Mobilization in Russia for June 17-19, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Akhmed Omargadzhiev, the military commissar of Russia's constituent Republic of Dagestan, has asserted that conscription in the region is proceeding "as normal and in accordance with Russian legislation," adding that "reports of roundups, disseminated by foreign agents, do not correspond to reality." Previously, the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel had repeatedly reported large-scale raids targeting men in Makhachkala and other cities within the region.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Valery Serov, the former mayor of Pechora accused of accepting a large bribe, has departed for war against Ukraine. Authorities initiated a criminal case against him and his deputy, Andrey Kanishchev, in 2023. According to investigators, the two received a four million ruble [$51,000] bribe in exchange for awarding public improvement contracts in Pechora. Serov repeatedly attempted to enlist, but was rejected several times. In March, he finally managed to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense and was released from the pre-trial detention center where he was being held. Consequently, authorities suspended the criminal proceedings against him.

The Astra Telegram channel reports that Anatoly V., a 34-year-old resident of Russia’s constituent republic of Komi accused of sexually assaulting his minor daughter, enlisted to fight in the war against Ukraine. The incident occurred in the fall of 2023 when the girl was eight years old. Authorities detained and charged the man almost two years later. He subsequently pleaded guilty and accepted an offer to enlist despite a law barring individuals who have committed sexual offenses against minors from concluding contracts with the Ministry of Defense.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

The Russian MoD has announced a new prisoner of war exchange with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange had taken place, though neither side disclosed the number of soldiers involved. This time, there was also no mention of the exchange being reciprocal. The previous POW exchange occurred on June 12.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

A 34-year-old soldier from Russia’s constituent republic of Karelia, Yanis Boyev, fled his position near the village of Dunayka in Russia’s Belgorod region, fatally shooting a conscripted serviceman who was with him. The name of the killed soldier has not been disclosed. Prior to signing a contract with the MoD, Boyev had no official employment history and had multiple prior convictions for theft and unlawful use of a vehicle without intent to steal.

A new criminal case has been opened against 34-year-old serviceman Mikhail Valkovich from Russia’s Volgograd region, who had previously wounded two men in the town of Petrov Val. According to the Astra media outlet, in March 2025 Valkovich sold a sawn-off hunting rifle to an acquaintance, which led to charges of illegal weapons trafficking. On July 8, he left his military unit with a firearm and opened fire with an assault rifle at two men he believed to be friends of his ex-wife’s lover. Valkovich was detained on June 11 and is already facing charges of attempted murder.

A 20-year-old serviceman from the 41st Motorized Rifle Regiment, Dmitry from Khakassia [Russia’s constituent republic], was found in possession of over 300 grams of synthetic drugs. According to Astra, he pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute drugs on an especially large scale. The case is currently being investigated under this charge, and the soldier has been handed over to the military investigative department.

The Magnitogorsk Garrison Military Court sentenced a junior sergeant to six years in a penal colony for going AWOL. According to investigators, on Oct. 17, 2024, the soldier left a training ground in the Chelyabinsk region without authorization from his command. He was detained only on March 21, 2025.

The Investigative Committee has closed the case against a man accused of going AWOL after being mobilized in 2022 into the "People’s Militia of the DPR." Following medical treatment that same year, he did not return to his unit and remained at home. On Jan. 1, 2023, he was officially listed, along with other “DPR” and “LPR” fighters, as a contract serviceman in the Russian Armed Forces. He was later detained in Moscow. The Investigative Committee ultimately ruled that since the man had “ceased to be subject to military regulations during the period when the Donetsk People’s Republic functioned as an independent state,” he could not have continued military service in the RuAF and therefore could not be held criminally liable for offenses against military service.

A Russian court has sentenced a 36-year-old resident of occupied Sevastopol to 17 years in a penal colony for allegedly attempting to destroy a Russian Kamov Ka-27 military helicopter. According to investigators, the man, whose name has not been disclosed, was recruited by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian MoD in April 2022. In the spring of 2023, he was detained after allegedly retrieving explosives and explosive devices from a hidden cache.

A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Dmytro Tsypliakov, a Ukrainian citizen, to 20 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of participating in a terrorist organization, undergoing relevant training, preparing an act of terror and illegally acquiring explosives. According to the court, in 2024, Tsypliakov made contact with Ukrainian intelligence services and began carrying out tasks assigned by his handlers in the Russian-occupied town of Vasylivka in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. He was detained while allegedly preparing an act of terror.

