Mobilization in Russia for Jan. 26-28, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Legislation

Military authorities may soon be able to call up conscripts outside regular campaigns if a newly endorsed federal bill becomes law. This amendment to the Military Conscription and Military Service Act stipulates that "a conscription decision that was not carried out during the campaign in which it was made must be executed within one year from the date of its issuance." The measure would apply retroactively to draft board decisions from the fall 2024 conscription campaign. Bill author Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], stated that more than 11,000 such decisions remain unfulfilled. Speaking to Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet], a lawyer from the Prizyv k Sovesti [Call to Conscience] coalition said that the proposed legislation "creates risks of conscripting men unfit for health reasons, reduces guarantees for citizens’ health protection and may lead to other violations of conscripts’ rights." For his part, legal expert Arseniy Levinson noted that legislators are "bringing government agencies’ activities in line with the law," as this practice has already been observed in Moscow since fall 2024. Moreover, the bill would allow governors to establish Unified Military Recruitment Centers in municipal districts, urban districts and cities of federal significance, thus extending Moscow’s approach nationwide.

Additionally, the Cabinet of Ministers has supported a bill stipulating that foreigners will not be able to obtain Russian citizenship if they refuse to take the oath of allegiance. The bill also proposes lowering the minimum age for taking the oath from 18 to 14 years. The changes are planned to be introduced into the law "On Citizenship." According to the current legislation, all foreigners, except minors and those considered legally incompetent, are required to take the oath. Citizenship is deemed invalid if the oath is not taken within one year.

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma proposing criminal liability for failing to report acts of sabotage. The bill seeks to expand Article 205.6 of the Russian Criminal Code by introducing penalties for failure to report an individual or group who, "according to reliable information," are preparing, committing or have committed a sabotage-related crime. Currently, Article 205.6 prescribes a penalty of up to one year of imprisonment.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

In Russia’s constituent Republic of Chuvashia, the sign-up bonus for concluding contracts with the Ministry of Defense has been raised to 2.1 million rubles [$21,400]. The decision was announced by the region's head, Oleg Nikolaev. Including national bonuses, the total sign-up bonus will amount to 2.5 million rubles [$25,500]. According to Nikolaev, this payment applies to all contracts signed in the republic between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2025. This marks the second increase in January, as the bonus was previously raised from 1 million rubles [$10,200] to 1.4 million rubles [$14,300].

In occupied Crimea and Sevastopol, the sign-up bonus for military contracts has been increased to 500,000 rubles [$5,100]. Previously, as of August 2024, the bonus was 400,000 rubles [$4,080].

Authorities in the Samara region will allocate 97 million rubles [$988,500] from the regional budget to pay recruiters for the war. From these funds, the local branch of DOSAAF [Russian Army, Air Force, and Navy Volunteer Society] will compensate individuals who, in 2024, encouraged Russian citizens to sign contracts with the MoD. Until October 2024, recruiters in the region were paid 15,000 rubles [$150] per recruit. This payment was later increased twice: first to 30,000 rubles [$300] and then to 100,000 rubles [$1,020]. Additionally, starting in January, regional authorities increased the sign-up bonus for military contracts to a record-high 3.6 million rubles [$36,700].

In Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, over 12,000 men signed contracts with the MoD in 2024 to participate in the war. This was reported by Tatar-inform, citing Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Kozlov, head of the contract military service recruitment facility in Kazan. According to Kozlov, the region exceeded its target by 7%, and in January 2025 alone, approximately 700 people signed contracts.

The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] project has reported the case of a young man who was conscripted into the army without a referral for additional medical examination. In the spring of 2024, the young man reported to the Unified Military Recruitment Center in Moscow with a draft notice. He intended to undergo a medical examination, for which he provided documents confirming a mental disorder that would entitle him to exemption from conscription. However, a doctor declared the young man fit for military service with minor restrictions and did not refer him for further examination. The young man appealed the doctor's decision to the Supreme Court, but the court ruled that referring a conscript for additional examination is the right, not the duty, of a medical evaluation board doctor. Therefore, a doctor has the right to declare a potential conscript fully recovered from illnesses that would otherwise grant him exemption from conscription without further examination.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The Astra Telegram channel has reported on a tent camp set up at the base of the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the town of Yurga, Kemerovo region, where soldiers are being forcibly held before being sent to the frontline. The servicemen themselves informed the media outlet about this. According to them, a so-called penal regiment is being formed in the camp, consisting of wounded and sick soldiers who have not yet undergone a medical examination, as well as soldiers who went AWOL or were transferred to the military unit after having conflicts with their former command. The soldiers reported that they are forbidden to leave the camp grounds or use cell phones, while any offenses on their part or requests for "humane" treatment are met with brutal beatings. The camp has a detention room for offenders, where soldiers sleep on a concrete floor, are deprived of food and water and are allowed to use the toilet only once a day. The soldiers also reported the death of their comrade at a training range. Another group of "penal regiment" soldiers is expected to be deployed to the frontline in the coming days.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Armenia, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian military base in the town of Gyumri has committed suicide. According to Shamshyan, a media outlet close to Armenian law enforcement agencies, 24-year-old Aleksey Yampolsky was found hanged in an apartment on Jan. 25 by fellow serviceman of the 102nd base, Vitaly Shevchenko. No signs of violence were found on Yampolsky’s body. Authorities have opened a criminal case on charges related to incitement to suicide or attempted suicide.

On Jan. 25, fighters from the Akhmat unit caused an explosion in a residential building in Belgorod. One of them was killed and four others were injured, while 40 residents of nearby houses were evacuated. A police officer who arrived at the scene after the explosion was also wounded in a subsequent detonation. According to Astra’s emergency service sources, the explosion was triggered by ammunition stored in the building by the military, which later detonated again during a fire.

