Mobilization in Russia for Mar. 11–12, 2023, CIT volunteer summary
The Ministry of Territorial Security of the Perm region started an investigation into a complaint from citizens who were mobilized from Perm and from the Sverdlovsk region and deployed to the 1453rd Regiment. The men contested their transfer to assault units in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. The ministry also sent an inquiry to the Military Prosecutor's Office. “The regional Ministry of Territorial Security is currently verifying the allegations. Also, an inquiry was sent to the Military Prosecutor's Office requesting to fact-check the complaint,” the ministry said.
Wives of men mobilized from the Kursk region called on President Putin to stop forcing their husbands to join assault squads in the “LPR.” After training, their husbands were stationed in the Belgorod region, but on Mar. 3, they were reportedly deployed to the Cossack brigade in the “LPR.” According to the wives, more than 1,000 servicemen from the 1015th Belgorod Regiment for Territorial Defense were allegedly transferred to the “LPR” by “verbal agreement,” where the “tight-knit” territorial defense units were disbanded in order to “complement the assault squads.” After that, the command stopped responding to the families. The wives demanded that their husbands be returned to their region of residence.
Each day, new names are being added to the list of Russian casualties in the war against Ukraine. Among them are Mikhail Danilov, Yury Ufimtsev, and Dmitry Burdakov from the Vladimir region, Aleksandr Titus and Ilya Sitnikov from the Tyumen region, Dmitry Kovrigin from the Sverdlovsk region, Yevgeny Bolgov from the Lipetsk region, as well as Khyshikto Tsybikov, Dymbren Lassaranov and Nikolay Maksimov from Buryatia.
Over the past week, the Ministry of Defense of Russia has been actively publishing videos with mobilized and volunteer soldiers. In the videos, soldiers talked about a high level of training, and the good attitude of commanders spoke positively about living conditions and shared stories about combat activities. According to the mobilized soldiers, having received draft notices, they set off "to protect their relatives and the country from the enemy" without hesitation. In addition, such videos often called for viewers to join the army. Although the Ministry of Defense had published videos of similar content before, their number increased significantly last week: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
At the request of Aleksandr Popushny, who was mobilized in Surgut, Eduard Isakov, Senator of the Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous region, provided military aid for soldiers. It included cars, potbelly stoves, flashlights, trench candles, and food. Meanwhile, teachers of School No. 20 in Vologda bought a batch of several metal detectors for the front needs.
On Feb. 28, 2023, 16-year-old Yegor Balazeikin was detained for attempting to set fire to a draft office in Kirovsk, Leningrad region. Initially, Yegor was charged with an article on hooliganism, but later it was reclassified to a more serious one — an act of terror (Part 1 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of Russia). Under this article, Yegor faces 10 to 15 years in prison. According to some media reports, not a single Molotov cocktail thrown by the young man caught fire. As Yegor himself explains his motive, he is against the "special military operation" because his own uncle, a volunteer soldier who fought in a BARS volunteer unit [Special Combat Army Reserve of Russia], was killed in the war. He didn't want to harm anyone. Despite the fact that Egor is underage and should be kept in a specialized institution, he is now in detention center No. 5 in St. Petersburg.
Russian security forces conducted another search in the case of sabotage on the railway in Crimea. A search was conducted in the village of Urozhaine Simferopol region of Crimea in the house of Lemmar Yunusov, a delegate of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people. According to the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service], the reason for the search was the damage to the railway in the Bakhchisarai region. None of the family members were detained.
The Commission on Juvenile Affairs demanded that the family of schoolgirl Masha Moskalyova, who drew an anti-war picture, should be limited in parental rights. Human rights activists also report that since Mar. 1, nothing is known about the girl. The management of the orphanage where the girl is supposed to be, and its director do not give any information about her. Activists urged subscribers to come to the first hearing in the Moskalyova case, which will be held on Mar. 15 at the Efremov Inter-District Court of the Tula region.
The second round of distribution of grants from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives has started. The inclusive patriotic festival of amateur songwriters “Zoloto PoVolzhia” [Gold of the Volga region] in Kazan (347 thousand rubles), the show of young authors and composers “iZyum” in Perm (9.5 million rubles), master classes from the local souvenir shops for schoolchildren for the manufacture of mascots for the military "ZoV pobedy" [Call of the victory] in the village of Veydelevka, Belgorod Region (3 million rubles), and "Military History Open-Air Museum of the LDNR" — an exposition about the "civil war in Ukraine" from the Volgodonsk Victory Park (3 million rubles) are among the initiatives supported this time.