Mobilization in Russia for Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has expanded the list of medical conditions that preclude men with restricted fitness from enlisting, bringing the total from 26 to 35. The ministry added diabetes, complications from certain spinal fractures, specific eye diseases, congenital anomalies, the presence of a foreign body in the cranial cavity or brain, and several other ailments to the list, while also revising specific wording and explanatory notes.

The Samara region doubled its sign-up bonus for participation in the war on Feb. 1, offering recruits 2.2 million rubles [$29,000] instead of the 1.1 million rubles [$14,500] established earlier this year. Including the federal component of 400,000 rubles [$5,270], the total one-time payment reaches 2.6 million rubles [$34,200]. Prior to a cut in October 2025, the region paid 2.1 million rubles [$27,600] for signing a contract, though the amount fell to 400,000 rubles [$5,270] for the remainder of that year. Separately, several municipalities in the region initiated payments ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles [$1,320 to $2,630] for recruitment assistance, following an earlier move by authorities to raise the regional reward for such referrals to 114,943 rubles [$1,510].

Russian "authorities" in annexed Sevastopol announced an increase in the sign-up bonus for contracts with the Ministry of Defense from 700,000 to 900,000 rubles [from $9,220 to $11,800]. The new rate applies to anyone enlisting starting Feb. 1. This marks the second consecutive increase in the city’s one-time payment, which was previously raised from 500,000 to 700,000 rubles [from $6,580 to $9,220].

The administrations of Voronezh universities have mandated that students in affiliated colleges participate in a videoconference hosted by the MoD. The videoconference was focused on the recruitment of troops for unmanned systems. The only alternative option to attending was to complete a questionnaire assessing the willingness to sign a contract with the MoD.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 168,142 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 16,756 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 2,481 soldiers, 119 of whom were mobilized.

Mediazona has reported that in 2026, Russian courts have continued to remove lawsuits seeking to declare individuals missing or deceased. This began in the final days of 2025 when all case files in this category disappeared from the websites of courts in 50 regions. By the end of January, approximately 10,000 more lawsuits had vanished from the websites of Russian courts.

The family of Sergey Bodalev, a 42-year-old resident of the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject] who was forced to sign a contract with the MoD, has reported the details of the incident to the Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet. Bodalev, who was in debt, was severely beaten in a military unit and forced to sign up for contract military service. Afterwards, his documents and salary card were taken, and he was deployed to war from a hospital, without the opportunity to recover from the beatings. Bodalev has not been in contact with his family since Dec. 13.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

9In the Omsk region, a criminal case has been opened against war participant Vasily Bernikov on charges of raping a minor. According to sources cited by the ASTRA Telegram channel, the serviceman is accused of repeatedly raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter. At the time the case was opened, Bernikov was undergoing treatment at a hospital in the city of Orenburg. He had previously been convicted multiple times.

In the city of Vladivostok, a serviceman from the 175th Naval Engineering Regiment, Ruslan Baratov, was detained on suspicion of rape. A local resident who works as a massage therapist filed a complaint against him. Baratov had previously been detained multiple times and was also convicted of drug trafficking.

The Barnaul city Garrison Court has dismissed the criminal case against serviceman Oleg Mitkin, who was accused of robbery causing grievous bodily harm, as well as large-scale and especially large-scale theft. The case was dropped due to his military service—Mitkin was already serving in the military at the time the crimes were committed. In August, he went into hiding, and the case was suspended from that point on. It was resumed only in December, at which time he was immediately released from criminal liability. Mitkin had previously been convicted multiple times.

In the city of Balashikha, an 18-year-old woman was detained while attempting to set fire to a building. Criminal cases have been opened against her for attempted deliberate destruction of property and for committing an act of terrorism. According to law enforcement, the woman poured flammable liquid over a basement space in a shopping center. Pro-government media claim the space belonged to a "volunteer organization" that produces camouflage nets for participants in the war. The woman threatened to set the premises on fire, but bystanders stopped her. At the police station, she said she had acted on instructions from unknown individuals who introduced themselves as Federal Security Service (FSB) officers and threatened her with a criminal case for financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On Jan. 29 in Saint Petersburg, police detained a 17‑year‑old girl and a 13‑year‑old boy after scammers posing as law enforcement officers allegedly threatened them into setting fire to police cars. Authorities have opened a case against the girl on charges of aiding terrorist activities. Because the boy is below the age of criminal responsibility, investigators questioned his parents and searched their home in connection with the case.

In Russia’s Novosibirsk region, a court placed two 15‑year‑old boys under house arrest for two months on charges of attempted sabotage. Investigators said that in January 2026, one of the teenagers began corresponding on Telegram with an unidentified person who offered him money to commit sabotage. He allegedly accepted the offer and involved a friend in the plan. The two were preparing to set fire to telecommunications base station equipment in the Kochenevsky district, but their parents discovered the scheme before the arson could be carried out.

