Mobilization in Russia for March 29-31, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Russian government's legislative commission has endorsed the Ministry of Science and Higher Education's bill to amend the law on education. The amendment would allow widows and widowers of participants in the war in the Donbas, which began in 2014, and the full-scale invasion to enroll in state-funded spots at universities without exams for bachelor's and specialist degrees under a separate quota. Additionally, they would be eligible to study tuition-free in the preparatory departments of state universities. Widows and widowers who remarry will lose this right. In January, the State Duma [lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly] approved the bill in the first reading. Preferential admission terms are already in effect for war participants, law enforcement officers who served in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and their children. Educational institutions must allocate 10% of their total state-funded spots for them. In 2025, more than 53,800 state-funded spots were allocated by Russian universities under the quota for participants in the war in Ukraine and their children. Through this quota, 28,500 people were enrolled—74.2% more than a year earlier. In February, the government's legislative commission endorsed another bill that would grant widows and widowers of deceased military personnel who served in a combat zone or in border areas the right to a second tuition-free vocational education in a new specialty. Previously, the right to a second tuition-free education at technical schools and colleges was available only to war participants and did not extend to their family members.
Lawmakers introduced a bill in the State Duma to require the state to compensate citizens and companies for damages caused by individuals exempted from criminal liability or punishment after signing a military contract. If the individual dies without an estate, the state treasury would cover the court-confirmed damages. A similar bill was introduced in January, but the relevant committee rejected it.
Army Recruitment
Authorities in the Ryazan region have required employers to take part in recruiting contract soldiers for the Ministry of Defense. Under an order issued by regional governor Pavel Malkov, quotas have been set for "economic entities, regardless of their form of ownership," for the period from March 20 to Sept. 20. Companies with 150 to 300 employees must identify two candidates for contract-based military service; those with 300 to 500 employees must find three candidates; and companies with more than 500 employees must provide five. Regional authorities cite presidential decrees No. 756 and No. 757 of Oct. 19, 2022, which, among other things, grant regional heads the authority to "implement measures to meet the needs" of the Russian Armed Forces. The document does not specify what penalties, if any, organizations may face for failing to meet these quotas.
In the Belgorod region, foreigners seeking to obtain a residence permit are being encouraged to sign contracts for military service. According to local residents, at Interior Ministry offices, men applying for residency are explicitly told they must sign a contract. The requirement is justified by a decree dated Nov. 5, 2025, under which foreign men aged 18 to 65 applying for a residence permit or citizenship must provide eithera contract for service in the Russian army or the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a certificate of discharge from those services, or a certificate of unfitness issued by a draft office. The decree does not apply to citizens of Belarus or to citizens of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova when applying for residence permits.
According to an officer at a recruitment center in Kazan, about 300 people from Tatarstan have been sent to unmanned systems troops since the beginning of the year. He said the recruits include residents of Tatarstan, Mari El [Russia's constituent republic], Chuvashia [Russia’s constituent republic] and the Samara region.
A report from the Irkutsk regional Interior Ministry states that in 2025 police officers conducted more than 176,000 conversations with residents about signing contracts for military service. Law enforcement agencies also reported carrying out operations to locate deserters.
