Mobilization in Russia for March 1-3, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment
In 2025, Russian banks granted 244,000 payment holidays to participants in the war against Ukraine and their family members, according to Central Bank data analyzed by Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet]. The peak came in the third quarter, when 69,000 such benefits were issued. In the fourth quarter, the figure declined to 62,500. Since the program was launched following the announcement of mobilization in September 2022, more than 720,000 payment holidays have been granted, covering loans worth over 342 billion rubles [$4 billion]. Under the law, payment holidays cannot be issued for loans taken out after a serviceman has been deployed to the frontline. As a result, the statistics indirectly reflect the number of new contract soldiers. According to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, 422,704 people signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense in 2025. Meanwhile, economist Janis Kluge estimates—based on regional budget data—that recruitment totaled around 407,000 people that year.
In the Ulyanovsk region, the sign-up bonus for signing a contract with the MoD to serve in the Unmanned Systems Forces has been increased to 1.1 million rubles [$14,200]. At the same time, the standard regional payment for signing a regular military contract remains unchanged at 500,000 rubles [$6,460].
According to calculations by Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet], based on data provided by human rights advocate Timur Tukhvatullin, the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] project, and a list published by the Echo media outlet, a campaign pressuring students into contract military service has been documented in at least 83 universities and 24 secondary educational institutions across 36 Russian regions and annexed Crimea. The campaign stretches from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. In some universities, authorities reportedly set quotas for sending students to the war, though overt pressure still appears to be the exception rather than the norm. More commonly, pressure is directed at students with academic debt, who are told that signing a contract is their only way to avoid expulsion. Many students interviewed by Vazhnyye Istorii said that almost no one at their universities or colleges believes the promised service conditions. Nevertheless, some institutions have already reported that their first students have left to join the war.
At the Kurgan branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, students from four different year levels were forcibly gathered during classes for a meeting with military personnel who urged them to sign contracts for service in the Unmanned Systems Forces. According to students, the event was attended by the branch director and two servicemen, who spoke about "one year of statutory military service" and "one year under contract." After the presentation, the servicemen asked who was ready to sign a contract, but no one volunteered. The director then asked the female students to leave the room and repeated the question to the remaining male students, adding that the contract would supposedly provide an opportunity to switch to state-funded tuition.
Residents of the Omsk region have begun receiving messages from the Gosuslugi public services portal offering free training as UAV operators. Sent on behalf of the regional authorities, the message advertises the opportunity to obtain an "in-demand profession" with social guarantees. It lists the following terms: a sign-up bonus of 1,500,000 rubles [$19,400], a salary starting from 210,000 rubles [$2,710], and the possibility of loan forgiveness of up to 10,000,000 rubles [$129,200]. It also notes that neither prior work experience nor a military ID is required.
The Movement of Conscientious Objectors [a human rights organization supporting those who refuse to perform military service] reports the first known case in Russia of a full package of additional restrictions being imposed through the Unified Military Register— the register of Russians subject to military service [a digital system to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices]. A conscript from Kaliningrad received a draft notice for a data check in November 2025. He did not report to the draft office, and 20 days after the scheduled appearance date, the system generated a decision imposing five major restrictions: a ban on registering as an individual entrepreneur, a ban on registering as a professional income taxpayer, suspension of cadastral registration and real estate rights, restriction of driving privileges, and a ban on vehicle registration. These include all measures envisaged by law except the prohibition on entering into credit or loan agreements. Previously, only cases involving blocks on leaving the country had been recorded.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Omsk Garrison Military Court has sentenced Aleksey Bessmolin, a participant in the war against Ukraine, to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony for going AWOL and attempting the sale of a large quantity of drugs. Bessmolin's friend, Dmitry Lukin, was also convicted, but only for attempted drug trafficking, receiving a nine-year sentence in a maximum security penal colony. According to the prosecution, Bessmolin left his military unit in Omsk in February 2025. Later, he and Lukin attempted to make money by selling drugs.
A volunteer fighter from the Russian-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine has received a four-year sentence in a penal settlement for failing to report to his duty station for 18 months. On Feb. 19, 2022, 35-year-old Nikolay from the town of Dovzhansk was enlisted in the "People's Militia" of the "LPR." After the "LPR" was incorporated into Russia, he refused to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, submitted a request for dismissal, and effectively ceased service as of Jan. 1, 2023. In the fall of 2024, he was detained in the Moscow metro on suspicion of desertion, but the court reclassified the charge as failure to report to his duty station for more than one month, imposing a lighter sentence.
Two 16-year-old teenagers from the Stavropol region have been sent to a pre-trial detention center in a case related to an attempt on sabotage. In November, the teenagers attempted to set fire to three cell towers in two towns, filming their actions on their phones. However, the fires were contained, and the equipment was not damaged.