In Barnaul, a 20‑year‑old woman has been placed in pre‑trial detention on charges of attempted terrorism. Investigators say that on Jan. 26, scammers tricked her into providing an SMS code, then forced her to take out several loans and transfer the money to them. They allegedly instructed her to set fire to a railway relay cabinet. Law enforcement also claims she broke a window in an administrative building and set the premises on fire. In the Krasnodar region, the case against two local residents, aged 24 and 26, has been referred to court. They are accused of high treason, sabotage and the laundering of proceeds from crime. Investigators believe that from April 29 to Sept. 30, 2024, acting on instructions from the AFU, they set fire to three railway infrastructure facilities between the Anapa and Gostagayevskaya stations, and also damaged a relay cabinet in the village of Gorny in the Novorossiysk district. For the arson attacks, they received a reward in cryptocurrency, which they converted into rubles and transferred to themselves.

The FSB officers have detained a resident of Saint Petersburg in a case involving participation in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to investigators, the man contacted a representative of a pro-Ukrainian banned organization via Telegram and stated his willingness to cooperate. Following this, he was offered to kill a Russian serviceman. The detainee reportedly received a firearm from a handler and conducted reconnaissance of the residential address of a Lieutenant colonel of the MoD, which was also provided by the handler. Law enforcement officers claim they seized a Makarov pistol with a silencer from the man.

The human rights project Pervy Otdel [Department One] reports that 25-year-old IT developer Aleksandr Kachkurkin was deported from Kazakhstan to Russia after two administrative offense reports were fabricated against him. Upon arrival in Russia, he was detained on board the plane in connection with a criminal case on charges of treason for making monetary transfers to Ukraine. Kachkurkin is a Ukrainian citizen who was born and raised in Crimea. After Russia’s annexation of the peninsula, he was "forcibly assigned Russian citizenship," according to human rights advocates. For political reasons, he moved to Kazakhstan, where he worked in the IT sector. Kazakh law enforcement officials charged Kachkurkin with administrative violations—allegedly jaywalking and smoking a hookah indoors. Department One maintains that both charges were fabricated. Based on these reports, police petitioned a court to deport Kachkurkin. The court sided with law enforcement, and he was swiftly deported to Russia. Only a few hours passed between the drafting of the reports and his deportation, even though such procedures typically take weeks or even months. Immediately after landing, Kachkurkin was detained on the plane and taken to court, which ordered him held in pretrial detention.

The Southern District Military Court has handed down guilty verdicts to the defendants in the so-called "Kherson Nine" case. Denis Lyalyka and Yury Kaev were sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony; Sergey Kovalsky, Sergey Geydt and Sergey Ofitserov received 17 years each; Yury Tavozhnyansky and Oleg Bogdanov were sentenced to 18 years; and Konstantin Reznik and Sergey Kabakov to 20 years. All of the men were convicted of participation in a terrorist organization and attempted international terrorism. Six of the defendants (Bogdanov, Kabakov, Kaev, Lyalyka, Reznik and Tavozhnyansky) were also found guilty of preparing an act of terror. According to investigators, in the spring and summer of 2022 the men, acting on instructions from the Security Service of Ukraine, planned a series of attacks in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region. The alleged targets included Kyrylo Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed Kherson Military-Civilian Administration, who was later killed, as well as other officials appointed by Russia. Prosecutors said the group was tasked with tracking the movements of officials, assembling explosive devices, and placing them on vehicles used by collaborators. The defendants say they were abducted at different times between July and September 2022, although authorities officially announced their detention only in October. The men have repeatedly reported torture and physical abuse. They also said that another detainee, Vasily Stetsenko, was tortured to death in August 2022. Earlier, Mediazona published excerpts from testimony given by Yury Kaev, a businessman and Red Cross volunteer who later became one of the defendants in the case.

The Volgograd Regional Court sentenced 52-year-old local resident Pavel Palekhov to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason and attempted use of dangerous violence against a law enforcement officer. According to investigators, in November 2024, Palekhov, "disagreeing with the state’s political course and the war against Ukraine," contacted a representative of Ukrainian intelligence services via a messaging app. On Nov. 13, 2024, he filmed a military facility in Volgograd using a mobile phone and a drone and intended to pass the footage to his handlers, but was detained before the materials were transferred. The sentence for treason was imposed taking into account a previous conviction. In February 2025, Palekhov was sentenced to three years in prison after allegedly attempting, during his arrest, to provoke a traffic accident involving the police vehicle transporting him.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced 46-year-old Ufa resident Ilshat Bakiev to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony on treason charges. The details of the accusation were not disclosed in court. Bakiev had previously been convicted multiple times.

Assistance

In the Omsk region, the amount of regional payments to the families of soldiers killed in the war was cut in half—from 1 million rubles [$13,200] to 500,000 rubles [$6,580]. The measure will be in effect from Feb. 1 through June 31 of this year.

Longreads

Mediazona reports on how German officials make standardized decisions denying asylum to Russian deserters.

The Vyorstka media outlet published an article examining how former participants in the war attempt to find employment and whether state job-placement programs provide assistance.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] examined where payments to soldiers for signing contracts and their service salaries ultimately go.