Recruitment efforts targeting students for unmanned systems troops are ongoing at educational institutions. At the Borovichi Pedagogical College, according to one student, recruitment meetings urging students to sign contracts are held regularly. Representatives from recruitment centers visit classes several times a month and distribute flyers with the slogan "The best teacher is the training ground." At the Energiya College in Reutov, following a recruitment event involving representatives from a draft office, students were asked to complete a survey in which instructors recommended indicating an interest in serving in UAV units.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
In Russia's constituent Republic of Khakassia, the Abakan Garrison Military Court has upheld the validity of the contract between 28-year-old conscript Emil Zhenishbekov and the MoD. According to the conscript, the contract in question was falsified. Zhenishbekov, who was drafted for regular biannual conscription in April 2025, claims that a week after arriving at his military unit, the platoon commander offered him a position as a driver. The conscript agreed, and then he was taken to the headquarters and forced to write a report requesting to transfer him. One month later, Zhenishbekov accidentally learned from his commanders that he had been enlisted under a contract. The conscript's mother presented a copy of the contract, which the conscript claims not to have seen or signed. An independent examination revealed that the signature on the contract was not authentic. Despite this, the court refused to consider the examination, citing the testimony of the commanders, who stated that they witnessed him signing the document. Zhenishbekov has also reported receiving threats from officers. His lawyer appealed the court's decision.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet analyzed the database of garrison military court cases and discovered a sharp increase in serious crimes committed by Russian soldiers since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. Between 2022 and 2025, the following cases were brought before the courts:
- 729 murder cases, far exceeding the 67 cases recorded in the four years before the full-scale invasion (2018–2021). Half of all cases were received by garrison military courts in 2025—352, which is 1.5 times more than in 2024 and 16 times more than in 2022;
- 278 cases of grievous bodily harm resulting in death, seven times more than in the four years before the full-scale war;
- Active-duty soldiers most often commit murder while intoxicated—alcohol is mentioned in 102 of the 128 published verdicts;
- The majority of servicemen's victims are acquaintances or random people, rather than a fellow soldier or fellow officer. The latter appear in 22 of the 128 published verdicts;
- 549 cases of rape and sexual violence, of which at least 312 involved minors (including 249 against children under the age of 14)—nearly half of all sexual violence cases were also filed in 2025;
- 659 cases of robbery and armed robbery, with nearly half (301 cases) occurring in 2025;
- Meanwhile, the new article on looting has been virtually unenforced—only 6 cases have reached the courts during this period, despite such incidents being regularly documented;
This sharp spike in crime cannot be explained solely by the growth of the military during the years of the invasion, as the authorized strength of the RuAF grew only 1.5 times by 2025, while the number of crimes has risen exponentially. The true scale of criminality is higher due to the secrecy of military courts, the non-publication of verdicts and the deployment of servicemen to the frontline before the completion of legal proceedings. Previously, Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] calculated that more than 8,000 veterans of the war in Ukraine have been convicted since 2022, while the Vyorstka media outlet found that returning veterans have killed or maimed more than 1,000 people.
In occupied Donetsk, a military Ural truck struck a group of people at a bus station, killing two and injuring a woman. According to the official account, the accident occurred either after a collision with a passenger car or due to brake failure. However, eyewitness footage clearly shows a camouflaged military Ural without license plates. Pro‑government channels cut the video and described the incident simply as an accident involving a "truck."
In Moscow, authorities have opened a criminal case against a 15‑year‑old under charges of hooliganism and property damage. According to investigators, on the evening of March 30, the teenager set fire to a gas station after receiving instructions from scammers. The flames spread to him as well, causing minor burns. He was detained several hours later. During interrogation, the youth stated that on March 25 an unknown individual contacted him, posing as a law enforcement officer and accusing him of working for Ukrainian intelligence. The individual allegedly threatened his family with violence, after which the teenager agreed to commit the arson.
In the Krasnodar region, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a resident of Anapa suspected of preparing an act of terror targeting critical infrastructure. Law enforcement said that in January 2026 the man established contact via a messenger app with a "representative of the Ukrainian side." He was allegedly preparing to set fire to a transformer substation supplying electricity to military facilities, resort and health institutions and private households in Anapa in exchange for a reward under the direction of handlers.
A court in Orenburg has sent a man accused of committing sabotage to a pre-trial detention center. According to investigators, the accused, along with "other individuals," agreed during a conversation in a messenger app to carry out acts of sabotage in Orenburg for 20,000 rubles [$250]. On March 20, he and his accomplices set fire to an equipment cabinet of a mobile communication base station. The accused reported the completion of the task, and after the money was transferred they were detained by law enforcement officers.
A Tyumen court held the hearing to determine the pretrial restrictions for a mother and daughter in a case involving an act of terror due to the arson of a draft office building that occurred on the evening of March 28. Tatyana M., born in 1958, was placed under house arrest due to health issues, while her daughter Svetlana V., born in 1986, was sent to a pre-trial detention center.