On Jan. 27, the killer of a 48-year-old participant in the war against Ukraine was detained in the center of Saint Petersburg. The suspect, a 32-year-old man, was also involved in the invasion of Ukraine, according to social media posts uncovered by Fontanka [a pro-Russian media outlet in the Leningrad region]. The reasons for the killing have not yet been disclosed. The suspect has been handed over to military investigators.

A court in Abakan sentenced Anton Kovalchuk, a participant in the war with Ukraine from Chelyabinsk, to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony for theft and unlawful entry into a residence. The sentence also took into account a previously unserved punishment. In May 2021, Kovalchuk was convicted of murder with extreme brutality, committed in a group, and group sexual violence. In April 2020, Kovalchuk and his accomplice assaulted, raped and then strangled their acquaintance. He was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony for this crime. However, before serving his full sentence, he was sent from the colony to fight in Ukraine.

In Adygea, two teenagers from Krasnodar, aged 16 and 19, have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a cell tower in the village of Tlyustenkhabl. According to law enforcement, the suspects allegedly committed the arson in August "for financial gain from unidentified representatives of a foreign state." They reportedly sent a video of the arson to the customer and received payment. The arrested men have been charged with sabotage, but their names have not been disclosed.

Vitaly Boyko, a citizen of Kazakhstan, was arrested in the Moscow region on suspicion of setting fire to cell phone towers. According to Mash [the Kremlin-aligned news outlet Mash], the 44-year-old man, who had previously been convicted of murder in his home country, set fire to four mobile phone towers in the towns of Shchyolkovo and Losino-Petrovsky on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence services, in exchange for a promised reward of 40,000 rubles [$410]. A criminal case has been opened against him for the intentional destruction of property in a publicly dangerous manner.

The First Western District Military Court has sentenced 76-year-old Galina Ivanova to 10 years in prison on charges of terrorism. Ivanova was stopped by several passersby on Nov. 15, 2023, while attempting to set fire to a minibus near the regional draft office. At the time of the arson, she was on the phone with the scammers posing as the Federal Security Service (FSB) officers.

The FSB has detained a man in the Krasnodar region who allegedly planned a terrorist attack. According to law enforcement, the local resident, a Ukrainian citizen born in 1990, contacted handlers through Telegram and was tasked with retrieving a hidden cache of explosives. He was apprehended in Novorossiysk near the hiding spot where he had retrieved an explosive device. Criminal charges have been filed against him for participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.

Law enforcement in Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic] has reported the detention of a 25-year-old man who allegedly attempted to join the Freedom of Russia Legion. According to the TASS [Russian state-owned news agency], the detained man pleaded guilty to the charges. He made three attempts to submit an application to join the Legion and, after his request was accepted, sent his passport information for border crossing purposes. The man was reportedly detained before receiving final instructions from Ukrainian handlers.

A Moscow resident has been arrested on charges of participating in a terrorist organization. A year and a half ago, 33-year-old Aleksey left a comment on Russian Volunteer Corps founder Denis Kapustin's social media page, inquiring about where to purchase a flag with the organization's symbols. In January 2025, officers from Center E [the General Directorate for Countering Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation] discovered the comment. Aleksey was initially charged with displaying prohibited symbols and sentenced to 15 days in jail. However, authorities then opened a criminal case against him, charging him with participation in the Russian Volunteer Corps. The court ordered him to be held in a pre-trial detention center.

The Supreme Court of annexed Crimea has begun hearing a criminal case against a Yalta resident accused of treason. According to the FSB, the woman, born in 1990 and a Russian citizen, allegedly transferred money from her account to purchase UAVs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A third criminal case has been initiated against volunteer Nadin Geysler, this time on charges of treason. According to lawyer Aleksey Pryanishnikov, all three cases stem from an Instagram post in which investigators claim Geysler called for donations to the Azov Brigade. Geysler has denied that the account belongs to her. Geysler, the founder of the women’s volunteer movement "Army of Beauties," which provides aid to Ukrainian civilians, was detained on Feb. 1, 2024, while returning to Russia from Georgia. The following day, she was placed in a pre-trial detention center in connection with a case related to public calls for activities against state security. In July of the same year, an additional criminal case was opened against her for aiding terrorist activities.

Assistance

At least 140 residents of the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject] have returned from the war with missing limbs or other severe injuries. This information was revealed in a grant application submitted by the regional disabled sports club "Invasport," as reported by Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]. However, the Presidential Grants Foundation ultimately rejected the application.

In the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject], authorities have terminated 303 enforcement proceedings related to the loan obligations of 118 war participants, writing off a total of 25 million rubles [$254,800] in debt.

Children and Educational System

In the Krasnodar region, children at a kindergarten in the town of Belorechensk are weaving helmet covers and camouflage nets, while their parents incorporate prayer belts into them before sending them to the frontline. The workshops for making these items were organized by the Kuban Cossack Host.

Maksim Novosyolov, a convicted rapist and participant in the war, is tasked with leading training sessions for children. In 2022, Novosyolov, a European champion in combat sambo, was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for the rape of an 18-year-old woman. While in prison, the former athlete signed a contract with the MoD, went to war and by May of the following year, was already released. Now, he is leading training sessions for young sambo athletes.

Longreads

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reported the story of a 22-year-old woman named Kistaman from Russia’s constituent Republic of Dagestan, who fatally stabbed her 17-year-old acquaintance and, instead of waiting for arrest, left for the war.

TV Rain [independent Russian television channel] published an investigation detailing how the Akhmat unit is keeping people in sexual slavery on the frontline.