Mobilization in Russia for Mar. 26–27, 2023 CIT volunteer summary
Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexey Teksler announced regional support measures for the residents of South Urals who have signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. They are similar to those provided for mobilized soldiers and their families and involve a series of lump-sum payments. The proposal will be evaluated at the next meeting of the Legislative Assembly.
President of the Foundation for the Protection of National Values Maksim Shugaley addressed Chairman of the State Duma's Defense Committee Andrey Kartopolov with an appeal requesting to consider at the legislative level the possibility of granting the right to contract soldiers and mobilized servicemen to be transferred to PMCs [Private Military Companies]. As Shugaley writes, he received many pleas from the contract and mobilized soldiers with a request to help them transfer to the Wagner Group.
Full-time students of Penza State University were summoned to the dean's office to verify their military registration documents. The main event [of document verification] will be held from Apr. 4 to Apr. 6.
Residents of Perm discovered in their mailboxes draft notices demanding that they appear for a medical examination. Along with the notices, there were instructions for taking lab tests. The recipients of the notices were instructed to bring along the results of the tests as they report to draft offices.
A campaign to attract citizens to enlist in the armed forces continues in the regions [of the Russian Federation]. Thus, in Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], the authorities persuade potential contractors with the promise that they will earn no less than those mobilized. Corresponding information appeared in the official channels of the republic's government, as well as on a network of regional Viber chats. Residents of Ingushetia [Russia's constituent republic] are also actively campaigning for enlisting under a contract. Residents of the region who signed the contract will receive a lump sum payment of 100,000 rubles and a land plot from the republic.
A couple in Stavropol successfully defended their son when officers from the military enlistment office came to mobilize him. Back in September, 24-year-old Dmitry received a mobilization notice. Since then, he has been hiding at his parent's residence until a district police officer came for him with two officers from the military registration and enlistment office. While the mother and father were "fighting" with the district police officer, their son ran away. Now, however, the parents may face a criminal case for assaulting a government official.
Sergey Kryvenko, head of the Grazhdanin. Armiya. Pravo [Citizen. Army. Law] human rights society explained on the air of the Dozhd [Rain] independent news TV channel who can be served with a draft notice, when it can be ignored, and whether they can be forced to sign a contract.
The Telegram channel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation continues to publish videos showing the training of mobilized troops, including those serving in assault units.
Mobilized soldiers continue to be killed at the front. The list of the killed now includes Vitaly Volkov from the Vologda region, Aleksandr Levshin, Ilya Marchenko, Daniil Shafikov, and Gennady Tarbushin from the Volgograd region, Aleksandr Shaposhnikov from the Novosibirsk region, Artyom Noskov from the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region [Russia’s federal subject], Artyom Tyrlov and Dim Sundukov from the Orenburg region, Andrey Opletayev from the Rostov region, Vitaly Bisengaliyev from the Astrakhan region, Fyodor Pashchenko from North Ossetia, Aleksandr Feoktistov from Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic], Aleksey Tyupin from Ivanovo region, and also Dmitry Sapunov, Anatoly Leinert and Vladislav Proskuryakov from the Voronezh region.
After almost three months since the strike on the vocational school in Makiivka, relatives continue to look for the mobilized soldiers from the 1444th Motor Rifle Regiment who were there at the moment of the strike. Recently, in a group on the VKontakte social network dedicated to those mobilized from the Samara region, there were announcements about the search for Aleksandr Volkov, Stanislav Mozharov, and Dmitry Petrov.
First Irkutsk mobilized soldiers from the 1439th Regiment came on leave. They were given 14 days on the condition that they would "carry out patriotic work with the youth." Governor Igor Kobzev met with participants of the “special military operation” who had arrived on leave in Irkutsk. Previously, mobilized soldiers from this regiment sent three video messages to the editors of Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet addressing Vladimir Putin, and one more appeal was published by their wives. In these appeals, they complained that they were “sent for slaughter” without training and artillery support.
State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] Member Mikhail Matveyev sent a request to the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office concerning a high-profile appeal of the fighters of the Shtorm [Storm] Detachment, who are fighting as part of the 5th Brigade of the 8th Army near the village of Vodiane, Donetsk region. One of the relatives said that servicemen of this detachment had repeatedly applied for dismissal due to the age limit (50 years), but they were ignored. According to the 7x7 Telegram channel, after the publication of the video, inspectors from a military prosecutor’s office as well as officers from Moscow, arrived at the so-called DPR. The results of the inspection are not yet known.
Russia's Supreme Court intends to stiffen penalties for crimes against military service. The court held a plenum where the draft resolution "On the policy of judicial consideration of the crimes against military service" was considered. The document contains a total of 122 clarifications. The Voyenny Ombudsmen [Military Ombudsman] Telegram channel analyzed a number of provisions that increase the responsibility of military personnel.
