Mobilization in Russia for June 20-21, 2023 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Russian Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] approved bills allowing citizens with a criminal record to sign contracts with the Russian Army and allowing for the release from liability of mobilized and contract soldiers convicted of crimes of minor and moderate severity. You can learn more about the amendments in yesterday's summary.
Senator Andrey Klishas said that the adopted bill would not affect mercenaries of the Wagner Group since it only affects persons who have signed contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. Klishas also noted that the bill allows the authorities to make contracts with people convicted of serious crimes. For this purpose, a candidate selection procedure will be established which "will prevent those who should not be in the special military operation zone from being there."
The Russian Defense Ministry has proposed granting servicemen military mortgages immediately after signing their first contract. Now, warrant officers and midshipmen may apply for a mortgage three years after the beginning of military service, and soldiers, petty officers and sergeants can do so from the day of signing a contract renewal. The corresponding draft law is already under consideration.
Member of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] Yaroslav Nilov announces the introduction of an updated bill "On Commissioners for the Protection of the Rights of Disabled Persons and Veterans." According to the member, the adoption of the bill will contribute to the increased effectiveness of state measures for the protection of the rights of disabled persons and veterans.
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation refused to repeal the article on discrediting the army. According to the judges' opinion, the article on discrediting the Russian Army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code) does not contradict the Constitution and does not violate citizens' rights. The court considered 13 out of 23 submitted complaints, and the remaining 10 will be examined later. In court, it was stated that the article is necessary to prohibit criticism of Russian military personnel, as anti-war protests decrease their effectiveness and motivation during wartime.
Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov announced that starting from June 21st, entry and exit passes will be canceled in Schebekino. It will be possible to move freely within the city from 6 am to 9 pm. At night, only the exit from the city will be available without restrictions.
Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced that the department is considering the possibility of renaming the lessons on "Foundations of Life Safety" to "Foundations of Security and Defense of the Motherland." Additionally, according to the minister, the participants in the war with Ukraine are planned to be involved in teaching the subject.
Army Recruitment and Military Service AdvertisingÂ
The Tayga news outlet reports that in the Novosibirsk region, employees of municipal institutions have been involved in working at contract military service recruitment facilities. According to the employees themselves, they are required to meet the imposed quota for collecting residents' contact information. For one of these points, it is three people per day. Due to a low number of volunteers, employees are advised to enter the contacts of their relatives. Meanwhile, in Mayakovskiy Park in Yekaterinburg, on Youth Day, people will be recruited for military service in a tent specifically set up for this purpose.
Mobilized Soldiers and Volunteer Fighters
The following people have been added to the list of Russian mobilized soldiers who were killed in the war: Andrey Grigoriev from the Krasnoyarsk region, Igor Khmelev from the Orenburg region, Aleksandr Alyokhin from the Sverdlovsk region, Konstantin Gofman and Dmitry Brodnikov from the Novosibirsk region, Zulfar Mustafin from Bashkiria [Russia’s constituent republic], Sergey Rudenko from the Astrakhan region, Ravil Khismatov from the Irkutsk region, Vladimir Polevoy from the Leningrad region, Denis Makeev, Roman Fokin and Aleksey Moroz from the Tver region.
Svetlana Chvanova, a volunteer from Vladimir, who is raising money to help Russian soldiers, said that conscripts are routinely sent to the border with Ukraine. They are housed in an open field and are not supplied with medicines or construction materials necessary to build their own shelters.
The wife of the deceased volunteer Aleksey Tomskikh, 39, from the village of Gusinoye Ozero in Buryatia [Russia’s constituent republic] spoke to the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet. Aleksey wanted to go to the frontline since the beginning of the war in Ukraine but was rejected because he was raising seven children. After two of his brothers had been mobilized, he finally managed to be sent to war. On Jun. 6, the man was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region. His wife says that she doesn't blame him and is even proud of him.
The Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet has published an interview with a relative of Alfred Galimov, a volunteer fighter of Tatarstan's Alga battalion. Last summer, the man went to war, and this May he hanged himself on the last day of his leave. According to his family, he was complaining about not wanting to go back to the frontline.
Governor of the Zabaykalsky region Aleksandr Osipov has stated that the region would keep paying one million rubles [$11,955] per hit tank to local servicemen. As recently as May, however, local public officials claimed that the Governor’s order on the payments for destroyed vehicles had not come into effect as it was still pending the approval by the Ministry of Defense.
The Agentstvo.Novosti [Agency news] Telegram channel has noted inconsistencies between the official version of how a Leopard tank was hit by serviceman Andrey Kravtsov and the known facts. Thus, the first video with the hit tank went online on Jun. 8 and, already on Jun. 12, Putin rewarded Kravtsov who was in hospital. Therefore, it should have taken just a few days to deliver the man from a trench to the hospital, amputate his arm and deliver to the Moscow region. As advised by a surgeon, it takes about two days to recover after such surgery.
