Mobilization in Russia for June 26-29, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

During a roundtable at the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly], lawmakers proposed establishing the position of a commissioner for the protection of military personnel's rights. They reported receiving 27,000 appeals related to service members' rights, which they argue indicates "a need for systemic transformations to more effectively eliminate and prevent violations of the social rights of military personnel." Several previous attempts to introduce a similar institution failed.

Army Recruitment

The Ministry of Culture of the Zabaykalsky region has mandated that employees of museums, theaters and libraries must look for volunteers to participate in the war. According to a plan approved by Culture Minister Alena Yachmeneva, these cultural workers are required to search for volunteers, persuade them to sign contracts and provide daily progress reports—all without additional pay and regardless of their personal willingness to participate. Employees have stated that they face threats of sanctions if they refuse to comply with these demands. A source within the regional government indicated that all government ministries in the region received similar orders. Both the Ministry of Culture and the regional government have declined to comment on the situation.

Andrey Kozlov, head of the Kazan recruitment center, announced that more than 8,000 individuals have enlisted for contract military service in Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan since the beginning of 2025. He stated that over half of those came from other Russian regions to sign the contract. Authorities in Tatarstan offer a sign-up bonus of 2.1 million rubles [$26,700], with an additional 400,000 rubles [$5,090] provided from the federal budget. The region remains one of the leaders in the number of fatalities: according to the Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet, at least 5,354 natives of the republic have died since the start of the invasion.

A young man who is contesting his conscription in court and has the right to a draft deferral was forcibly detained in Moscow and taken to a police station, from where he was transported to the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street. According to him, the police used force during the arrest, assaulted and handcuffed him, confiscated his documents and phone, threatened to plant drugs on him and verbally abused him. During the medical evaluation board, he was classified as "fit with limitations," but he was not granted a deferral for academic leave and filed a lawsuit. The case is currently under review in court. After being held at the collection point for 24 hours, he was released with a new draft notice.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, BBC News Russian, in collaboration with Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and a team of volunteers, has verified the names of 115,857 Russian soldiers killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the two weeks since the previous update, the list has grown by 2,421 names. According to journalists, between April 2023 and May 2025, 240 18-year-old soldiers were killed in the war. All of them were officially registered as contract soldiers, and 21 had signed their contracts while already serving as conscripts.

Nineteen-year-old conscript soldier Ivan Nizhegorodov from the town of Aleksandrovsk in the Perm region was killed on June 6, 2025, while patrolling the border area in the Kursk region. He had been drafted into the army in the fall of 2024. He was posthumously nominated for the Order of Courage.

Russian soldier Ivan Grebennikov from the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject], who returned from Ukrainian captivity, complained that he was immediately confined to a military base after the prisoner exchange and, despite having a fracture and a concussion, is being forcibly sent back to the war. Grebennikov said he signed a contract in April 2024 and was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that summer. After the exchange, Grebennikov was sent to Moscow. According to him, no medical assistance was provided for his fractured humerus, and he was then transferred to a military unit in the town of Aleysk, Altai region. According to the Astra Telegram channel, Grebennikov had previously been convicted multiple times, including for murder, theft and bodily harm.

The Kavkaz.Realii [Caucasus.Realities, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet also reports on Russian soldier Kirill Putintsev, who, after being released in a mass prisoner exchange in May 2025, is now being sent back to the frontline. The 23-year-old Putintsev had signed a military contract in May 2024 while serving time in a penal colony and went off the radar by June 24. In May 2025, he was exchanged but was not allowed to return home. Instead, he was taken to the settlement of Mosrentgen, where officers from the FSB [Federal Security Service] interrogated him several times before sending him back to the frontline, despite six shrapnel wounds and multiple amputated fingers. According to his fellow soldiers, Putintsev was forced to attempt suicide just to be admitted to a hospital. Families of soldiers still in captivity told reporters they now fear prisoner exchanges, saying it is currently safer for Russian soldiers to remain in captivity than to return home.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the village of Maysky, Belgorod region, a 54-year-old soldier struck and killed a 16-year-old schoolgirl with his car. Her 17-year-old friend was injured and hospitalized. The girls were crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk with the green light. Preliminary reports indicate the driver was intoxicated and ran a red light at the time of the crash.

The Krasnoyarsk Garrison Military Court sentenced soldier Nikolay Blazhevenko to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of going AWOL, carjacking with violence and attempted murder. According to court records, Blazhevenko deserted his unit in April 2024. He was detained in June but went AWOL again and settled in the town of Kansk. In August, while intoxicated, he attacked a female taxi driver, stabbing her at least six times. The victim managed to flee the car, but Blazhevenko caught up with her and strangled her until she lost consciousness. Believing she was dead, he stole her car, which ultimately led to his arrest. According to the Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet, Blazhevenko had previously been convicted of murder. It is unclear what sentence he originally received, but he had been serving time at Penal Colony No. 7 for repeat offenders. As of 2021, he was still incarcerated and was likely recruited from prison to fight in the war against Ukraine.

