Mobilization in Russia for June 22-24, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] passed a bill in its third reading that significantly increases fines for failing to report a change of residence without registration for more than three months. Under current law, men must inform military authorities of such a change within two weeks through the Gosuslugi public services portal, by letter, or in person at a draft office. Failing to do so can result in a fine from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles [$13 to $65]. The new bill would bring this penalty in line with fines issued to conscripts who fail to report a trip abroad during a conscription campaign, which range from 10,000 to 20,000 rubles [$130 to $250].
Additionally, members of the State Duma approved a bill in its third reading to allow stateless individuals to enlist in the Russian Armed Forces. They would be limited to enlisted and non-commissioned officer ranks and would qualify for a simplified citizenship process upon completing their service. While current law already allows both Russian and foreign citizens to sign military contracts, Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, stated the proposed legislation was written for residents of the annexed territories of Ukraine who, for objective reasons, have not yet received Russian citizenship but have been stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship, adding that the initiative could attract up to 5,000 new recruits to the army.
Army Recruitment
A state-owned electric utility company in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] announced four tenders for the "search and selection of candidates to be brought in for contract signing," with a total value of 18.1 million rubles [$230,800]. The procurement documents specify the exact "reward amounts" per recruit ranging from 130,000 rubles [$1,660] to 190,000 rubles [$2,420]. The allocated funds would be enough to bring 110 men to the draft office. The electric utility announced the recruiting tenders immediately after the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region raised its sign-up bonus to 3.2 million rubles [$40,800].
BILD in Russian has published photos from the archive of the contract military service recruitment facility in the city of Saransk, showing attempts to recruit individuals struggling with alcoholism and homelessness for the war. The photos were taken between June 10 and 14 of this year. In the images, recruiters are seen offering alcohol and cigarettes to people suffering from addiction in an effort to persuade them to sign a contract.
In Moscow, 28-year-old Kirill N. was detained near one of the metro stations, sent to a military medical board, and assigned a duty station despite having health conditions that disqualify him from service: second-degree hypertension and an anxiety-depressive disorder. In 2024, Kirill was given the B-4 service fitness category (fit for service with minor limitations), a designation he is currently trying to contest. Police officers referred to a draft decision issued in 2024, although it was only valid during the previous regular biannual conscription campaign. After his detention, Kirill filed a lawsuit. The court accepted the case, but according to his relatives, he is still being held at the recruitment center.
In Moscow, a young doctor with a stomach ulcer was detained in the metro and taken to the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street. There, his passport and medical documents were confiscated, a perfunctory medical examination was conducted that ignored his confirmed diagnoses, and he was issued a uniform. According to his father, the young man was also assaulted. He is now already stationed at a military unit.
On June 23, law enforcement officers raided the city of Tyumen, searching for draft dodgers and those who violated migration laws. As a result of the roundup, five men who failed to complete military registration were brought to a draft office.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
On June 19, in the Bryansk region, a 25-year-old conscript from the 423rd Motorized Rifle Regiment was hospitalized with an open gunshot fracture of the leg. The incident occurred in the village of Sluchovsk, which is located just a kilometer from the border with Ukraine. Over the course of ten days, four conscripts were killed and eight more were injured in the Bryansk region.
A participant in the war from Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been declared AWOL after sustaining a severe leg injury and seeking treatment in a Yakutsk hospital. On June 13, he was detained near his home and taken to a temporary detention facility for military personnel. There, on June 19, he declared a hunger strike, demanding a military medical examination and an investigation into the legality of his detention.
A mobilized soldier from Irkutsk has been unable to undergo surgery for three months because his military unit will not release him. Viktor Kazakov, a 56-year-old long-haul truck driver from Irkutsk, suffered a concussion several months after being mobilized and sustained a serious injury in February 2024. Doctors fitted him with an Ilizarov apparatus, and after two surgeries, he was sent to a military unit in Donetsk to obtain permission for a third procedure. He traveled there in March to collect the necessary documents but ended up stuck in barracks in the city of Makiivka along with dozens of other wounded soldiers. Since August of last year, he has not received his salary, and compensation for his injuries was only partially paid. After his sister filed a complaint with Igor Kobzev, the Governor of the Irkutsk region, she received a call from the Military Prosecutor’s Office in Donetsk, where officials promised to "look into it." Later that same day, her brother was summoned "for a conversation" and threatened with being sent to forward positions.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Azat Fayzullin, a 25-year-old serviceman from the 1st Missile Brigade based in the Krasnodar region, is under investigation for allegedly raping a schoolgirl in the village of Sheverli, Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic]. The incident occurred on the night of April 11–12, 2025. According to the ASTRA Telegram channel, Fayzullin had previously faced criminal charges. He is currently in custody.
