Mobilization in Russia for March 10-12, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] passed a bill that allows private security companies guarding critical infrastructure to temporarily obtain military-grade small arms to defend against drones. The legislation grants this right to private security firms established by fuel and energy companies, strategic enterprises, state corporations, natural monopolies and organizations protecting critical facilities. Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] will issue the weapons, which the security contractors must return within two weeks after their protection agreements expire or at the agency's request. The bill also expands the arsenal available to private security forces. In addition to less-lethal and civilian self-defense weapons, the measure permits these companies to purchase service weapons and civilian firearms eligible for service use.
Army Recruitment
The Movement of Conscientious Objectors, a human rights organization supporting those who refuse to perform military service, reports that some draft offices recently reversed sets of restrictive measures that they had previously imposed on conscripts through the Unified Military Register (1, 2). Conscripts filed complaints using instructions the organization prepared, which resulted in the removal of the restrictions from the database after officials notified the individuals about the changes to their military registry data. Some conscripts successfully had the restrictions lifted by submitting appeals through the Gosuslugi public services portal, while others resolved the issue by visiting a draft office in person. Authorities rejected a few applications, demanding that conscripts appear in person instead. Human rights defenders note that during the past week, they have documented no instances in which officials actually enforced the additional restrictive measures. Current reports suggest that draft offices learned how to impose restrictions but do not always do it in accordance with the law.
Almost all universities in the city of Tomsk have begun advertising contract military service in the Unmanned Systems Forces, including in the Rubikon UAV unit. At Tomsk State University of Architecture and Construction, for example, students are told they can complete a one-year term of service while on academic leave. Recruitment materials also highlight payments of up to 3 million rubles [$37,900] and various benefits. The university has reportedly set up a working group—including faculty deans and institute directors—tasked with meeting monthly recruitment quotas. Tomsk State Pedagogical University has placed an advertisement for the Rubikon unit on the front page of its website, listing phone numbers belonging to a recruiter who previously recruited personnel for the Tomsk-named Vasyugan unit. At Tomsk Polytechnic University, recruitment is carried out through users’ personal online accounts. When students or staff log in, a banner covering roughly a third of the screen promotes service in the drone forces. An additional announcement about joining Rubikon appears in the "Announcements" section, where the university typically posts notices about cultural and academic events.
Former police officer Maksim Marchenko, who had been accused of killing Khalit Mustafayev, a resident of the Stavropol region, avoided criminal liability after being sent to fight in the war against Ukraine. The criminal case against him—for exceeding official authority while using a firearm—was suspended after his deployment to the frontline. He was later wounded in the war, and upon returning the case against him was formally closed. In October 2020, Marchenko took part in a police chase involving Mustafayev’s car, during which officers fired at least 20 shots at the vehicle. After the car stopped, Mustafayev tried to flee, but Marchenko shot and killed him. A subsequent examination found traces of marijuana in Marchenko’s blood, after which he was dismissed from the Interior Ministry.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
Relatives of servicemen from the 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Combined Arms Army have recorded video addresses and submitted requests to the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Military Prosecutor's Office asking for help in determining the fate of 104 soldiers who have been listed as missing since July last year. According to the families, the unit has provided them with no information about the missing soldiers. They also claim that servicemen in the unit are beaten and sent to forward positions without proper training. In addition, relatives allege that commanders extort money from their subordinates, send partially treated soldiers back to the frontline and fail to evacuate wounded and dead soldiers.
Roman, a 43-year-old resident of the Moscow region with a disability stemming from a spinal fracture, was assigned to an assault company after signing a contract. According to his wife, Roman had participated in combat on the side of the Donetsk separatists back in 2014, where he sustained the injury. In 2023, he was assigned the third disability classification and removal from the military rolls, with a service fitness category "D" (unfit for military service). That winter, he responded to a job posting for a "guard in the special military operation zone," after which he was offered a contract for the position of "electrician-operator" and sent to Rostov-on-Don. There, he was issued a document in which he listed his future position as electrician. He was then given a contract and, without undergoing a medical evaluation board, was sent near the city of Mariupol, where, according to relatives, he was assigned to an assault unit. Roman has since been denied a medical examination and threatened with beatings.
