Mobilization in Russia for June 23-24, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin signed a decree, according to which the Federal Security Service (FSB) will now participate in the selection of citizens subject to regular conscription. In December 2023, a law was passed to allow conscripts to perform their compulsory military service in the ranks of the FSB.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reports that Orlan Saryg-Dongak, a former head of the criminal investigation department of the city of Kyzyl, Russia's constituent republic of Tuva, who had been convicted of murder, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and left to fight in Ukraine. Alim Kenden, his subordinate at the time and the other person convicted in the murder case, has also left for the war. In 2008, according to investigators, Saryg-Dongak dosed a detainee with gasoline and set him on fire, while Kenden hit him on the head with a hammer. The two men were only detained in 2020 and, in October 2023 they were sentenced to 18 and 14 years in a penal colony, respectively.

The Sibirsky Express media outlet writes that Maksim Kudinov, a resident of the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject], who had been convicted of killing a policeman, has also left for the war. In 2019, a court sentenced Kudinov to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony after his vehicle ran over Sergey Arlyapov, an officer of the State Inspectorate for Road Traffic Safety, who had been signaling Kudinov to stop. Such was the force of the impact that the policeman was thrown into the car. Upon realizing the officer was dead, Kudinov, who had been driving without a license and under the influence of drugs, ran away from the scene. Prior to that, Kudinov had also been convicted of theft. At the time of this writing, he may be in a hospital recovering from a wound.

A new mobile recruiting center for military contract service has appeared in Tyumen. Similar centers have been appearing in the city since the end of May and change their location periodically. According to the head of the recruitment facility, on average up to 10 people apply there every day, but only about 2 or 3 people a week complete all the procedures.

The NeNorma [Not a Norm] project has discovered that school teachers and principals have been advertising contract-based military service. Activists found more than a hundred posts on the Internet in which, on behalf of school principals and teachers, local administrations and newspapers talk about the benefits of contract service and encourage men to go to the war. In these posts, they mention sign-up bonuses and social support and also provide phone numbers and addresses of recruitment facilities where one must apply to sign a contract.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Bulat Sultaev from Russia's constituent Republic of Tatarstan, as well as Aleksey Makin, Sevostyan Sitnikov and Sergey Samosushev from the Kirov region.

The pro-Russian Telegram channel Trinadtsatyy [the 13th] of "DPR" serviceman Egor Guzenko has published a video from a basement in the "DPR" where "disgraced" soldiers are illegally detained, including those with amputated arms and legs. The video shows a basement where wooden pallets surrounded by bars are used instead of beds. The video’s author states that the conditions in the basement are worse than in captivity. Guzenko claims that this is not all the material he has on the "DPR" basements. He also stated that he had passed the information to the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

The Tomsk Garrison Military Court hasarrested 49-year-old Andrey Bykov on suspicion of murdering a 12-year-old girl in the town of Topki. He is charged with the murder of a child, attempted rape and going AWOL during mobilization. According to the case documents, Bykov was supposed to return to military service in April 2024 but failed to report to his unit. On June 18, he took the girl to a deserted place under threat of death and attempted to rape her. When she resisted, Bykov stabbed her twice in the chest with a shank and then strangled her. Bykov had been convicted at least 11 times before. He was supposed to serve his sentence until 2032, but in the fall of 2023, he was recruited for the war from a penal colony, captured at the end of the year and exchanged in January 2024. The Commissioner for the Kemerovo region, in response to a request from the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel, refused to provide details of the exchange, citing the confidentiality of the information.

Aleksandr Lebedev, a 51-year-old resident of the Vladimir region who delivers supplies to Russian soldiers, accidentally detonated a grenade in the utility room of a cafe. According to the Astra Telegram channel, Lebedev and another member of a pro-military volunteer organization suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and are both in intensive care. It remains unknown how Lebedev came into possession of the combat grenade.

The First Western District Military Court has sentenced Aleksandr Novogrenko, a native of Crimea, to 15 years in prison on charges of terrorist attack and attempted trafficking in large quantities of drugs. According to investigators, an unidentified individual offered Novogrenko $1,140 online to set fire to any draft office in Saint Petersburg. Novogrenko agreed, and on Sept. 25, 2023, he went to a draft office in the Nevsky district with the intent to commit arson. However, his plans were thwarted by nearby Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] officers, prompting him to abandon the attempt. Undeterred, Novogrenko returned to the same location on Sept. 27, where he threw a Molotov cocktail at the entrance while filming the act. The attempt failed as the fire extinguished itself without causing any damage. Later, Novogrenko arranged to sell a large quantity of drugs to the same anonymous contact. Despite his efforts, he never received payment for his criminal activities. During the trial, Novogrenko denied having any terrorist motives, claiming that his actions were the result of blackmail.

According to the OVD-Info independent human rights project, over 1,600 administrative cases have been initiated for anti-war posts on the VKontakte social network since the start of the full-scale invasion. Additionally, 962 individuals are facing criminal charges related to anti-war activities. For more details, see OVD-Info's June summary of the ongoing repression.

Miscellaneous

The Kurgan administration plans to spend 231,500 rubles [$2,640] on the purchase of anti-drone technology. At the end of April, the authorities already attempted to acquire a drone jammer, but no one submitted bids for the tender.

Ural Airlines company fell under European Union sanctions, as its airplanes were used for transporting mobilized men in the fall of 2022.

Longreads

Some participants of the "special military operation" seem to change for the better after returning from the frontline. To describe such alleged positive changes, some Russian psychologists use the term "post-traumatic growth," but independent specialists are more skeptical. The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet analyzed why Russian researchers do not want to draw attention to mental disorders among soldiers and what the "positive changes" in combat veterans might lead to.