Mobilization in Russia for July 23-25, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
A bill on "disciplinary arrests," which would grant military commanders the right to send their subordinates to a detention facility without a court decision for 20 different offenses, has been approved by the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] in consecutive second and third readings. Read more about the bill in our previous summary. During a meeting of the Defense Committee, State Duma member Viktor Sobolev stated that this measure is not sufficient and proposed to reinstate penal battalions [units consisting of convicts].
Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law exempting employees of the Investigative Committee and prosecutor's offices from regular conscription.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
The Vyorstka media outlet reports that Voronezh regional authorities are promising to pay "freelance recruiters" 15,000 rubles [$170] for each individual who concludes a contract with the Ministry of Defense to fight in the war against Ukraine. Earlier, the authorities of Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic] and the Yaroslavl region had announced similar referral programs, except that the reward was 100,000 rubles [$1,160]. Vyorstka also describes the tricks that authorities resort to, given the declining interest in participating in the war among the population, in order to meet their recruitment targets. Apart from all-time high bonuses and referral programs, the authorities often recruit during military training, delegate quotas to regional businesses and use threats of criminal prosecution. They also do not hesitate to recruit among high school students or coerce conscripts,either.
In the Chelyabinsk region, the Miass city assembly voted to approve a 100,000-ruble sign-up bonus for concluding a contract to take part in the war. The city’s bonus is cumulative with the region’s 305,000 ruble [$3,520] bonus, which was introduced in June.
At least two Russian regions have changed their tactics for recruiting contract soldiers, as noted by the Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel. Besides Moscow, where Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced an annual payment of 5.2 million rubles [$60,100], advertisements in the Leningrad region now also specify the total amount a soldier will receive over the course of a year if they survive, including the sign-up bonus and monthly salary, instead of just the one-time payment upon signing the contract. In the Leningrad region, soldiers can earn 4.02 million rubles [$46,400] in a year.
The E1.RU media outlet reports that in the Sverdlovsk region, summonses for "military service register data check-up" have resumed. According to Maria, a resident of Sredneuralsk, her husband's documents were checked at the draft office, and he was offered a contract with the Ministry of Defense. The Central Military District press office stated that local residents are being summoned to draft offices allegedly just for data check-ups. Similar summonses are reportedly being sent out in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject] as well. Meanwhile, in the Samara region, according to the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, the draft office is contacting local residents by phone, offering them contracts in exchange for expunging their criminal records.
The Zerkalo [Mirror] media outlet has reported that Belarusian citizens are being recruited for the war against Ukraine under the guise of seeking employees for a "landscaping enterprise" in Russia. Advertising leaflets are being distributed in mailboxes of Minsk residents promising a sign-up bonus of about 1.2 million Russian rubles [$13,900], a salary of just under 200,000 Russian rubles [$2,320] and "free transfer to the workplace." Men between the ages of 18 and 65 who have tested negative for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis are eligible to apply.
Idite Lesom! has released a two-part guide (1, 2) on the process of terminating a contract with the MoD.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Raufat Marganov from the Tyumen region, Yevgeny Rodionov from the Krasnodar region, Ilya Gataulin from the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region [Russia's federal subject], as well as Maksim Tatyankin, Ilnar Talipov and Mikhail Tairov from Tatarstan.
The death of another 18-year-old Russian soldier in the war against Ukraine has been reported. It was Nikita Sablin from the Tambov region, born in June 2005 and killed in September 2023. The local administration has installed a banner in his honor right next to his parents’ ramshackle house. The youngest participant in the war to die so far is Yaroslav Lipavsky from Tyumen, who was 18 years and 1 month old when he was killed.
The Russian MoD has approved issuing combat veteran certificates to over 10,000 former Wagner Group mercenaries, according to Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivilyova. She stated that the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund submitted 25,000 document sets to the MoD for recognizing mercenaries as combat veterans. Tsivilyova did not explain why certificates were not issued to all mercenaries or if further document processing was possible. Meanwhile, the city of Vladimir branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund reported issuing a combat veteran certificate to Aleksandr Dodeko, a former Wagner Group mercenary. The man had enlisted for the war from a penal colony, where he was serving a six-year sentence for robbery.
Servicemen from the 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade who require surgery have recorded a video address. In it, they complained that despite field hospital surgeons' recommendations for operations, their command refused to evacuate them to the rear, suggesting they receive treatment on-site instead.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Borisovsky district of Belgorod region, a man was killed under the tracks of a tank. According to the Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel, the tank ran over a Niva SUV, which was driving lawfully on the main road. The tank was coming around a turn and failed to yield to the Niva, crushing it. The car's driver, 73-year-old local resident Konstantin Lopatkin, died at the scene. The Pepel Telegram channel reported that the tank crew "was in an incoherent state and laughed in people's faces." A similar incident occurred in the region in early July.
In the Kursk region, four drunken servicemen fired on a car carrying civilians. There were two people in the hit car. A 21-year-old passenger was injured and taken to hospital. Later, the soldiers, who were driving a Lada with a Z marking, were detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB).
In the Moscow region, a court has sentenced Russian Airborne Troops officer Radik Aisin to six years of probation for hooliganism for going to a store with an assault rifle to buy beer. The trial lasted from August 2023. The defendant regularly left for the line of contact, was promoted to senior lieutenant, and became a father. After the verdict was announced, Aisin again left for a combat zone and "voluntarily joined the assault troops."
