Mobilization in Russia for Jul. 4-5, 2023 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s [owner of the Wagner Group] armed rebellion, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has decided to start training police officers in the Moscow region in urban warfare tactics, machine gun shooting, grenade throwing, and tactical medicine. However, these changes have not been universally well-received amongst officers, with most female police officers reportedly extremely unhappy, according to sources cited by the Kremlin-aligned news outlet Mash.

In a meeting with student leaders in Vladivostok, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yury Trutnev has announced that vice-rectors responsible for educational work at universities may face dismissal if they fail to establish patriotic movements at their institutions.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has approved the construction of a new center for the city’s military commissariat [enlistment office]. According to official documents, this new center is meant to "improve conditions for citizens enlisting in the military, as well as for the employees of the city’s military commissariat."

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has ratified a decree regulating pensions for military pensioners, including those involved in the war with Ukraine. The decree stipulates that upon the completion of their contract military service, or upon demobilization, new pensioners will have the option to receive either their previously designated pension, or one adjusted to reflect their time spent in the military.

Dmitry Kuznetsov, State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] member and Head of the Coordinating Headquarters for Assistance to Mobilized Soldiers and Their Families, claims that the mobilized soldiers are critically fatigued due to the lack of leaves. The soldiers typically serve in positions for up to 10 months, with three months of that time spent directly on the frontline. No information about rotations is currently available. Nevertheless, the deputy hopes that "the leadership of the Ministry of Defense has a plan for the fall season."

Mobilized Soldiers and Volunteer Fighters

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated with Aleksey Andreev from the Samara region, Vladimir Kolesnikov from the Orenburg region, Pyotr Dobrydin from the Tyumen region, Aleksandr Ostanin from the Perm region, Aleksandr Dedyukhin from the Novosibirsk region, Andrey Lazarenko from the Bryansk region, Anatoly Kotlyarenko from the Rostov region, Ilyas Fatkhutdinov, Pavel Mekhlin, and Anton Goncharov from the Tomsk region, Artyom Birichev from the Arkhangelsk region, Andrey Smirnov from the Volgograd region, Sergey Mirgazov from the Chelyabinsk region, and Yury Pimenov from the Moscow region.

Wives, mothers, and relatives of the draftees of the 1428th Regiment have posted a petition on the VKontakte social network. According to the petition, the regiment was reorganized into a voluntary unit without the servicemen's consent. Now, the mobilized soldiers are being deployed to positions previously held by the Wagner Group, "where fierce battles are taking place," without artillery support and military equipment, resulting in heavy losses for the regiment. Some platoon commanders have been arrested for refusing to send soldiers to "certain death." Relatives of the mobilized soldiers are requesting necessary measures to be taken and an investigation to be initiated regarding the regiment's commander Anton Nechera. At the time of preparing this summary, the petition had been signed by over 2250 people.

Eight mobilized soldiers from the 60th Brigade, under the orders of the assistant commander for political affairs with the call sign April, have been put in a pit for refusing to go to the forward positions in the South Donetsk direction. The soldiers stated that they refused due to the lack of equipment, vehicles, radio communication, and competent command. Additionally, they complained about not having been granted any leave during their 10 months of service. Relatives of the mobilized have also released a video appeal to the authorities. In it, they echoed the soldiers' complaints about the absence of leave (claiming that the brigade commanders themselves managed to take breaks) and rotations. They also revealed that significant losses in personnel and artillery were suffered by the military during the advance of the AFU on the brigade's positions near the Vremivka salient. As a result, they were forced to retreat. However, despite failing to replenish the units with personnel, ammunition, and equipment, the command intends to send them back to the forward positions.

The Mobilizatsiya [Mobilization] Telegram channel shared the story of Anastasia Klimenova. Her husband was conscripted, and now she is left alone to care for their child, who suffers from epilepsy. However, according to official documents, her husband is listed as a cadet, which prevents the family from receiving any allowances. Despite their son's special needs and the necessity for extra attention and support, her husband has not been granted any leave. Anastasia recorded a video in which she complains about the indifference of the officials, as all her appeals for assistance have been met with dismissive replies.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings, and Incidents

The court sentenced mobilized Major Sergey I. to 2 years and 11 months in a penal settlement for refusing to obey an order. The officer, appointed as the platoon commander, refused to go to the combat zone in the fall of 2022. During the trial, the major noted that he was not prepared for military service due to his health condition and had the right to a 6-month deferment. As evidence, his defense provided a medical certificate confirming that his health condition had deteriorated to service fitness category "D." However, the court rejected the defense's argument, stating that the medical organization did not have a license to conduct military-medical examinations.

Corporal Vyacheslav Dukhovskikh received a seven-year suspended sentence for going AWOL. He left the field camp on May 15, 2022, and almost a year later voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. However, on Apr. 19, 2023 he again did not return to duty from his short-term leave and came to the military investigation department on May 18.