In Tomsk, a mobilized soldier was sentenced to two years probation for leaving a military unit. He had been hiding from the command for 18 days. Aleksey Zuev was found guilty of leaving his unit without permission during the period of mobilization. According to the court, on Nov. 7 last year, he left the unit "in order to temporarily evade military service." Zuev lived in Omsk for some time and then returned to Tomsk, where he lived before being drafted. He was detained on Nov. 25, after which a criminal case was initiated. The article provides for up to 10 years in prison, but in order to send mobilized soldiers to war again, courts often give them suspended sentences.
Two of the defendants in the “Tyumen case” now face upgraded charges. The prosecution added additional accusations—”preparing an act of terrorism”—against Nikita Oleynik and Danila Chertykov. Recall that the case involves six anti-fascists detained in Surgut, Ekaterinburg, and Tyumen. They are suspected of planning attacks on draft offices, police stations, and rail tracks.
Aleksey Moskalev, the father of Masha Moskaleva, a 6th-grade student who drew an anti-war picture, will remain under house arrest. Prosecutors requested a sentence of two years in a penal colony for repeat discreditation of the army. His daughter has been at a social and rehabilitation center for minors since March 1. Nothing is known of her condition since then, as she is forbidden from even making phone calls.
Authorities in Omsk spent a million rubles to help wives and children of draftees find work. 21 relatives of soldiers are now employed after their new employers were paid 48,600 rubles per placement from the budget of a regional program aimed to provide support for draftees and their families. The program started in November 2022 and will stay in effect until the end of 2023. In the Belgorod region, meanwhile, participants of the “special military operation” are now entitled to sterilize their pets for free, according to the regional veterinary service administration.
Chief doctors of the city hospitals in the Vladimir region, Mikhail Sukhanov and Sergey Timkin, as well as medical equipment, were sent to the war in Ukraine. Doctors will work in a field hospital. At the same time, according to the Governor of the Vladimir region, Aleksandr Avdeyev, there is an acute shortage of medical workers in the region. Recently, Andrey Safronov, a mobilized neurologist from Vladimir, was killed in the war.
A resident of the Menzelinsky district of Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic], 59-year-old Anvar Bikbaev received a draft notice in October last year and went to war. The Bikbaev family has a large farm: 25 cows, several bulls, and 50 sheep. Now the entire herd is completely on the shoulders of the wife and her 35-year-old son, although they both have disabilities. The woman complains about the complete lack of assistance from the authorities.
The transport operator from Krasnoyarsk sent three UAZ cross-country minivans to Russian servicemen. The vehicles are loaded with diesel generators, chains for wheels, gas cylinders and stoves, household items, clothing, and personal hygiene items. Meanwhile, the Head of the Barguzinsky district of Buryatia asked local residents to send their "unnecessary" cars to the "special military operation." According to the official, Russian servicemen are constantly asking to buy cars and send them to the front, but neither the district budget nor the local residents have money to buy new cars.
In the village of Podgornoye, Kalacheevsky district, Voronezh region, a boy from a family with many children brought aid for soldiers in a cart. This "touching story" was published on one of the Voronezh public pages on the VKontakte social network. Volunteers’ car could not drive to the house of the boy’s family to pick up a rather impressive parcel due to a slushy road, so he brought it himself in a cart to the building of a local school, where they collected aid for Russian servicemen. Meanwhile, the girl from Komi [Russia’s constituent republic] cut off her hair, sold it, and spent the money on helping Russian military men.
Students of a vocational school in the Samara region complain about the school's terrible state. The vocational school building in Syzran is more than 80 years old. Students say it needs a thorough overhaul. While no one repairs the building, students are regularly shown patriotic movies, discuss "the importance of the special military operation," and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conduct classes.
Employees of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow are forced to attend a meeting with Russian servicemen. The main purpose of the event is to "reveal the terrorist nature of Ukrainian radical groups," as follows from an internal letter posted by art critic Ksenia Korobeynikova.
The Bumaga media outlet from Saint Petersburg published an article about how municipal and federal authorities deal with monetary payments to draftees and volunteers. Servicemen and their families were promised generous payments at the beginning of mobilization. Six months later, journalists decided to check whether these promises were kept.
There are more Russians entering the United States illegally through Mexico now than ever before. A total of 25,000 Russians entered the country across the Mexican border between October and February. The influx of illegal migrants increased 3.5 times over the last year and thousands of percent over the pre-war period. Additionally, in March, US authorities resumed deporting Russians, as reported by The Guardian.