In the Zabaykalsky region, soldier Yevgeny Isakinspent his fellow soldiers' money on purchases by obtaining their bank card information and using it to pay for items "for his personal consumption." A court fined Isakin 120,000 rubles [$1,390] for theft.
A native of Tajikistan, who went to the war with Ukraine in 2022 as part of a "volunteer paramilitary group" from Chechnya [Russia's constituent republic], hassued the MoD for 3 million rubles [$34,700] for his injury and disability. After completing his treatment in January 2023, he received Russian citizenship through a simplified procedure. Initially, he was denied the payment due to the lack of a contract with the ministry. Despite the court's positive verdict, the man has not yet received the money.
A court has sentenced senior lieutenant Pavel P. to three years in a penal colony for going AWOL. From May to December of 2023, Pavel P. was treated in hospitals and private clinics. He was released just before New Year's and ordered to report to his duty station. However, the officer decided that since the end of his treatment fell on a weekend, he could report to the unit on Jan. 10, the first working day after the holidays. The military court ruled that national holidays are not a reason for a contract officer not to report to a military unit.
According to their tally, the OVD-Info independent human rights project reports that in the 29 months since the onset of the conflict, authorities have made over 20,000 arrests and initiated nearly 10,000 administrative cases. Additionally, there have been 600 reported instances of extrajudicial pressure. For more details, see OVD-Info's Repression Sitrep.
A court in Saint Petersburg has mandated a psychiatric examination for Vasily Gogolev, who is suspected of setting fire to a draft office. Gogolev will spend 30 days in a psychiatric hospital. Authorities have initiated a criminal case against him for an act of terror. According to Vasily, he committed the arson under the influence of phone scammers.
On the night of July 24, two men tried to set fire to a diesel locomotive at the Stavropol station. Their plans were thwarted by a train engineer who happened to be in the cab. As a result, the men are facing charges of an attempted act of terror.
Two arsons near Saint Petersburg have been reported within a week. According to Fontanka [pro-Russian media outlet of the Leningrad region], on July 17, surveillance cameras captured two young individuals attempting to set fire to a cell cite in Novosergievka, Leningrad region. On the evening of July 21, a thermal insulated cabinet with equipment of the same provider was set on fire. The police have initiated a criminal case for deliberate damage to property through arson. A few days later, a 14-year-old schoolboy was detainedin Saint Petersburg. He is suspected of being involved in the arson incident on July 17.
Moscow resident Pyotr Krasko has been detained on charges of participating in an illegal armed group. According to investigators, Krasko allegedly posted information regarding joining the "Freedom of Russia Legion," which is listed as a terrorist organization in Russia. The court has ordered Krasko to be held in custody until Sept. 21.
In Rostov-on-Don, the regional FSB office reported the detention of a local resident suspected of passing data on the location of Russian Army units to Ukraine. The detainee is an employee of one of the enterprises in Rostov-on-Don.
A criminal case for treason and aiding terrorism has been initiated against a 39-year-old resident of Khabarovsk, according to Interfax, citing the FSB. The agency believes that the man, being an opponent of the "special military operation," decided to contact an agent of the Ukrainian intelligence services via messenger. According to law enforcement, he was tasked with collecting information regarding active military personnel and FSB employees. Moreover, he allegedly attempted to persuade a group of military personnel to go to Ukraine to fight in the "Freedom of Russia Legion."
A Saint Petersburg court has registered a criminal case of espionage against 27-year-old Ukrainian Ivan Zabavsky. The case is classified as "top secret" and will be heard behind closed doors. Ivan Zabavsky's story was covered by Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet]. In September 2022, the young man went to his native village in the occupied Kharkiv region to evacuate his mother, but she was not there, and then he disappeared. The Ministry of Defense responded to the mother only in May, saying that her son had been arrested for his opposition to the "special military operation." In June 2023, the court sent Zabavsky to a pre-trial detention center, where he remains to this day.
A court in Moscow extended the detention of Roman Mayorov, a 41-year-old resident of the Moscow region, in connection with a case involving Ukrainian intelligence services. Mayorov was arrested at the end of May. Before that, he had been under constant administrative arrests since late March. According to the investigation, from December 2023 to Jan. 31, 2024, Mayorov exchanged messages on WhatsApp with an agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Dmitry Karpenko, and allegedly received instructions from him.
A court in the Moscow region has placed Elena Kireeva under house arrest. She is accused of conspiring and committing a terrorist attack in a group, which resulted in significant damage due to the arson of a police car.
Children
Zakhar Prilepin [a Russian author, political and social activist] and the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund have submitted a list of works about the war with Ukraine to the Ministry of Culture. The authors of the list suggest that the Ministry will recommend these works for use in schools, libraries, theaters, and cultural centers.
On July 25, 100 schoolchildren taken out from Donbas arrived in the Novosibirsk region, reported Nadezhda Boltenko, the children's Commissioner of the region. According to the regional authorities, 250 children from the occupied territories have already visited the region in the summer of 2024.
In the village of Poikovsky in the Khanty–Mansi autonomous region-Yugra [Russia's federal subject], volunteers organize fishing trips for children of "special military operation" soldiers and schoolchildren from single-parent families. The purpose of these events is to compensate for the lack of parental care.
Longreads
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet studied the activities of the Time of the First patriotic movement and explained to the public why the Kremlin needs military propaganda among teenagers and what this children's association, which, among other things, indoctrinates teenagers from the occupied regions of Ukraine, has become famous for.