Mobilization in Russia for Jul. 11-12, 2023 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The Ministry of Defense published a draft list of diseases that would prevent citizens from enlisting during times of war, mobilization or martial law. Among them are HIV, moderate bronchial asthma, cardiac insufficiency and hepatitis B or C. Legal experts from the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] project note that people, who were previously deemed to be partially fit for military service and enlisted, will not be able to resign on these grounds. The new list will also likely apply to convicts, who had earlier been given the opportunity to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense reported that the Wagner Group handed over all of its weapons and ammunition. Reportedly, it included 20,000 small arms, 2,000 military vehicles, including hundreds of main battle tanks, artillery pieces and air defense systems, as well as 2,500 tons of various ammunition. The Ministry of Defense claims that "dozens of military vehicles have never been used in combat."

In the Leningrad region, a plot of land in the Gatchinsky district formerly owned by the Ministry of Defense, with some military warehouses still intact, was designated for allotments that will be granted to veterans of the war against Ukraine.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Governor of the Oryol region Andrey Klychkov announced the formation of territorial defense forces. According to Klychkov, members of the forces will receive basic first-aid and combat training and will learn how to use firearms. Meanwhile, Governor of the Pskov region Mikhail Vedernikov made an announcement about the Alexander Nevsky Militia Force being established in the region, aiming to prevent sabotage and terrorist attacks in Russian municipalities bordering NATO member states Estonia and Latvia. The militia will seek to engage not only adults but also youth starting from 14 years of age. Young participants will be offered a training course at Voin [Warrior] Military Training Center, led by military instructors trained at the Special Forces University in Gudermes.

In the town of Kolchugino, Vladimir region, a mobile recruitment center for military contract service has been deployed near the Elektrokabel [Electric Cable] factory, while all the workers have draft deferral certificates. In the Tutaevsky district of the Yaroslavl region, the mailing of notices for “military service register data check-up” has begun. The district military commissariat [enlistment office] confirmed this and linked the mailing to the recent presidential decree on military training. The Sverdlovsk region is calling up people for military training—in Yekaterinburg, a father of three children received a draft notice. At the military commissariat, the man was told to prepare for two months of training in the south of the country.

Mobilized Soldiers and Volunteer Fighters

The names of Sergey Sazonov from Pskov, drafted in April 2023, Daniil Deev from Tyumen, and Dmitry Potapov from the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject] have been added to the list of killed-in-action mobilized soldiers.

Fighters from the Storm-Z unit of the 27th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who had previously posted a video complaint while staying in hospital, report that they were urgently taken to the combat zone. The servicemen fear being declared deserters.

Draftees from Naro-Fominsk, who were previously held in Svatove after demanding regiment commander Sergey Chizhov to grant them leaves, have been declared wanted after being discharged from the unit. One of the mobilized soldiers told the Astra Telegram channel that on Jun. 11, military police released them from a checkpoint in Svatove. It was no longer considered necessary to hold them, and, moreover, the Zaitseve penal battalion could not accommodate them. Upon returning to their positions, they discovered that they were no longer on the roster, after which they decided to return to their home station in Naro-Fominsk. After the publication by Astra, according to the mobilized men themselves, regiment commander Sergey Chizhov himself was retrospectively put on leave.

Relatives of mobilized soldiers complain that they are not allowed to go on leave within 8-10 months, despite Putin's directive to provide mobilized men with a 14-day leave every 6 months. However, in some cases, it is possible to go on leave by paying a bribe of 100,000 [$1100] or even 200,000 [$2200] rubles.

Member of the Federation Council from the Tomsk region Vladimir Kravchenko confirmed the non-payment of benefits to wounded soldiers and the refusal of military hospitals to admit soldiers. Kravchenko stated that he personally had to intervene in, so to say, manual mode to secure the hospitalization of participants in combat activities. He also confirmed that they have been facing delays in receiving veteran identification cards and the compensation due to their injuries because they were hastily discharged from military service.

Governor of the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] Natalya Komarova has promised to investigate the reports of mistreatment of soldiers from Yugra on the frontline. A relative of one of the soldiers had previously disclosed that the regiment's commander in the combat zone routinely subjected subordinates to abuse. Additionally, soldiers have complained about a lack of ammunition, absence of rotation, and food and water shortages. After numerous complaints, the commander was allegedly replaced. However, it later became known that he only changed his call sign, and the mistreatment further worsened.

