Mobilization in Russia for July 21-22, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] reports that, in support of its strategy against extremism, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has proposed to Vladimir Putin to create a database of individuals, who left Russia "to participate in extremist organizations and to undergo training offered by unfriendly states in centers for foreigners." We do not yet know the exact criteria for inclusion in the database, but the authorities may target those who have moved to "unfriendly states."
Authorities and Relatives of Mobilized Soldiers
In May, Alesya Fedorova, the wife of a mobilized soldier from Tver, recorded a video appeal for her husband's return home, because she was expecting their fourth child. According to the law, fathers of four children are not subject to mobilization, but the authorities did not take any measures to ensure the man’s return. Worse, Fedorova has been blamed for the appearance of the video in Ukrainian Telegram channels. Moreover, after she gave birth, the Tayga Telegram channel started to threaten her that guardianship authorities would pay her a visit and check on the child care and upbringing conditions.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
In Russia’s constituent Republic of Dagestan, authorities put up a billboard to advertise contract-based military service with the portrait of Alietdin Makhmudov, a crime boss who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2015 for orchestrating two murders. After authorities released him to fight in the war, Makhmudov rose to the rank of lieutenant and now commands a Storm-Z unit. The billboard, which shows him with several medals, promises a monthly pay of 204,000 rubles [$2,330], as well as 500,000 and 195,000 rubles [$5,700 and $2,220] sign-up bonuses from the Republic of Dagestan and the Ministry of Defense, respectively.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Niyaz Farrakhov, Ruslan Falyakhutdinov and Andrey Tukmachov from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, as well as Yegor Makarov from the Belgorod region.
A 34-year-old native of Ukraine, Artur Yan, has been captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In 2023, he fled Ukraine to avoid mobilization. A lawyer helped him cross the border into Moldova for $6,000, from where Yan proceeded to Russia and obtained a Russian passport. Eventually, having exhausted his financial resources, Yan signed a contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
A serviceman of the 1472nd Motorized Rifle Regiment, Armenian citizen Hayk Arutyunyan, has recorded a video address to Margarita Simonyan [Russian propagandist, editor-in-chief of the RT international news television network] and "Armenian brothers," in which he complained about being put in a pit as a punishment for drinking alcohol, and then being sent on an assault mission. Arutyunyan stated that he received no training after signing the contract, and that he is not fit for assault missions at the age of 47. As the Astra Telegram channel found out, Arutyunyan signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to avoid criminal repercussions for insulting a government official. He was unaware that the contract was open-ended, while the maximum penalty for his crime was community service. Arutyunyan also complained that instead of the promised salary of 200,000 rubles [$2,280] per month, he receives only 31,000 rubles [$350] because he serves on the border in the Belgorod region.
Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet] published a report from the Bereg media outlet about the situation in the 1st Slavyanskaya Motor Rifle Brigade, where a large number of mobilized soldiers and draftees are being killed or going missing in action. The core of the brigade's command consists of "officers" from among the Donbas separatists, who treat the mobilized soldiers and volunteer fighters from Russia with particular brutality and disregard for their losses.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Arkhangelsk Garrison Military Court sentenced a mobilized soldier, Nikita A., to five years and two months in a general regime penal colony for going AWOL. However, during the appeal, a higher court decided that due to a number of mitigating factors, the mobilized soldier's sentence should be below the minimum limit and reduced it by 14 months to four years in a general regime penal colony.
On July 10, the Krasnodar Regional Court found Dmitry Polunin, a 49-year-old resident of the town of Anapa, guilty on charges of confidential cooperation with foreigners. However, the court's press service refused to disclose the sentence, citing that "secrecy applies to all information in the case." According to Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet], under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the introductory and operative parts of the verdict must be announced in an open court session and therefore cannot be classified.
According to the Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet, at least 40 cases have already been initiated under the charge of "confidential" cooperation with foreigners, which was introduced into the Criminal Code only two years ago. Journalists described in detail the use of this article and who is being prosecuted under it.
Batyr Bekmuradov, a commander of one of the Russian Army's assault troops who was recruited to the war from the penal colony where he had been serving a sentence since 2018 for extortion and kidnapping as part of a criminal group, has appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to return his money, two SUVs, and an executive BMW seized during a search in 2016. According to Bekmuradov's lawyers, he plans to use these vehicles "in the special military operation zone."
The court has issued the first sentence in the "Baymak case," sentencing Ilshat Ulyabaev to five years in a penal colony for "mass unrest" and the use of violence against law enforcement officers. According to the OVD-Info independent human rights project, even before the sentence was handed down, the authorities, during meetings with the relatives of the detainees, convinced them that pleading guilty would allegedly allow them to receive suspended sentences.
Assistance
The military aid fund established by the governor of the Arkhangelsk region reported on its activities: volunteers mowed the grass for a military wife. The request was made via the fund's hotline, and the task required cooperation with the pro-government All-Russia People's Front movement.
The wife of a mobilized soldier, Paulina Safronova, a former participant in the Put Domoy [Way Home] telegram channel, sends drones and camouflage nets, as well as books, food, and other items to the frontline. She shared this in a video made to refute a popular Russian propaganda thesis that the wives of mobilized soldiers do not engage in helping military personnel.
Children
Military personnel and veteran marines participating in the invasion organized an "international" patriotic gathering in Tyumen, during which they will spend a week teaching teenagers aged 12-17 "modern military skills."
The first group of schoolchildren went on vacation to North Korea. Almost 250 schoolchildren from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions, as well as from Sakhalin and other regions of Russia flew from Vladivostok airport to the Songdowon international camp.
Miscellaneous
The Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel estimated that at least 198 civilians were killed in the Belgorod region during the full-scale invasion.
Longreads
Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] reported on the children of the Russian elite. Instead of going to war, which their parents fully support, the children of billionaires and officials close to Putin prefer to engage in state business and receive education in institutions of NATO countries.
The Diskurs [Discourse] media outlet told the story of Tamara, the wife of a mobilized soldier. Her husband, Yevgeny, was mobilized against his will, and after six months there was no news of him. The command and the investigation believe that Yevgeny is dead, but his wife desperately believes that he is alive and in captivity. She contacts the organization for the search of missing soldiers every day, but receives only standard responses from a bot. Despite the difficult life with her husband, his drunkenness, and violence, Tamara still hopes for his return, although all her relatives think she is insane.