In Moscow, a married couple, Dmitry and Tatyana Turiev, along with children's fitness trainer Maksim Kosyachenko, are on trial, charged with carrying out five terrorist attacks, some of which caused significant damage. Prosecutors allege that Ukrainian intelligence services recruited all three in 2022, tasking them with purchasing Russian SIM cards and shipping them to Ukraine. In February 2023, they allegedly bought at least ten SIM cards and sent them to Belarus, receiving at least 100,000 rubles [$1,270] in payment. Law enforcement officers claim these SIM cards were used in drones and intended for video monitoring of explosive devices. The case involves five terrorist attacks in 2023 that investigators believe the Turievs and Kosyachenko were involved in: the attack on a freight train from Gomel, Belarus in May; the attack on a cargo train in the Bryansk suburbs, also in May; a third act of terror carried out "in a similar manner" in the Belgorod region on June 10; the mining of a dirt road in the Belgorod region; and attacks on the Shaykovka military airfield from Aug. 16-25. Dmitry Turiev has partially pleaded guilty (to sending the SIM cards), while his wife Tatyana and Maksim Kosyachenko have not pleaded guilty overall. The case is being heard behind closed doors.

The 2nd Western District Military Court has sentenced actor Viktor Mosienko to 17 years in prison for treason, attempted sabotage, participation in a terrorist organization and possession of explosive devices. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the 63-year-old Mosienko "made contact with the leader" of the Freedom of Russia Legion and joined it, then traveled to Belgorod and retrieved a homemade bomb from a hiding place. Mosienko was detained on Feb. 20, 2024, near the village of Krasnoye in the Belgorodsky district, while wearing an orange railway worker's vest and planting an explosive device under a bridge. He allegedly planned to defect to Ukraine afterward. The former actor has fully pleaded guilty.

In the Ulyanovsk region, the FSB has reported on a case of state treason against Ilya Sinkin, composer and former deputy minister of culture of Tuva, who had previously been arrested on charges of involvement with a terrorist organization. In the new case, Sinkin is suspected of transmitting data about the state border between Russia and Mongolia to Ukraine.

Five Ukrainian soldiers have been sentenced to 14 to 16 years in prison on terrorism charges for crossing into Russia’s Kursk region. They were accused of intimidating residents of Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts, as well as shooting at Russian soldiers. Yevhen Kraivanov, a soldier of the 17th Tank Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, received 14 years. Soldiers Oleksandr Titenko and Vasyl Kataniuk of the 95th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU were sentenced to 16 years each, while fighters Oleksandr Dudnyk and Natalia Balaklitskaia of the 116th Territorial Defense Brigade received 16 and 15 years respectively. This is the first such sentence handed down to a woman, as reported by the Pepel Kursk Telegram channel.

Assistance

The mother of Vladimir Degtyaryov, a resident of Voronezh who was killed during the invasion of Ukraine in April 2024, contacted her local draft office to request financial assistance. In response, she received condolences, a package containing a T-shirt with the slogan Svoikh ne brosayem [We don't abandon our own] and a bundle of flags bearing the symbol "Za nashih" [Z for ours].When she called the draft office again, she was told that the payment would be delayed for another year.

Members from the Yekaterinburg City Duma have drafted a bill that would allow vehicles abandoned by their owners to be sent to the front. Under the proposal, a notice declaring the vehicle abandoned would be affixed to its windshield and published on the district administration’s website. After seven days, the vehicle would be towed. The owner would have 90 days to request its return. If unclaimed, the vehicle would be designated municipal property and could be sent to the war.

Miscellaneous

In Ust-Luga, Leningrad region, local authorities plan to replace a memorial plaque dedicated to submarine captain Izmail Zaydulin, who was killed during the Great Patriotic War, with monuments honoring participants in the war with Ukraine. The monument to the submariner is expected to be moved to another place.

Longreads

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet has published the story of a mobilized soldier who managed to escape from Russia.

The Okno [Window] project reports on murders committed by soldiers returning from the war against Ukraine.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] has published a piece on how Russia is fabricating new criminal cases en masse against already convicted political prisoners.

Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] examines how funds allocated for patriotic education are being spent—the amount has increased thirteenfold since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.