Astra has reported that on June 24, Oleg Yautris from the Pskov region and a serviceman from the 82nd Motorized Rifle Regiment, escaped from the custody of the military police by exiting a train at the Yelets station in the Lipetsk region. The next day, in the town of Yelets, he fatally stabbed a 49-year-old man. A criminal case for murder has been initiated. There have been no reports of the soldier being detained. He has a criminal history, including convictions for theft, robbery, and armed assault.

A soldier who had escaped from his military unit was killed in a shootout with police in Kaliningrad. The 31-year-old Igor F. left his unit in February and was then declared wanted. On the morning of June 6, three law enforcement officers attempted to detain him, who was also suspected of an armed robbery in downtown Kaliningrad. The soldier resisted arrest and began shooting at the police with a non-lethal pistol. As a result, Igor sustained three gunshot wounds in return fire and died in an ambulance. He also had a criminal record, including convictions for armed robbery.

In the Voronezh region, Andrey Arnautov, a transport police officer, was detained on suspicion of setting fire to an electrical substation. A criminal case on sabotage has been initiated against him. The fire at the substation in the village of Mazurka occurred on June 27. Due to the fire, some equipment was partially damaged, and several nearby settlements were temporarily left without electricity. Arnautov had previously attempted to damage substations in the villages of Baychurovo, Rozhdestvenskoye and Tantsyrey, but those attempts failed. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the officer would be dismissed on negative grounds. According to investigators, the police officer acted on instructions from scammers to whom he had previously transferred 800,000 rubles [$10,200].

A 39-year-old resident of Magadan and native of the Kherson region, Dmitry Balog, has been charged with state treason, an act of terror, sabotage, aiding terrorist and sabotage activities and undergoing sabotage training. According to investigators, since 2023 he had been cooperating with the Freedom of Russia Legion and transmitting information about military facilities. He is also accused of setting fire to relay cabinets, telecommunications equipment, Ministry of Internal Affairs buses and a car with the "Z" symbol in Domodedovo, Moscow region. In October 2023, he allegedly planned to set fire to a military base but did not proceed for fear of being caught. Since February 2024, he has been held in a pre-trial detention center. The full story of Balog was reported by Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet].

In occupied Melitopol, a local hospital employee has been detained and accused of passing patients’ personal data to the Ukrainian side. According to the FSB, he collected information about people undergoing treatment with the intention of sharing it with Ukraine. A criminal case for treason has been initiated against him.

A military court has sentenced Gennadiy Artemenko, an ethnic Ukrainian from Dzerzhinsk, to 18 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason, possession of explosives and calls for terrorism. According to investigators, the 57-year-old retired lieutenant colonel corresponded with the Ukrainian partisan movement ATESH in 2023. Allegedly, acting on their instructions, he photographed an FSB building in Dzerzhinsk and glued the movement's leaflets bearing the slogan "Let's stop the war together." He was detained in October 2023. Artemenko’s lawyer claims that it is impossible to identify anyone from the CCTV footage or even confirm if any leaflets were actually glued. During the investigation, Artemenko stated that the explosives did not belong to him and suggested they could have been planted. He denies any connection to ATESH and claims that his earlier confessions were obtained through duress, including beatings and threats by the FSB after his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.

In Crimea, law enforcement officers arrested a resident of the Simferopol district, born in 1981, for allegedly working with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). According to Russian intelligence agencies, the man gathered information about transportation infrastructure on the peninsula and the deployment sites of military units. Authorities also claimed he attempted to recover one kilogram of explosives from a hidden cache.

In Sakha (Yakutia), Russia's constituent republic, Ayyllaan Vinokurov, head of the regional volunteer headquarters "We’re Together," the movement "Yakutia Is with You!" and the youth organization "Patriot," was arrested on charges of large-scale fraud. Investigators allege that Vinokurov embezzled government grant funds and misused donations collected to aid participants in the war. He is under investigation in two criminal cases involving the alleged theft of approximately 4.9 million rubles [$62,400].

Assistance

Officials in the Magadan region have stepped up mental health monitoring of veterans of the "special military operation" after a gruesome incident earlier this year. In February, Aleksey Klushin, a 35-year-old veteran, murdered his mother shortly after returning home from the front. Authorities say more than 150 military personnel in the region are currently undergoing various forms of rehabilitation, including psychological treatment.

In the Kurgan region, authorities have promised employers compensation of up to 200,000 rubles [$2,550] for creating one job for individuals with disabilities in the first and second groups, as well as for combat veterans with any disability group. Employers can use these funds to purchase equipment, technical tools and specialized furniture for disabled workers.

Children

In summer 2025, four major national military-patriotic organizations arranged summer camps for school students: Young Army [pro-Kremlin youth organization], the Warrior military training center, the Country of Heroes network of military-historical camps and the Avangard center.

Miscellaneous

Starting Aug. 1, authorities in the Belgorod region will cease rental compensation payments to residents of "safe" border areas and resume billing for utility charges. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, explained this decision by a reduction in incidents and improved conditions in specific areas. He did not disclose the list of territories affected "to prevent adversaries from using this information."

Longreads

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] published an interview with two Russian deserters.

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reports on how school students are becoming informants and how teachers are being dismissed for anti-war statements.