.
With a ceremony at the School No. 29, the city of Cheboksary has embarked on a program to observe a “Sports and Civil Defense Month” dedicated to the “special military operation”.
On Dec. 31, the Kazakhstan government hardened the rules for foreign nationals staying in the country by canceling the “visa run” program starting Jan. 27, 2023. The Meduza news portal found out how these measures would affect Russian citizens who moved to Kazakhstan.