Mobilization in Russia for July 4-5, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Most regions of the Russian Federation will continue to use paper draft notices during the regular conscription campaign this fall, said Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia]. It is worth noting that federal authorities plan to test and launch the Unified Military Register, a digital system to track citizens subject to military service, by Oct. 31 and begin serving digital notices from Nov. 1. At that point, the system will automatically apply restrictions on recipients who fail to report in. Experts indicate that the new register will be seeded with data from the Gosuslugi public services portal, which is used by around 70% of all citizens. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel notes that the law does not require draft offices to limit themselves to digital draft notices once the Draft Register becomes operational. Consequently, authorities may launch a pilot this fall to test the Draft Register on conscripts and reservists, for whom they will have the most complete records.
The Baza Telegram channel published a photo of a court decision releasing a convict on probation, after he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. According to Baza, this is the first time that a convict has taken advantage of the legal amendments introduced in March 2023. The decision, made at an unspecified date by a court in the city of Glazov, in Russia’s constituent Republic of Udmurtia, states that a certain Maksim, who had been sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony for theft, attempted drug sale and illegal ammunition storage, is to be released on probation. The court has entrusted his supervision to the military unit commander, and the man has already deployed to the combat zone.
Authorities in Tyumen conducted yet another raid on migrants. 72.RU [Tyumen city online media outlet] reports that among the 74 individuals checked, there were several who had failed to register for military service after acquiring Russian citizenship. However, no precise figure was given. Law enforcement officers drew up reports on the draft dodgers and took them to a draft office. According to the media outlet, 98 naturalized citizens were added to the military rolls in June as a result of such raids. Another raid took place in Yekaterinburg, but no information on draft dodgers has been published.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Fanzil Shakirov, Radik Shaydullin and Ruslan Shagaev from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, Aleksey Izgarskiy from the Volgograd region, Mikhail Temnikov, Dmitry Senyushkin, Vladimir Vorontsov and Dmitry Tugarinov from Russia’s constituent Republic of Buryatia, as well as Ivan Vlasov, Igor Kirilov and Mikhail Khoroshikh from the Irkutsk region.
Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 58,207 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 7,152 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 485 names; however, the number of mobilized soldiers on the list has decreased by 10, likely due to data correction. In addition, Mediazona and Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet] have updated their estimation of the actual losses based on the National Probate Registry. The updated figure stands at 120,000 soldiers, with the error margin ranging from 106,000 to 140,000. Since the beginning of the year, the number of casualties among Russian military personnel has increased by 39,000. The average number of deaths per day has risen from approximately 120 to between 200 and 250. This increase is likely related to combat operations by the Russian Armed Forces, such as the battle for Avdiivka and fighting on the Kharkiv axis and in other directions.
Recently appointed Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Tsivilyova, who is also the daughter of a cousin of Vladimir Putin, has reported on the work of military healthcare. According to her, the MoD is working on improving the medical examination process to optimize the selection process for military service and ensure that soldiers undergo a full course of treatment. One outcome of this effort was a government decree allowing military personnel from the Donbas and fighters from "private military companies" to undergo military medical examinations. It is worth noting that members of such formations, as well as ex-convicts, have repeatedly complained about their inability to receive medical aid, despite being entitled as military personnel. Tsivilyova also instructed officials to expedite the prosthetics process for wounded participants in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to an analysis by Novaya Gazeta [independent Russian newspaper], by the end of 2023, an all-time record was set for the number of applications from Russians for lower limb prosthetics and wheelchairs. Over the past year, the number of people with disabilities registering to receive assistive devices increased by 42%.
Participation in combat as part of the Redut PMC and other private military companies does not entitle individuals to benefits or social guarantees, as noted by Voyennye Advokaty. By law, the MoD is authorized to enter into only two types of contracts with citizens: one for military service and one for participation in a volunteer unit, the latter including units like the BARS (Special Combat Army Reserve) volunteer unit. According to the ministry's response, participants in formations like Redut PMC signed civil law contracts, thus they do not hold the status of military personnel and are not entitled to social guarantees related to injuries, wounds or death. Any compensation they may receive must be stipulated in their civil law contract.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced Denis Galiyakhmetov, a participant in the war with Ukraine, to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for the murder of his cellmate, Georgy Koryukov. On Nov. 5, 2023, Galiyakhmetov beat Koryukov to death. Galiyakhmetov was in the cell for desertion—an offense that increased his total sentence to 10 years. In court, Galiyakhmetov claimed he acted in self-defense, stating that Koryukov was behaving erratically and started the fight by hitting another cellmate.
