Mobilization in Russia for July 24-27, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment

Over the past two years, Russian authorities have identified through raids more than 90,000 naturalized citizens who failed to register for military service, according to Alexander Bastrykin, head of the country’s Investigative Committee. Of them, 7,600 have become conscripts, while another 30,000 have signed military contracts. In mid-May, Bastrykin had stated that authorities had identified 80,000 new citizens who had not registered for military service, with 20,000 of them reportedly sent to the war.

State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] member Viktor Vodolatsky announced that the Russian Armed Forces are forming a "Ukrainian battalion" from captured enemy soldiers who have purportedly refused exchange and repatriation to Ukraine. According to Vodolatsky, some of these prisoners sign contracts after a vetting process. He also claims that upon returning home, Ukrainian soldiers allegedly face assignment to penal battalions and territorial defense units, which are deployed to the most intense combat zones, with blocking detachments positioned behind them. However, under Ukrainian law, exchanged prisoners of war who are discharged into the reserves are not subject to conscription.

Male residents of Yekaterinburg have begun receiving messages notifying them of their inclusion in the Unified Military Register, instructing them to follow an online link, log in and request an extract from the Draft Register. Reports of similar notifications have been coming from several other regions across the country.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 120,343 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 13,260 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,189 soldiers, 170 of whom were mobilized. Twenty-seven percent of all the deceased were volunteer fighters who signed contracts with the MoD after the outset of the full-scale invasion. Fifteen percent of all known fatalities are convicts who were deployed to the frontline from penal colonies, while 11% are mobilized soldiers. As of mid-2025, the average age of the deceased is 39. In the early months of the invasion, the most frequently reported casualties were 21-year-old contract soldiers.

According to the Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel, a 19-year-old conscript soldier from the city of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo region, came under fire and was killed on July 3. Documents state that he died "while performing a task to cover the state border in the territory of the Belgorod region," and that his death is "related to the execution of military service." Pepel has not provided any further details.

Yuri Vitsynets, Daniyar Kereybayev and Denis Mozhaytsev, three conscript soldiers from Omsk who served in the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the town of Kyakhta in Russia's constituent republic of Buryatia, were previously reported to have been pressured by commanders to sign contracts with the MoD. Now, their families say that after signing the contracts, it became known that the young men were to be sent to the border with Ukraine. When the soldiers tried to terminate their contracts, they were threatened, deprived of communication and forced to write explanations under duress. The Military Prosecutor's Office has not responded to the families' appeals. At least two other conscripts are reported to be in a similar situation but have no relatives able to advocate on their behalf.

39-year-old Andrey Krivitsky from Neryungri claims he ended up at war without ever signing a contract or completing statutory military service. He was detained on Feb. 25, 2022, in occupied Zhdanivka, Donetsk region, where he had traveled to pick up his parents. He was taken to a military collection point and informed that he was now considered a serviceman. In the summer of 2022, Krivitsky attempted to request dismissal, but instead, he was sent to the frontline. He sustained injuries in 2023 and 2025, was treated at military hospitals and then redeployed to forward positions. It was later discovered that his name was not listed in the Alushta database—the centralized logistics system used to process military payments. Krivitsky is currently stationed at a training range in the city of Berdiansk. His lawyer has filed a lawsuit seeking official recognition that he is not a serviceman.

25-year-old contract soldier Konstantin Antonenko, stationed at Russia’s 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, Armenia, was found dead on the evening of July 24 near an unfinished building. Armenian investigators have opened a case under the article for "incitement to suicide" and have ordered a forensic examination. The cause of the apparent suicide remains unknown, and the Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the incident.

