Mobilization in Russia for June 30-July 2, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment

Authorities in Nizhnevartovsk increased payments for signing a contract and recruiting volunteer fighters for the war. Municipal payouts for new recruits signing up between July 1 and Sept. 30 were raised from 200,000 rubles [$2,570] to 250,000 rubles [$3,210], and recruiters will receive the same amount for each person they recruit.

A 29-year-old man who entered the reserves after completing a university military training program faced restrictions due to a draft notice that military authorities called a "system error." He said he received a summons last year but took sick leave on his reporting date, notifying the draft office by registered mail. Officials later told his representative that they had never issued the document and could not withdraw it. While applying for a passport, however, the man discovered authorities had imposed temporary restrictions on him, including a ban on leaving Russia effective March 3, as well as bans on registering vehicles, real estate or as an individual entrepreneur. By law, authorities can impose a travel ban only on conscripts, not on reservists.

A court in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region of Yugra [Russia's federal subject] suspended the criminal case against 40-year-old Surgut resident Yevgeny Taranov, accused of premeditated murder committed by a group, because he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. The court also suspended the criminal case against the hitman, who had also signed a military contract. According to investigators, in September 2023, Taranov decided to take revenge on 45-year-old entrepreneur Arsen Daudov, who had previously assaulted him during a fight in a cafe. To do so, he enlisted an acquaintance, who fatally shot Daudov in the courtyard of his home in front of Daudov's wife and young daughter in April 2024. A jury found Taranov guilty in March 2026.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

According to the Pepel Belgorod Telegram channel, on June 27, nine ex-convicts recruited for the war against Ukraine fled from their positions in the Belgorod region. The servicemen were supposed to be sent to an assault in the Kharkiv direction. According to preliminary information, the escapees are unarmed. They are being sought in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. The majority of those who fled are residents of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region, who might have been recruited from the same penal colony. Meanwhile, the very next day, on June 28, another four fighters fled from positions near the village of Milove in the Kharkiv region—they are also being sought in the Belgorod region. On June 29, two servicemen who fled from near Milove were detained in Belgorod.

Sergey Bobrovnikov, a 47-year-old mobilized soldier from the town of Snizhne, has been tricked into writing a report for a transfer to an assault unit instead of undergoing a medical evaluation board. The man serves in the 114th Motorized Rifle Brigade. According to his lawyer, Bobrovnikov was promised that he would "be on duty in a combat company for a week" and then be returned to the reserve to undergo a medical commission. However, instead, he is reportedly being sent on an assault mission despite his numerous health issues.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

The Veliky Novgorod Garrison Military Court has sentenced war participant Aleksey Volobuev to nine and a half years in a maximum security penal colony in a murder case. While drinking alcohol, Volobuev killed a drinking companion who lied about his participation in the war against Ukraine.

The Barnaul Garrison Military Court has sentenced former military police officer Andrey Kolesnik to 10 years in a penal colony and stripped him of his rank of sergeant on bribery charges. According to investigators, Kolesnik received money through intermediaries on seven occasions from servicemen who were at a military collection point after deciding to go AWOL, in exchange for exempting them from further military service.

The District Military Court has sentenced Ukrainian service member Yuri Vetrov to 18 years in prison in a case involving participation in the activities of a terrorist organization and incitement to terrorist activities. According to investigators, at the end of 2024, Vetrov underwent military training in the Rivne region, after which he joined the 48th Separate Assault Battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan. The prosecution claims that he participated in combat in the Donetsk region, where he was taken prisoner on Dec. 24, 2024.

The same court has sentenced three Ukrainian POWs on charges of participating in a terrorist community and undergoing terrorist training for serving in the Azov Brigade. The court sentenced 30-year-old Maksym Onduliak and 27-year-old David Cherednik to 18 years each in a maximum security penal colony, and 50-year-old Leonid Gorokhov to 20 years. Gorokhov held the rank of junior sergeant and was captured in May 2022. Cherednik, who served as a senior machine gunner, was captured in the same month, while Onduliak was taken prisoner in September 2022.

In the Moscow region, a 17-year-old teenager has been detained on suspicion of committing an act of terror and sent to a pre-trial detention center. According to investigators, in June 2026, the teenager, acting on instructions from a handler with whom he communicated via a messenger app, set fire to a transformer substation on the railway section between Chelyuskinskaya and Tarasovskaya stations on the Yaroslavl line. He was detained by transport police and the Federal Security Service (FSB).