Activist from the Yakutia s Toboy! [Yakutia with You!] movement Ayil Dulurkha called on the residents of Yakutia [Russia’s constituent republic] to sign an appeal demanding the return of mobilized residents to guard the northern borders of Russia, as a "serious threat to the preservation of the gene pool" of the peoples from these regions has appeared.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings, and Incidents

The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Garrison Military Court sentenced a serviceman to three years in a penal colony for going AWOL. On Feb. 14, the man left his "combat post" on the territory of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, "fearing for his life," and a week later, reported himself to the military commandant’s office at his place of residence. The trial was exemplary and took place on the territory of the military unit.

The court in Nalchik sentenced two servicemen to prison for going AWOL during mobilization. Private Misrokov was sentenced to three years, and Private Lyuyev was sentenced to three and a half years in a general regime penal colony. In Nov. 2022, the soldiers failed to return to their military unit, and allegedly on Feb. 16, 2023, they voluntarily appeared before the investigative body and entered into a pretrial agreement, which included "assistance in solving a serious crime committed by another person."

The Saratov Garrison Military Court has sentenced a contract soldier to one year and eight months in a general regime penal colony for willfully deserting his unit during a period of mobilization.

In Rostov-on-Don, mobilized soldier Dmitry Moiseenko is on trial for the murder of two people, and the attempted murder of two others. He has been charged with committing an act of mass violence, carried out through means dangerous to the general public. Information about this case was published in the Southern District Military Court’s database, though specific details remain undisclosed at this time.

The mother of mobilized soldier Viktor Petrov has successfully instigated a criminal investigation into the death of her son. Petrov had previously reported being tortured by military police officers, and on May 8, was found hanged in camp in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. The investigation proceeds under the charges of "incitement to suicide."

The Irkutsk Region Prosecutor’s Office has estimated the damage from the attack on the Ust-Ilimsk Draft Office at more than 1 million rubles [$11,000]. Local resident Ruslan Zinin, who is now accused of terrorist attack, shot at the draft office’s employee, spilled a flammable liquid in several places in the assembly hall where the mobilized were gathered, and set it on fire.

Former military psychologist Timofey Rudenko has got his eighth administrative detention (for 15 days) since the beginning of the war under an administrative case of petty hooliganism. Rudenko managed to call his mother from the Sakharovo Detention Center and told her that he was tortured while being arrested.

Assistance

The head of the Alshan district of Udmurtia [Russia's constituent republic] complains that the number of volunteers making camouflage netting decreased significantly during the summer. Most of the volunteers are elderly who spend their summers in the country.

Zlatoust clergymen sent a help package to draftees in the combat zone. Authorities in Irkutsk procured twenty anti-drone guns for use by regional law enforcement agencies.

University students in Vladivostok were asked to contribute funds for medical equipment used in treating wounded soldiers. Far Eastern Federal University sent an email requesting money to its student body. The projected goal of the campaign is to collect 160,000 rubles [about $1,800].

Children

Voin [Warrior] centers providing military preparation for adolescents opened in 11 Russian regions. Currently, children are receiving military education in summer camps. For example, children are being trained as snipers in Yakutia. Each branch will focus on one of the military specialties most in demand during the war. During the summer recess, organizers are planning to train over 9,000 teenagers aged 14 to 17. Sergey Kirienko, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration and Yury Trutnev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District initiated this training program.

In the Altai region, the House of the Young Army [pro-Kremlin youth organization] held meetings with children and told them about the activities of the VoIn war invalids’ organization, the Russian military historical society in the Altai region, and the assistance provided by the residents of the region and the government to mobilized soldiers.

Miscellaneous

The BBC News Russian journalists interviewed one of the junior officers of the Wagner Group, who had just returned his unit from Rostov. According to him, none of the fighters knew about Prigozhin's plans or the reasons for the retreat to Luhansk. After the Wagner Group’s mutiny, the defense of the Southern Military District headquarters was strengthened. Sand-filled gabions (structures designed to protect against bullets and fragments) appeared along the entire perimeter of the building on Jul. 12.

Sberbank [Russia's largest bank] has frozen the accounts of individuals involved in transferring money to aid Ukrainian refugees. However, the bank has agreed to release the frozen funds in cash without restoring the blocked accounts.

Meanwhile, at UralVagonZavod [Russian state-owned machine-building company], a "patriotic event" and a performance of a rock opera by writer and fervent war supporter Alexander Prokhanov took place. The event unfolded directly on the factory's tank assembly line.