The court in Vladimir rejected the claim of a mobilized resident of Gus-Khrustalny, Denis Shchepetkov. The man demanded a draft deferment because he was raising three small children. According to the court, the General Staff's instructions to grant draft deferments were advisory, not mandatory.

The acting military commissar of Yakutsk [capital of Russia's constituent Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)] Natalia Antonova was charged with two reports of violation of the procedure for consideration of citizens' appeals and fined 10 thousand rubles [$110]. Earlier, at least three residents of the Yakutia complained about erroneous mobilization, but no one responded to their complaints.

A criminal case was initiated against a resident of the Altai region for attempted smuggling of military equipment. The man mailed an artillery director to a buyer in one of the Central Asian countries, but the parcel was intercepted by customs officers.

In Buryatia [Russia’s constituent republic], a court fined Junior Sergeant Dmitry Belkov 35,000 rubles [$390] for possession and use of hemp. The serviceman harvested hemp, brought it to the barracks and hid it in his bedside chest and in the storage room.

The Baza Telegram channel revealed that on the evening of Jul. 4, a man armed with explosives was shot and killed by members of law enforcement close to a Transneft oil facility near the city of Tyumen while allegedly intending to commit a terrorist attack. When chased, the assailant started to shoot and was killed by return fire.

In Crimea, a 42-year-old native of the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad Serhiy Yerzhov was detained on suspicion of blowing up a gas pipeline on the night of Jun. 23 in the settlement of Koreiz in Crimea. It is reported that Yerzhov admitted the offense and proceedings were opened against him on charges of willful destruction of property. He faces up to five years of imprisonment.

The Federal Security Service [FSB] reports that a Russian national who sent funds to the AFU and procured equipment for the Ukrainian military has been detained in Yekaterinburg. The man has been living abroad and was detained as he was crossing the border into Russia. According to the recently introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, he may face up to a life behind bars.

The FSB has also informed that a 43-old Russian man allegedly involved in conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism at Sakhalin Island energy infrastructure facilities as well as at one of the draft offices in the region was arrested in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Criminal charges of treason and conspiracy to commit acts of terror had been filed against the man.

The Moscow City Court upheld the sentence of four years in a penal colony given to Nikolay Dayneko, a participant in Mayakovsky readings [untraditional poetry readings conducted monthly at the Mayakovsky statue in Moscow]. The man was sentenced under the Criminal Code articles on anti-state activities and inciting hate.

Aleksey Rozhkov, who was taken from Kyrgyzstan to Russia bypassing the extradition process, may be put on trial for terrorist attack. There is now a case against him for destruction of others’ property but the prosecutor has asked to return the case to the investigation to charge him with terrorist attack, which is a graver crime.

Police found nothing discrediting in the words of Alla Fatkhelislamova—the mother of Afanasy Podayev, a conscript killed at the border with Ukraine. The woman has herself shared this with journalists. She was previously reported for telling the story of how her son got killed.

A live grenade was found in the attic of a building near the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow. The grenade was taken by sappers and will be destroyed shortly.

Assistance

More than 4 billion rubles [$43,840,000] were committed in the budget of Russia’s constituent republic of Bashkiria to support the war participants and their families. In particular, volunteer fighters of Bashkiria’s battalions are to get a one-time allowance of 200,000 rubles [$2192] and monthly payments of 2000 rubles [$22] per day of service. The Government of Bashkiria also decided to provide free recreation to not only participants of the "special military operation" but also the families of killed fighters.

In Buryatia [Russia’s constituent republic], a new wooden outhouse has been built for the family of a missing in action mobilized soldier. Meanwhile, servicemen from Buryatia are asking for Sanzay incense to be sent to the frontline. The incense is used to "clear the environment from negative vibrations."

Volunteers from Orenburg have sent tactical stretchers, evacuation slings, and tourniquets to the frontline. Two trucks loaded with the necessary machinery and equipment have been dispatched from Perm. Governor of the Smolensk region Vasily Anokhin met with soldiers from the 144th Motor Rifle Division and gave them fatigues, household equipment, and appliances. Kineshma, Ivanovo region, has sent one thousand bottles of drinking water to the combat zone, and Penza has provided a "convoy" of chainsaws. Combatants will also receive equipment and outfits from Noyabrsk, Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region [Russia's constituent subject], and from Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent Republic].

Children

According to the Ne Norma [Not a Norm] Telegram channel, the number of cases involving the use of children to support the Russian military has significantly increased during summer holidays. In different cities, children are involved in weaving camouflage nets, collecting parcels, making trench candles, and much more.

In Ufa, children are offered rides on a toy car that simulates a Russian nuclear weapon carrier.

Miscellaneous

Yevgeny Kuyvashev, Governor of the Sverdlovsk region, announced that drones and microelectronics production factories will be built near the Ekaterinburg-Expo International exhibition center. The construction will require 6 billion rubles [$65 mln].

In Salekhard, a competition for inscriptions for a monument to participants in the war with Ukraine has been announced. Moreover, the residents are offered to choose the design of the monument. The cost of the monument and the funder are unknown.