Mobilization in Russia for Jul. 12-13, 2023 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] accepted amendments to the prohibiting gender reassignment bill. People who change their legal gender marker will have their marriages annulled and will be forbidden from adopting children. Earlier, Duma representatives motivated the need for this law by, among other things, alleged instances of draft evasion by people going through gender transition.

The Russian Foreign Ministry published a draft of a decree on Russian citizens’ new obligations to notify the Russian government of establishing permanent residency in or obtaining citizenship of another country. According to the draft, Russia nationals who obtain permission to permanently reside in another country must notify Russian authorities within 60 days through embassies and consulates. If the decree is signed, the new regulation will take effect on Oct. 26, 2023.

After just two weeks, the Government of the Russian Federation revoked its own decree requiring the Federal Tax Service to inform bailiffs that a debtor has been mobilized and is entitled to a payment holiday. The draftees themselves are now responsible for submitting such information.

The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel points out that the decree issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs regulating revocation of driving privileges for not responding to draft notices contains wording that restrictions could be imposed or lifted without consulting the register of Russians subject to military service until the register is up and running. The current law does not specify how exactly the restrictions would be imposed or lifted lacking the register.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

In Novosibirsk, contract army service is now advertised via the social pages of youth centers, where minors have classes; and a contract service recruitment facility has been deployed at the city’s Oktyabrsky Market. In Kadyy village, Kostroma region, a contract service ad has been posted near a beer ad. Meanwhile in Samara, a recruitment billboard has been installed next to a funeral home billboard by the Moscow highway.

Several regions at once have reported on sending to the frontline the volunteer fighters who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. A new batch of 32 people has been sent from the Vladimir region, 20 people have gone to war from the Pskov region, and 4 people left for Ukraine from Dagestan. The numbers of volunteer fighters from Nizhny Novgorod, Bryansk, and Udmurtia are not disclosed. The MoD itself has posted a video showing contract soldiers undergoing combat training.

Draft offices in the Yaroslavl region are still distributing notices requesting to appear for military service register data check-up. Meanwhile, the region’s military commissariat [enlistment office] has reported early completion of the spring regular biannual conscription campaign. 1500 conscripts were to be drafted in the region. At the same time, six men have set off for conscription service from Biysk.

On the occasion of the end of the spring conscription campaign on Jul. 15, the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] project has summarized some results of the campaign and also elaborated on all the important changes introduced this year that affect conscripts.

Mobilized Soldiers and Volunteer Fighters

The lists of killed-in-action mobilized soldiers have been supplemented by Nikolay Shigin from the Samara region, Aleksandr Zalanskas from the Krasnoyarsk region, Pavel Trifonov from Russia’s constituent republic of Buryatia, Yevgeny Matveyev from the Sverdlovsk region, Vladislav Ligun from the Vologda region, Viktor Skvortsov from the Bryansk region, Stanislav Fedosov from the Volgograd region, Ilya Petrov from the Orenburg region, and Andrey Lomakin from the Kaluga region.

According to the Astra Telegram channel, a mobilized soldier from the Bryansk region sustained shrapnel wounds as a result of a drone attack in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region. A contract soldier from Siberia was killed as a result of an infighting between servicemen that took place in a military unit in the Kalininets village in the Moscow region, where the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division is stationed.

Servicemen from the Rosgvardia [National Guard of Russia] arrived on leave in Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic]. Meanwhile, around a hundred soldiers from the Saratov region were sent to the combat zone after their leave.

Astra published an address by mobilized soldier Stanislav Rayevsky, in which he reported being illegally detained for 10 days in a "basement" in Perevalsk, Luhansk region. Rayevsky served in the 1430th Regiment, but in Perevalsk, he was forced to sign documents for a transfer to the 57th Brigade. When Stanislav tried to take leave, it turned out that he was listed in neither the 57th Brigade nor the 1430th Regiment.

Mobilized troops from Saint Petersburg are pleading against being used in assault operations near Bakhmut. Although they were trained for local defense missions, they are now being sent to "volunteer" assault units. For over a week, families of these soldiers have been appealing to different authorities begging to transfer their loved ones to the third line of defense, but so far there has been no response.

The sister of an ex-convict recruited into the Storm-Z unit revealed some of her brother’s experience in the military. Reportedly, the man was recruited from the penal colony, agreeing to serve in exchange for freedom and a monthly salary of 205,000 rubles [$2,300]. On May 12, following a week of training, his detachment was deployed to the forward positions. On Jun. 6, the man sustained a serious injury to both legs but only six days after the surgery he was brought back to duty. Eventually, less than 10 men remained in the detachment out of the initial 120 members.

The father of Yevgeny Oleinikov, a 44-year-old mobilized soldier twice wounded in active combat, fears that after being treated in the hospital his son will be sent to the frontline again. The first injury left Yevgeny with a shrapnel fragment in his leg, as doctors in Donetsk had refused to operate on him in field conditions. Moreover, the soldier suffered an almost complete hearing loss in one ear. After being treated, contrary to medical recommendations, Yevgeny was sent to the frontline again, only to receive a second injury and return to the hospital. It should be noted that the soldier never received compensation for any of the wounds.