Maksim Govorukhin, a serviceman of the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade from Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic] with multiple prior convictions,assaulted two women near a bar in the village of Bichura. A criminal case has been initiated on charges of robbery with violence in connection with the attack. However, Govorukhin has not been detained and is currently in a combat zone.
Aleksandr A., a resident of Moscow who returned from the war, assaulted his 25-year-old adopted daughter Yulia. The victim was diagnosed with a concussion and hematomas. It is known that in the fall of 2024, a criminal case for assaulting Yulia’s mother was supposed to be initiated against Aleksandr, but he avoided prosecution by going to the war.
Aleksey Zharov, head of the military police, was killed while attempting to detain looters in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region. The regional governor proposed awarding Zharov posthumously and reported that the looters had been detained.
On June 24, the Ivanovo Garrison Military Courtsentenced war veteran Dmitry Morozov to four years in a penal colony for illegal arms trafficking and hooliganism. In April 2024, Morozov filmed his assault on a teenager with an anti-war stance.
The Yekaterinburg Military Court sentenced 33-year-old war veteranNikita Sidorov from Chelyabinsk to 12 years in a maximum security penal colony for the murder of his ex-wife. The man strangled 41-year-old Natalya Dorma in the early hours of Feb. 25, 2024.
According to Interior Ministry statistics, since the beginning of 2025, 278,000 aggravated crimes have been registered in Russia. Their number increased by 11.5% over the year, and by 21.6% since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Current figures are the highest in the last 15 years. Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer from the Pervy Otdel [Department One] human rights project, notes that the increase in serious crime is linked both to the return of military personnel, including ex-convicts, from the frontline, and to repression within the country.
In Nizhnekamsk, Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, authorities detained a local resident on suspicion of preparing an act of terror at a petrochemical complex. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the detainee was following a plan devised by Ukrainian intelligence services and was supposed to plant an explosive device on the company's premises before fleeing the country. A criminal case has been opened for preparing an act of terror.
The military court in Khabarovsk sentenced 40-year-old local resident Yevgeny Zhukov to four and a half years in a penal colony under charges of preparing an act of terror committed in a group. A former colleague of Zhukov told Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] that the man was detained back in March of last year. The colleague said he was unaware of the details of the charges.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced 51-year-old Vladimir Bodnar, a native of the city of Zaporizhzhia, to 13 years in prison for preparing an act of terror and illegal trafficking of explosives. Investigators believe that in spring 2023, Bodnar, together with his accomplices Oksana Shevchenko and Vladimir Ananiev, transported explosive devices to Crimea to set up a cache in a garage in May 2023. Bodnar allegedly planned to attempt an assassination of Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea. In May, Oksana Shevchenko was sentenced to ten years in a penal colony.
A court in Kursk sentenced a resident of the Glushkovsky district, Kursk region, Aleksandr Abramov, to 24 years in prison on charges of treason and possession of explosives. According to law enforcement officers, Abramov was passing information to Ukraine about the movements and locations of Russian troops in the Glushkovsky district. When he was arrested, he tried to detonate a grenade that he kept at home. The man's case was heard behind closed doors.
35-year-old Donetsk resident and Ukrainian citizen Yulian Belokon was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony on charges of espionage. According to the prosecution, in October 2023, he passed information to Ukrainian intelligence containing the location of Russian troops in the Donetsk region. Belokon was arrested in 2024.
Assistance
The pro-government All-Russia People's Front movement reported that residents of the Irkutsk region donated 295 million rubles [$3.76 million] for Russian military needs. This money was used to make 23 trips to the occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, delivering 550 tons of medicine, tools and other items, and purchasing 544 vehicles for military needs.
[Alena]Head of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov, said the region has allocated 9.7 billion rubles [$124 million] from its budget since the start of the "special military operation" to support soldiers engaged in combat in Ukraine. In addition to state funds, residents have contributed another 316 million rubles [around $4 million] in public donations, according to Tsydenov. More than 40 humanitarian aid collection points are operating across the region, he said, and officials claim that some 16,000 people are involved in volunteer efforts.
Longreads
BBC News Russian has published a report detailing how young men, just out of high school, are signing military contracts and being sent to fight in the war.
The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet has reported on the case of Colonel Aleksandr Cherpasov of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. Cherpasov investigated torture and corruption in penal colonies in the Irkutsk region. As a result of his investigations, Cherpasov was charged with bribery and sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony. While serving his sentence, Cherpasov signed a contract to join the military. He has since gone missing in the war.