A court in Krasnoyarsk has sentenced Dmitry Borisyak, a military serviceman, to seven years in a penal colony for a knife fight. According to investigators, Borisyak was drinking alcohol with an acquaintance when an argument broke out, leading the soldier to stab his drinking companion in the neck. Initially, Borisyak faced charges of attempted murder, but the charge was later reduced to grievous bodily harm with a weapon. In April 2024, Borisyak was found guilty of going AWOL during the mobilization period.
A court in Vladimir has fined Magomedmustafa Mukailov, a senior lieutenant and commander of a training motorized rifle company, 50,000 rubles [$560] for beating a subordinate. According to the verdict, Mukailov, displeased with a subordinate's tardiness for duty, struck him six times with a stick and then pinned him against a wall, threatening violence. The affected soldier suffered several bruises and abrasions as a result of the incident.
In the Stavropol region, a soldier has been sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony for going AWOL. According to the official account, he left his unit in November 2023 and voluntarily turned himself in at a military investigation department in March 2024.
According to their tally, the Dovod independent Russian media outlet reports that since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Vladimir Garrison Military Court has received 151 criminal cases for going AWOL. In June 2024, the court received 13 such cases, which matches the number registered in May. Throughout 2023, the court processed 78 cases against "refuseniks," marking an all-time record in the court's history. By comparison, the court handed down only two verdicts under this charge in 2021 and six in 2020.
Contract soldier Maksim Makushin, who served more than ten years in the Northern Fleet, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal settlement under the charge of refusing to participate in combat. The Murmansk Garrison Military Court issued the sentence back in September 2023, but this information has only recently come to light through a statement by Memorial [Human rights defense center], which declared Makushin a political prisoner due to his refusal to fight on religious grounds.
The Supreme Court of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] has sentenced 23-year-old Alik Bagautdinov from the town of Sibay to 15 years in prison on charges of treason and sabotage. According to investigators, Bagautdinov "received orders from Ukrainian military intelligence" and "attempted to involve his acquaintances" in the activities of the "Freedom of Russia Legion" from May 2022 to March 2023. Additionally, in March 2023, he allegedly disabled a relay cabinet on the railway, causing damage estimated at over 280,000 rubles [$3,160]. Bagautdinov also purportedly published a video "discrediting" the army. He was detained in March 2023. According to law enforcement, he committed arson "with the aim of stopping the war."
The Moscow City Court has delivered a verdict in the treason case against Valery Timofeev, the vice president of a Russian-Finnish company engaged in the construction of icebreakers. The court refused to disclose the length of his sentence, citing the "top secret" status of the case. However, according to the law, the verdict itself cannot be classified under any circumstances. Timofeev was arrested in July 2022 on charges of passing information about the operations of the Yantar shipyard in the city of Kaliningrad to foreign intelligence services.
A criminal case has been initiated against a Samara resident on charges of preparing a terrorist attack. According to law enforcement officers, the man began corresponding with a "member of a pro-Ukrainian terrorist organization" in mid-2023. He allegedly agreed to participate in a sabotage operation in Samara targeting a defense industry facility. He faces a potential sentence of 10 to 20 years of imprisonment for preparing an act of terror.
In Moscow, a 24-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan named Mukhammadin has been arrested on charges of aiding terrorist activities, reports the Astra Telegram channel. According to investigators, he was recruited through social media by a representative of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham terrorist organization. In November 2022, Mukhammadin filmed the administration building of the Meshchansky district and four draft offices, allegedly sending these recordings to the recruiter.
A resident of Karachay-Cherkessia [Russia’s constituent republic] has been arrested on suspicion of treason. According to Russian intelligence services, he allegedly cooperated with Ukrainian intelligence services, providing them with some information from the republic. It is reported that he received monetary compensation for carrying out tasks and confessed during investigative actions.