A court in the city of Yekaterinburg has arrested a 16-year-old college student from Tajikistan on charges of attempted act of terror. According to investigators, he set fire to a railway contact network power point in February of this year, in exchange for a reward from "handlers." The teenager was detained on Feb. 25. Investigators believe his actions were aimed at "destabilization of authorities" and "influencing their decision-making."
A Stary Oskol resident has been placed in a pre-trial detention center on charges of a terrorist attack. According to investigators, the 27-year-old man broke a window in a locomotive and set it on fire with a burning mixture. Police officers arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, then detained the man. He claims he committed the arson after his account on the Gosuslugi public services portal was hacked. He was threatened with disseminating "discrediting information" and ultimately forced to damage the locomotive.
The Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced 19-year-old Kirill Pegushin to 12 years of imprisonment on charges of an act of terror. In February 2025, the Solikamsk resident, who was in 11th grade at the time, set fire to a cell phone tower near the village of Klestovka, for which he allegedly received 40,000 rubles [$520] from his "handlers." The man was detained in March, but the Federal Security Service (FSB) only reported his arrest in June. At the trial, he admitted that he had committed arson and received money for it, but did not plead guilty to committing an act of terror, claiming he acted out of selfish motives, "and not with the goal of opposing society."
A man was killed during his arrest in the Sverdlovsk region. Law enforcement claimed he had been planning to blow up the car of the head of an unnamed defense industry enterprise on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services. From his "handlers," he received a forged Russian passport to rent an apartment, the home address of the defense industry employee and two improvised bombs. When the FSB attempted to detain him, his "handlers" allegedly detonated one of the bombs remotely, killing the man. Law enforcement recovered a second bomb at the blast site, which had been concealed inside a power bank casing. A criminal case has been opened on charges of preparing an act of terror.
More than 200 people have been detained across 43 regions in criminal cases involving the illegal use of subscriber terminal traffic gateways or virtual telephone exchanges, unlawful management of subscriber number transfer operations, facilitating online user registration and authentication, and fraud. They are suspected of operating SIM boxes and collaborating with Ukrainian call centers. According to the FSB, the suspects topped up SIM card balances and registered accounts in exchange for payments from foreign handlers. Searches yielded 220 SIM boxes and more than 54,000 SIM cards and chips. The investigation is linked to the case involving a car belonging to an employee of the Polyus Research Institute near a police station in the Orekhovo-Borisovo Yuzhnoye district on Dec. 24, 2025. According to Investigative Committee data, 29 of those detained are from Moscow and the Moscow region. Among them is a young woman suspected of illegally routing traffic for fraudsters connected to the bombing near a police station in the Orekhovo-Borisovo Yuzhnoye district. In the early hours of Dec. 24, the blast killed two police officers and the man who had been planting the explosives.
In late February 2026, an appeals court increased the sentence of Nikita Puryshev by six months. He had previously been sentenced to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony on treason charges. Investigators said that in 2023, acting on instructions from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Puryshev monitored a military unit and law enforcement activity in Veliky Novgorod. He also allegedly intended to transmit data about products from the defense enterprise where he worked.
The 1st Western District Military Court has sentenced 29‑year‑old Kazakh citizen Artur Martynov to 16 years in prison on charges of training for terrorist activities and attempting to commit an act of terror. In August 2025, Martynov had already been tried on similar charges, including espionage, sabotage, training for sabotage, and assisting terrorism.
Assistance
The pro-government All-Russia People’s Front movement and Moscow State University have launched an online course titled "Adaptation of Veterans of the Special Military Operation," aimed at supporting servicemen returning from the frontline who are experiencing emotional difficulties. According to Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the executive committee of the People’s Front, surveys show that about 86% of former soldiers do not seek professional psychological help.
Authorities in the Kirov region plan to introduce employment quotas for participants in the war. The quota will be set at 1% of the workforce for companies employing more than 100 people.
Sergey Boyko, a participant in the war against Ukraine who received the title Hero of Russia and two Orders of Courage, has been appointed director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Work at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. In June 2025, Boyko joined the Time of Heroes personnel program, which prepares military veterans for positions in government service.
Longreads
The Sistema [System] investigative project and the Skhemy [Schemes] project [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] continued analyzing the correspondence of Maj. Gen. Roman Demurchiev and revealed how the shadow economy operates within the Russian military’s senior ranks.
The Vyorstka media outlet reports on how participants in the war are suing their ex-wives to reclaim money they earned at the frontline identifying 54 lawsuits totaling more than 95 million rubles [$1.23 million].