The Mozhem Obyasnit [We can explain] Telegram channel has published the story told by the mother of a mobilized soldier about commanders soliciting 100,000-ruble [$1195] bribes from servicemen for getting a vacation or being transferred to a rear unit. The journalists also managed to speak to a volunteer fighter of one of the Ossetian battalions. He reported high losses in the Russian units located near the village of Piatykhatky, recently liberated by the AFU. The serviceman also complained about the commanders and said he wanted to go back home.
The Astra Telegram channel reports on yet another basement that has resumed its operation as an illegal detention facility for Russian soldiers who refused to fight. It's located on the territory of a former penal colony in Perevalsk town in the Russian-occupied part of the Luhansk region and was first told about by the servicemen who were released from there in May, 2023. At the moment, there may be about 20 people held in the basement. In addition to Perevalsk, Russian soldiers are being held in similar basements in Zaitseve and Rozsypne villages, Luhansk region.
The administration of the Kinel-Cherkassky district, Samara region, has signed a contract with a local entrepreneur for burying killed soldiers valued at 400,000 rubles [$4800]. According to the contract, the administration doesn't know the exact number of killed soldiers and plans to bury them "within the specified limit," as the bodies arrive.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings, and Incidents
The Court found a battalion commander Aleksandr Kudashev, who had beaten and stabbed a subordinate, guilty of abuse of power with violence and sentenced him to three years of suspended imprisonment (the article implies imprisonment for up to 10 years). The Court considered the combatant's remorse, his status of a war veteran and his awards, as well as his desire to go to the war with Ukraine as "exceptional circumstances."
Pavel Medvedev, a mobilized man from the Krasnodar region, was sentenced by the Court in Maykop to five years and three months in a general regime penal colony for going AWOL. After finding out about the command's plans to send him to the war in Ukraine, on Jan. 23, 2023, Medvedev did not come to his unit. The soldier explained his actions by the fear of being killed in combat.
A court in Barnaul has sentenced a mobilized individual to 5 years of imprisonment under the charge of unauthorized absence during a period of mobilization. According to reports, in December 2022, the mobilized individual went AWOL to take a break and spend time with his family. Two months later, he was located and taken to the military commandant's office.
A mobilized individual from the Tyumen region has been sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony for going AWOL. The man had come from war on leave to visit his family, but upon its conclusion, he refused to return to his unit.
Warrant officer Aleksandr Gamayunov has been given a suspended sentence of 5.5 years for going AWOL. On Nov. 6, 2022, Gamayunov fled from his military unit in Omsk and traveled to Kemerovo, where he was discovered by military police on Feb. 2.
A stop of train traffic occurred near Feodosiya in the annexed Crimea. The Russian authorities of Crimea announced damage to the railway, and Ukrainian telegram channels published a video of its disruption. Later, Oleg Kryuchkov, advisor to the head of Russian-occupied Crimea, announced the restoration of train traffic.
The Central Military District Court in Yekaterinburg sentenced Mikhail Sokolov from Perm to 11 years in prison for setting fire to a military commissariat [enlistment office]. Sokolov was charged with a terrorist attack, participation in a terrorist community, and treason. He will spend the first three years in prison and the rest in a penal colony.
In Khabarovsk, the Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a local citizen on suspicion of treason. According to the department, the man transferred cryptocurrency for ammunition for the AFU to the bank account of a "foreign charitable foundation."
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over the death of activist Anatoly Berezikov in the Rostov-on-Don detention center on Jun. 14. The case was filed under the article against driving a person to suicide. Berezikov repeatedly told his lawyer that he would not commit suicide and that he was constantly tortured. On Jun. 15, he was supposed to leave the detention center.
Assistance
Arkhangelsk kindergarten No. 1 "Zolotoy Klyuchik" [Golden Key] is calling for donations to support natives of the region who are involved in the war with Ukraine. The fundraising is being conducted in collaboration with the Governor's Center "Together We Are Stronger," which has been actively promoting itself on donations for servicemen.
At Moscow State University, an informal organization called the Student Patriotic Union has emerged. Its members receive support from the administration of the Law Faculty. They collect money and deliver it to the combat zone to support ultranationalists fighting against Ukraine.
Children
In Mineralnye Vody, primary school students were involved in the competition called "Our Army is the strongest, our Army is the most courageous." The children were given certificates after the competition saying it was held "in support of the special military operation."
Residents of the National Medical Research Center named after V.A. Almazov will start attending military courses from September 2023, including practice in shooting and handling weapons.
Students of Tomsk State University are made to attend a meeting with the "orthodox oligarch" Konstantin Malofeev, the head of theTsargrad pro-Kremlin TV channel and an active supporter of the war. The theme of the meeting is "Empire is the image of the future." Students can refuse to meet only by indicating the reason for the absence.
Miscellaneous
The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet prepared a report on what makes the inhabitants of Chukotka autonomous region go to war with Ukraine. There are three main reasons: propaganda, mobilization and the desire to earn money.