In the Perm region [Russia's federal subject], the debts of more than 6,500 war participants totaling 968 million rubles [$12.24 million] were written off in 2025, according to the regional office of the Federal Bailiff Service. The agency also noted that more than 22,000 enforcement proceedings had been terminated.
Military police officers accused of torturing a contract soldier may avoid punishment by returning to the war. In 2025, a 36-year-old contract soldier, following a combat injury, was placed in a medical company in the Kursk region, where he was forcibly held, subjected to beatings and extortion. The soldier was placed in a pit and chained to a weight for days at a time. Eventually, after his lawyer intervened, the man was transferred to a "safe location," and his fellow officers were detained on charges of abuse of authority. Five military police officers are currently facing charges in the case. One has already been sentenced to four years in a penal colony. Meanwhile, a petition has been filed with the court handling the case, demanding that the proceedings be suspended and that the defendants be sent to the frontline because "such people are sorely needed by the military police."
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in Saint Petersburg has sentenced war participant Ayvar Yunusov to three and a half years in a penal colony in a case involving the kidnapping of a minor and extortion. His accomplices Maksim Avtoreev, Shukhrat Sultanov and Roman Demidenko received sentences ranging from three to three and a half years in a penal colony. According to investigators, in January 2025, they broke into a teenager's home, took money, a phone and a pneumatic pistol, after which they drove the teenager out of the city and demanded 400,000 rubles [$5,060] from him. After receiving a refusal, they left the teenager at a gas station.
In the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], Aleksey Kovalenko, head of the mobilization training department of the administration of Petrovsk-Zabaykalsky, has been detained in a case involving fraud through abuse of official position. According to investigators, the official was part of a working group responsible for selecting citizens for contract military service and entered himself in documents as the person who had allegedly persuaded residents to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Based on this information, he received payments from the regional budget for the "recruited" contract soldiers totaling more than 500,000 rubles [$6,320].
The Investigative Committee has refused to initiate a criminal case based on complaints about the kidnapping and torture of five Ukrainian citizens: 35-year-old Oleksii Kyrychenko, 24-year-old Oleksandr Liakhovchenko, 36-year-old Dmytro Novikov, 22-year-old Danylo Smola and 50-year-old Volodymyr Teterev. All of them are defendants in a case involving an act of international terrorism and illegal trafficking of explosives in connection with the bombing of the car of the head of the occupation administration of the village of Mykhailivka, Ivan Sushko, which occurred on Aug. 23, 2022. Sushko died in hospital the following day. Law enforcement officers reported the detention of the suspects on Dec. 1, 2023. According to investigators, Teterev retrieved a bomb from a cache, placed it under the underside of the car and detonated it, while the others monitored Sushko.
In the town of Sergiyev Posad in the Moscow region, a man named D. R. Nagornykh has been placed in a pre-trial detention center in a case involving an act of terror. According to investigators, on March 10, acting in conspiracy with other individuals whose names were not disclosed, he attempted to set fire to a traffic police car using a canister of gasoline but was detained by traffic police officers.
The 2nd Western District Military Court has sentenced two 17-year-old teenagers from the Nizhny Novgorod region to six and eight years in a penal colony in a case of a terrorist attack. According to investigators, one of the teenagers, with the intent to earn money, set fire to a relay cabinet on the railway in February 2025. Later, he and his friend committed arson on two more relay cabinets. The teenagers were detained in February 2025, when they were 15 and 16 years old. Their names were not disclosed.
The Abakan City Court has sentenced two residents of Russia's constituent Republic of Khakassia, aged 17 and 18, to two years of probation for the deliberate destruction of property by arson. According to investigators, one of the teenagers received an offer of 340,000 rubles [$4,300] to set fire to the office of the pro-government All-Russian People's Front movement and involved an acquaintance in the crime. At night, they broke a window with a hammer and threw three bottles of flammable liquid inside, causing the building to catch fire. The estimated cost of damage is approximately 2.3 million rubles [$29,100]. The teenagers were detained two days later.