Wounded serviceman Danil Konnov, who lost his heel bone and now relies on crutches, was declared fit for duty by a military medical board and is being sent back to a combat zone. In a video, Konnov shows other soldiers with crutches, canes and even walkers, all reportedly being deployed to the frontline. He says he has received no medical care: his stitches have not been removed and his leg has begun to show signs of infection. According to him, all wounded soldiers from his unit are being transferred to Donetsk to participate in combat.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Rostov-on-Don, an intoxicated man in military uniform bearing a "V" insignia, attempted to strangle a child and threatened passersby with a knife. Reportedly, while drinking alcohol with friends in the courtyard of a residential building, he took a ball from the children and then put one of them in a chokehold. Police detained the serviceman and his drinking companions. During the incident, the man shouted that he was a "combat veteran" and claimed to have a concussion.

The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Garrison Military Court has sentenced contract soldier Dmitry P. to four years on probation for going AWOL. On March 19, 2025, he withdrew from his military unit, reportedly "seeking rest," and remained in hiding for nearly a month. He was detained by fellow soldiers on April 17 and subsequently returned to his unit. In delivering the sentence, the court acknowledged several mitigating factors, including his combat record, a wartime injury, an official commendation and the death of his son who also served in the army.

[Alena]A Russian court has sentenced a 19-year-old woman from Izhevsk to six and a half years in a penal colony on charges of state treason. According to the court, in July 2023—when she was 17—she contacted a representative of Ukrainian intelligence through a chatbot and sent photos, coordinates and publicly available information about a facility that manufactures equipment for the Russian MoD. She pleaded guilty, expressed remorse and cooperated with investigators. The court took into account her age at the time of the offense.

In a separate case, Pavel Devnin, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of treason. Investigators say Devnin supported the Freedom of Russia Legion. In the fall of 2023, he allegedly persuaded his friend, Kirill Dzhafarov from Tver, to apply to join the unit. According to prosecutors, both men also shared information with Ukrainian intelligence about Russian soldiers participating in the "special military operation." Dzhafarov was convicted of treason as well and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Both men were also found guilty of aiding terrorist activities, preparing to join a terrorist organization and undergoing training in sabotage techniques.

The Meshchansky District Court in Moscow has placed a suspect in a treason case in a pre-trial detention center. The man is likely 31-year-old programmer Roman Krysyaev from the town of Voskresensk in the Moscow region. The reason for the criminal prosecution is unknown. In recent years, he worked as a programmer at ASCON, a company sanctioned after the start of the war for its involvement in developing software for the Russian military-industrial complex, including systems used in the production of Iskander-M and Topol-M missiles.

Children and Militarization

Russian military sappers conducted an open lesson at the Armata children’s camp in the Belgorod region, where they told children what to do upon discovering explosive devices and explained the role of military engineers on the frontline.

Assistance

Arkhangelsk region governor Aleksandr Tsybulsky told Putin that the region is preparing to launch the MAX app, which combines messaging functions with digital support for "special military operation veterans." The app will allow authorities to track the process of their treatment, rehabilitation, education and reintegration into "civilian life." The launch is planned before the end of the year. Authorities have promised to transfer the technology to other regions free of charge after testing.

Longreads

The Vyorstka media outlet tells the story of 21-year-old student Aleksey Gerasimov from the city of Cheboksary, who tried to join the AFU Sibir Battalion but never made it to the frontline. After waiting seven months for a contract, he ended up in a conflict with his commanders, was placed in a migration detention center, and in May 2025, was handed over to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange. Russian authorities have charged him under a terrorism-related article and placed him in a pre-trial detention center.

To mark Navy Day, the Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel reflects on the Russian Navy’s losses over the three years of war.

Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] released a documentary titled "What is Life Like for a Young Family in Russia After the War?" It features a mobilized soldier who lost a leg in the war and his wife, as they discuss what their life looks like today, why they believe Russia is fighting and how society treats those returning from the frontline.

Mediazona reports on the case of Tatyana Laletina, who was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for high treason—allegedly for making two financial transfers to Ukrainian funds.

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet covers the so-called "children’s army" of the Akhmat special forces—a propaganda project called "Akhmat: A View from Below," in which children of Russian soldiers praise the army, Russia, Allah and the Akhmat unit’s commander Apti Alaudinov.