In the Stavropol region, two residents of the village of Niny, aged 15 and 17, have been arrested for attempting to commit an act of terror. According to investigators, in April 2026, the teenagers, acting on assignment from a "Ukrainian handler" who promised them monetary compensation, manufactured a homemade incendiary device and attempted to set fire to a cellular communication station.

In the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject], an 18-year-old has been sentenced to seven years in a penal colony on charges of terrorism and incitement to terrorism. At the time of committing the crime, the convicted person was a minor. According to investigators, he communicated with an anonymous person via a messaging app who offered him money to carry out tasks. On the evenings of March 4 and 5, 2025, the young man set fire to a transformer substation in the Krasnokamsk city district. In addition, between December 2024 and March 2025, he created a channel on a messaging app and invited three acquaintances to join. In the channel, he allegedly "encouraged" subscribers to commit acts of terror, listed possible actions and specified sums for potential payment.

The First Western District Military Court has sentenced a Vologda region resident to 13 years in prison on charges of high treason and financing terrorism. The man was detained in October 2025. According to law enforcement, he made 126 transfers to unnamed "Ukrainian terrorist organizations" for the purchase of weapons, gear and munitions.

The Khabarovsk Regional Court has sentenced a 20-year-old Khabarovsk resident to 14 years in a penal colony on charges of high treason, three counts of sabotage, two counts of attempted sabotage and money laundering. According to investigators, from May through June 2025 she set fire to equipment at transportation facilities and communications infrastructure. She allegedly acted on instructions from a handler who contacted her via a messaging app and offered her money. She filmed her actions and sent the footage to her handler. She was detained in July 2025 and said her handler had sent her coordinates of locations to set on fire and had also threatened her.

The Pervy Otdel [Department One] human rights project, published the first part of a study on minors in the terrorist and extremist registry maintained by Rosfinmonitoring [the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation]. According to the organization, by June 2026 the registry contained more than 21,600 people, of whom 465 were teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. At least 779 people were added to the list before turning 18, of whom 754 were added after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, the share of minors in the registry has increased eightfold. Between 2024 and 2026, 695 minors were added, nearly 28 times more than in 2019-2021. The sharpest increase was among the youngest: of 63 teenagers added to the list at age 14, 62 were added in the past two years. The study found that 692 minors are listed in the "terrorist" section of the registry, and at least 37 have Ukrainian citizenship. Human rights advocates attribute the increase to the reclassification of cases following the start of the war, the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility under certain terrorism and sabotage statutes to 14, as well as law enforcement entrapment and the recruitment of teenagers for anti-war, terrorist and sabotage activities.

Assistance

The governor of the Vladimir region has introduced new support measures for fighters of the regional BARS-Vladimir unit, which was created to protect the region from UAV attacks. In addition to the previously established payment of 80,000 rubles [$1,030] for the duration of military training, reservists and their families will receive additional benefits: priority enrollment in first grade and transfers to educational institutions closer to their place of residence for their children, as well as free twice-daily meals for schoolchildren. In addition, members of BARS-Vladimir and their family members will be entitled to free psychological assistance.

Children and Militarization

In 2025, veterans of the war against Ukraine held more than 45,000 meetings with schoolchildren and college students—an average of about 250 meetings a day. Educational institutions also created more than 18,000 museums, exhibitions and corners dedicated to the war. In 2025, 780,000 children underwent training at nearly six thousand cadet and Cossack educational organizations. The Movement of the First, a state-led youth movement created in 2022, already counts 11.7 million schoolchildren and college students as members—more than half of all school and college students. In addition, about 46,000 people took part in military-patriotic training camps run by the Avangard Center for Military-Patriotic Education of Youth in 2025. Most of the participants—29,500 people—came from Russia's constituent Republic of Dagestan.

Longreads

The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet published an account by Lyudmila Kruchinskaya, a resident of the village of Kalinkino in the Kemerovo region, who called on women to resist the detention of men to be sent to war. According to her, six of the seven villagers mobilized after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have already been killed.

Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] released a report prepared by the student publication Groza about pressure on students to sign contracts with the MoD, ostensibly for service in the Unmanned Systems Forces.