In annexed Sevastopol, FSB officers detained a 39-year-old local resident suspected of terrorism and treason and placed him in a pre-trial detention center. Investigators say the suspect established contact through Telegram with what they described as a "terrorist organization controlled by Ukraine," after which he began gathering information about Russian soldiers and military facilities. He was also allegedly instructed to plant an explosive device under the car of a senior Russian military officer.
In the Ivanovo region, the FSB detained a 35-year-old man and opened a criminal case against him on charges of treason, participation in a sabotage group, training in sabotage activities, preparation for sabotage and the illegal possession of explosives. According to investigators, he contacted a representative of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) via WhatsApp and, at his direction, prepared to sabotage military aircraft using FPV drones. The FSB said he traveled to airfields in the Vladimir and Ivanovo regions, as well as in Moscow, for reconnaissance. He was detained while allegedly preparing for the attack.
In Khabarovsk, a criminal case on charges of treason has been opened against the director of a municipal state institution. He is accused of "assisting a foreign state in activities directed against the security of Russia and the Russian Armed Forces." On March 11, the man was placed in a pre-trial detention center. His name and other details of the case have not been disclosed.
Elena Karaniku, a 54-year-old resident of Khabarovsk, was sentenced to 17 years in a penal colony on charges of treason and participation in a terrorist organization. Prosecutors say Karaniku cooperated with Ukrainian intelligence "in exchange for aid in leaving the country." Acting on instructions she allegedly received, she is said to have torn down 14 flyers advertising service in the RuAF, passed information about the death of a Russian serviceman to a Ukrainian contact and corresponded via a bot with a representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion. Karaniku was detained in January 2025.
The Military Court of Appeals upheld the sentence of Yevgeny Kravchenko, a resident of Khabarovsk, who was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony on charges of treason and public calls for terrorism. According to investigators, in 2024 he left a comment in the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Hochu Zhit [I Want to Live] project and sent a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence services a video showing the movement of Russian military vehicles. Kravchenko said he had sent footage that was already two months old and therefore could no longer have any consequences, after which he ended the communication.
According to a court of appeals ruling, a St. Petersburg resident Alyona Lysanova was sentenced in October 2025 to 13 years in a penal colony on charges of treason and public calls for terrorism. Investigators say she transferred money abroad to an organization that authorities believe operates against Russia’s security and also published materials justifying terrorism. Authorities have not disclosed which organization received the money. The final transfer was made in December 2023. The Military Court of Appeals later reduced the sentence by removing a fine of 100,000 rubles [$1,260], leaving the rest of the punishment unchanged.
In August 2025, far-right activist Anastasia Kolokoltseva of St. Petersburg was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony on charges of treason and illegal border crossing. Law enforcement officers detained Kolokoltseva no later than Sept. 4, 2024, in the Belgorod region. She was accused of attempting to join the Russian Volunteer Corps. The attempt came a month after Kolokoltseva had been released from prison, where she had been serving a sentence for the 2016 murder of a citizen of Kyrgyzstan in St. Petersburg.
Children and Militarization of Education
In Russia’s Murmansk region, military personnel have begun training schoolteachers to operate drones. Twelve educators are currently undergoing simulator training, with instruction provided by servicemen from the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade. Regional Education and Science Minister Diana Kuznetsova said the teachers will be expected to pass these skills on to their students.
Longreads
Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] has reported on the case of Ruslan Lavrik, an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant who refused to cooperate with Russian authorities after the facility was occupied. Lavrik was detained by the FSB, tortured and later sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony on high treason charges. While in custody, he secretly sent out notes listing the names of Ukrainians being held alongside him, which allowed for the identification of about 40 individuals.
Novaya Gazeta Europe has reported on the case of two teenage anarchists from Chita, Aleksandr Snezhkov and Lyubov Lizunova. In 2024, Snezhkov was sentenced to six years in prison and Lizunova to three and a half years in a case involving calls for extremism and terrorism. The charges stemmed from graffiti reading "Death to the regime" and posts on Telegram.