Marina Bragina, head of the Committee for war veterans' families in the Omsk region, wrote a post telling about the prevailing "panic mood" among the families of the mobilized over the last several weeks due to the counteroffensive by the AFU. Wives and mothers of mobilized soldiers are calling and writing to authorities, demanding the return of their men home and even encouraging others to participate in rallies and protests. Bragina urged women not to panic and to continue raising funds for the needs of the frontline.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings, and Incidents

A mobilized sniper from the Rostov region has been sentenced to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for the murder of a fellow soldier. The soldiers were drinking together in a dugout when a conflict erupted between them. Both reached for their weapons, but the sniper was quicker.

Sergey Denisenko, a suspect in the murder of Stanislav Rzhitsky, deputy head of the Krasnodar city mobilization department, has been arrested by district court in Krasnodar till Sept. 10. According to the court press service, Denisenko made a confession.

In the Vladimir region, an 18-year-old named A. Sergeyev, suspected of setting fire to railway relay cabinets, has been detained. The arson occurred on Jul. 8 near Balakirevo station. The detainee confessed to the crime, claiming that he was paid 30,000 rubles [$330] for the arson. The investigation is preparing to requalify the case from property damage to sabotage (with a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment).

The resident of the town of Vidnoye, Moscow region, who previously tried to set fire to the building of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in protest against the construction of a road, has had his charges changed. He is now accused of terrorism and faces up to 20 years in prison.

The FSB announced the opening of a treason case against two residents of the Kursk region. According to the announcement, the suspects are Russian citizens who used devices provided by the Ukrainian military to monitor "areas where military vehicles were loaded, stored and routed," and passed this information to Ukraine for further attacks on these targets.

The FSB reported the arrest of an LGBT activist on charges of treason. According to them, the detainee is a transgender man and a volunteer with the independent human rights project OVD-Info. An acquaintance of the activist contacted the Sota media outlet and confirmed the information about the arrest. According to the FSB, the arrested was the administrator of an "anti-Russian information resource" and had sent money to the AFU. The activist faces punishment up to life imprisonment.

In Samara, 24-year-old Polina Yevtushenko, later identified by the Sota media outlet, was arrested for two months on charges of preparing treason. Presumably, she was arrested for attempting to join the "Freedom of Russia Legion,” which she had previously praised on Instagram. In the Vladimir region, a resident of the town of Vyazniki was also detained for trying to join the "Freedom of Russia Legion.”

Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] reported on the case of Ivan Kudryashov, who has been on a hunger strike for over a month in a pre-trial detention center after he was sentenced to six years in a penal colony for setting fire to a military commissariat in Tver. Kudryashov claimed that he had been subjected to torture during the investigation. In June, he declared a hunger strike due to the detention center administration's refusal to provide him with vegan meals. As of now, he has already lost over 15 kilograms of weight.

Assistance

The Ministry of Social Development of the Murmansk region proposed to pay 5 million rubles [$ 55500] to participants in the war against Ukraine awarded the Hero of Russia medals. Meanwhile, in Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic] and the Krasnodar region, the awarded war participants will receive land plots.

Two gyms at School No. 5 in the town of Kuybyshev, Novosibirsk region, have been turned into workshops for making camouflage nets.

Bratsk Duma [legislation assembly] member Denis Shepel took an all-wheel drive minivan loaded with food and camouflage nets to the frontline. The Za Pobedu [For Victory] support fund of the Volgograd region handed over off-road vehicles, diesel generators, construction equipment, and other materials to the frontlines. One and a half tons of bottled water were sent from the Ryazan region. Food, a generator, and an icon were delivered from the Orenburg region. Cossacks from Armavir brought equipment and food to occupied territories. Residents of the Nefteyugansk district of the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] handed over around 50 packages with plush bunny-toys to the military. Generators and tools were sent from the Tomsk region. Employees of the Culture Department of Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan sent seven tons of vegetables to the "special military operation" zone. Residents of Khimki in the Moscow region collected food, medicine, and clothing for Russian servicemen. Over three months, 72 vehicles have been sent from Buryatia to the frontline. Angara singer-songwriter Yevgeny Konovalov bought three UAVs for the RuAF with the funds raised during charity concerts.

Children

The Presidential Grants Foundation supported a project promoting Z-values for children with Down syndrome. As part of the Vremya Peremen [Time of Change] project, 1.9 million rubles [$21,000] were allocated for the staging of patriotic plays, "honoring veterans," and supporting the occupied territories. In the Gvardeyets children’s camp in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a meeting between a war veteran and schoolchildren from the Young Army [pro-Kremlin youth organization] took place.

Alexander Rakovsky, a member of the Leningradsky Dobrovoltets [Leningrad Volunteer fighter] volunteer association, addressed students of Saint Petersburg State University with a proposal to "improve the reputation" of the university by organizing a campaign in support of the military. Earlier, after the bullying of Z-propagandists, Mikhail Belousov, an associate professor at the university, was fired, and several students were expelled.

Miscellaneous

Mayor of Nevinnomyssk Mikhail Minenkov intends to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office against a Moscow store for allegedly refusing to sell soldiers equipment "for the needs of the special military operation."

In the village of Solnechny in the Krasnoyarsk region, a ceremonial unveiling of a monument to the Sarmat missile took place. The event was attended by officials, military personnel, and a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The head of the Union of Journalists of Russia proposed introducing a special status of "veteran of military journalism" for "war correspondents."