The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) has added 14-year-old Gleb Sinitsyn from Ivanovo to its list of terrorists and extremists. The specific charges against him are unknown. According to Holod [independent Russian media outlet], the list now includes a total of 79 individuals under the age of 18: three teenagers born in 2009, 16 born in 2008, 34 born in 2007 and 49 born in 2006. Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta], citing several criminal cases, details the most common reasons schoolchildren are imprisoned. It reports that at least nine individuals are serving sentences in penal colonies, ranging from 3.5 to 6 years. The charges against them include sabotage, committing acts of terror and deliberate destruction or damage to property.
Assistance
In an incident during tree felling for the "special military operation,"Â Sergey Belykh, the acting head of the Soviet district of the Kursk region, died when a tree fell on him. He was taken to the hospital but could not be saved.
Children and Educational System
The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel reported on the organization of activities at the Zarnitsa camp near Nizhnekamsk. There, veterans of the war in Ukraine and members of Combat Brotherhood [All-Russian public organization of veterans], teach children skills such as shooting, applying tourniquets to wounded individuals, marching and engaging in simulated combat.
Novaya Gazeta reported that the Russian government is set to spend nearly a billion rubles by year-end on vacations in Crimea for children and public sector employees despite ongoing attacks on the peninsula.
Miscellaneous
In the Moscow region, employers have been mandated to reserve 1% of job vacancies for veterans of the war in Ukraine. On the Job Russia recruiting website, they advertise 79,000 positions, which include top-paying roles like UAV assembler, with potential earnings up to 356,000 rubles [$4,020], along with positions such as mechanic (21,000 rubles [$240]), janitor (21,000 rubles) and gas station attendant (50,000 rubles [$560]). Furthermore, veterans are eligible for free retraining opportunities.
Ahead of upcoming elections in September, the United Russia party [Putin’s ruling party] has nominated 342 veterans of the war in Ukraine as candidates. This is a significant increase from the previously nominated 210 veterans of the "special military operation."
The Mozhem Ob’yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel revealed that since the start of 2024 alone, the Russian state has spent 98 million rubles [$1.11 million] toward building and maintaining memorials for the so-called heroes of the "special military operation." Since spring 2023, the total expenditure on these memorials has reached 1.3 billion rubles [$14.69 million].
Residents of the Belgorod region will be provided with 51 mobile fire stations. This equipment, along with fire extinguishers distributed earlier, will serve to combat fires caused by attacks.
The government of Saint Petersburg plans to spend 28.2 million rubles [$318,600] on installing 10 UAV monitoring stations. Between 2019 and 2023, 48 ground-based airspace monitoring stations were already deployed. These systems are capable of tracking UAVs, drones and quadcopters but do not have the capability to counteract them.
According to a Rosstat [Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service] report on the socio-economic situation, Russia’s population has decreased by 178,000 since the start of 2024. This represents a 1.5 times higher decrease compared to the decline of 98,400 people (or 0.07%) during the same period last year. Additionally, from January to April 2024, there were 10,000 fewer births and 9,600 fewer marriages registered compared to the same period last year.
Longreads
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more social science researchers have left Russia than in the previous 15 years combined. After Feb. 24, 2022, approximately 11.5% of scientists have emigrated.
The Vyorstka media outlet studied research by the Public Sociology Laboratory (PS Lab), which revealed that many Russians are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with the war, though they still hesitate to acknowledge its folly. In a late June survey by the Levada Center [a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization], 58% of respondents supported peace negotiations, while those advocating for the continuation of the war were predominantly from Moscow.
Additionally, a study conducted by the Levada Center and the Future Laboratory of Novaya Gazeta found that most Russians expect demobilized participants of the "special military operation" to return to their jobs and believe the state will assist them if problems arise. Only 6% foresee former military personnel joining the "new elite."
The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel reports that over 1,000 Russian soldiers have deserted from the Ukrainian frontline since the war began. The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet details how these deserters are living abroad, with many in Georgia or Armenia. Some have managed to enter the EU, while others are unable to leave Russia at all.
In 2023, a record number of Russians in the past decade were diagnosed with mental disorders, according to Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet]. The combination of the pandemic, post-COVID syndrome and the impact of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine has severely affected mental health. Thousands of Russians returning from the war suffer from psychological issues and PTSD.