The Central District Military Court has sentenced three teenagers to imprisonment under the article on an act of terror. The prosecution’s requested sentences are unknown, as the case was heard behind closed doors. At the time of sentencing, one of the convicted individuals had already turned 18, while the other two were 16. All were found guilty under the article on an act of terror, while the youngest was additionally convicted under the article on failure to report a crime. According to prosecutors, in July 2024, the three teenagers set fire to two relay cabinets on the railway section between the Pervouralsk and Podvoloshnaya stations for 40,000 rubles [$490], "which led to their destruction."
The FSB reported that it had shot and killed a man in the Moscow region who was being detained on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack at a defense enterprise. According to the agency, a resident of the Moscow suburbs, allegedly acting on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence, had been planning to open fire on the plant’s employees and carry out an explosion. According to available reports, the FSB says it has killed at least 82 people during detention operations since the start of the full-scale war.
The Second Western District Military Court sentenced 20-year-old Belarusian citizen Ilya Aleshkevich to 16 years in prison and 20-year-old Anton Baklanov, a resident of the Vladimir region, to 15 years in a terrorism case. According to investigators, in November 2024 Aleshkevich received an assignment via Telegram to set fire to a railway car in the Moscow region in exchange for money. He offered Baklanov half of the promised payment to help carry it out. On Nov. 18, Baklanov filmed the arson, after which the footage was sent to the organizer. For completing the task, the two men received 1,299 rubles [$16] in cryptocurrency, although they had initially been promised 120,000 rubles [$1,480]. The damage caused by their actions was estimated at 5.8 million rubles [$71,300].
The FSB reported the detention in the Belgorod region of a Ukrainian citizen allegedly "involved in espionage on behalf of the enemy." Law enforcement officials claim that he was recruited by officers of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate "through foreign messaging apps." According to the authorities, the man allegedly passed information about Russian troops in border areas of the Belgorod region to Ukrainian intelligence services in exchange for money, and that information was then used "to carry out missile and air strikes on Russian military positions." He has been placed in a pre-trial detention center.
A court in Saint Petersburg has handed down verdicts against Ruslan Semiletko and Aleksandr Sazhin, who were accused of smuggling military equipment, with Semiletko also facing treason charges. The proceedings were held behind closed doors, and even the court’s own press office staff were reportedly barred from attending. The sentences handed down to Semiletko and Sazhin have still not been disclosed. The two men were accused of attempting to smuggle "aviation technical equipment for the repair of military aircraft" from Russia to Ukraine by concealing it inside a vehicle. They were detained at the border by officers of the regional FSB office for Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Semiletko, 47, is a graduate of a military institute in the city of Sevastopol and previously served in the Ukrainian Navy. He was arrested on treason charges in November 2023. Sazhin was 44 at the start of the trial and had been living in Saint Petersburg since the mid-2010s.
A regional court in the Krasnodar region sentenced a local woman to 12 years in a penal colony on treason charges. Prosecutors say she transferred 1,000 rubles [$12] in June 2022 and again in September to support units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A report by the Interior Ministry’s Irkutsk branch found that 88 terrorism-related cases and 49 extremism-related cases were opened in the region, compared with just 12 and 2 in the last prewar year, respectively.
Children and Militarization
In the city of Ramenskoye near Moscow, participants in the war held a basic military training lesson for fifth-grade students at School No. 6, where children were taught how to "clear a building," move tactically and evacuate the "wounded."
Assistance
Andrey Nazarov, Prime Minister of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic], said support for participants in the war and their families in the republic has nearly doubled over the past two years, rising from 13 billion rubles [$160 million] to 30.6 billion rubles [$376 million]. This year, 25.2 billion rubles [$310 million] has been allocated for that purpose, while the regional budget deficit stands at 22.5 billion rubles [$277 million].
Miscellaneous
The Sakhalinenergo company announced a tender to purchase seven anti-drone rifles worth more than 5 million rubles [$61,500]. The company supplies electricity to the Sakhalin region, located about 7,000 kilometers [4,350 mi] from the combat zone.
Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that one in 11 candidates in the United Russia [Putin’s ruling party] primaries had taken part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.