Mobilization in Russia for March 8-10, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Russian Ministry of Defense drafted a bill that would allow the president to send military personnel abroad to "protect Russian citizens" in the event of their arrest. The proposal would amend citizenship and defense laws. The Interfax news agency reports that the government legislative commission has already endorsed the bill. Officials developed the measure to protect the rights of Russians facing arrest, criminal prosecution or other forms of legal action under the rulings of foreign or international courts that do not stem from a treaty with Russia or a United Nations Security Council resolution. In late 2025, Putin banned the enforcement of such court decisions in Russia. This category of courts includes the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued arrest warrants for Putin and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in 2023.
Lawmakers in the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly], led by Defense Committee Chairman Andrey Kartapolov, introduced a bill that would permit the military to draft conscripts even if they are challenging a draft board's decision in court. Under current law, when conscripts appeal a draft board’s decision, the legal process automatically suspends their conscription until the trial concludes, preventing authorities from executing the draft order during the proceedings. If the bill passes, courts will require a specific judicial order to pause the conscription, meaning plaintiffs must separately petition a judge for preliminary protective measures. The court will subsequently decide whether to grant the suspension. The explanatory note emphasizes that halting the contested decision represents a judicial right rather than an obligation for the court. The bill does not specify how citizens would participate in the legal process and appeal the conscription after they have already been drafted. If the measure is enacted, legal experts advise conscripts to prepare educational deferral certificates in advance, apply for alternative civilian service, decline unlawful medical examinations and grant power of attorney to lawyers who will appeal the conscription decision if authorities draft them.
Army Recruitment
Students at Vyatka State University in Kirov say that students in one of the humanities programs were required to attend a meeting with draft office representatives. During the meeting, they were encouraged to sign contracts to serve in the Unmanned Systems Forces. Students were promised that their place at the university would be preserved, along with benefits when applying for the next level of education and the possibility of transferring to a state-funded program. Recruitment posters have also been put up around the university, the advertisements have been set as screensavers on campus computers, and the campaign has been promoted through the university’s Telegram channel.
A post on the website of Tyumen Medical College reports that students met with an instructor from a contract military service recruitment center. During the meeting, he spoke about "opportunities to serve in the elite Unmanned Systems Forces," as well as the conditions of service, prospects for professional and career advancement and the social benefits available to servicemen.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
By the end of 2025, 3,212 people in Russia were performing alternative civilian service, the highest figure recorded in at least the past 14 years, according to the Vyorstka media outlet. Compared with mid-2025, the number of people performing alternative service increased by 490 (18%), and compared with the end of 2024, it rose by 773 (32%). Since the start of the full-scale war in 2022, the total number of people choosing alternative service has nearly tripled, growing from 1,140 to 3,212. At the same time, the Ministry of Labor has been expanding the system’s coverage by increasing the number of organizations and professions where citizens can be assigned for alternative civilian service.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Khabarovsk Garrison Military Court sentenced 20-year-old serviceman Yegor Zedgenizov to nine years in prison for murder. In late April 2025, Zedgenizov returned to the Russian Far East from the frontline for a medical examination and rented an apartment in the village of Krasneno. One night, after hearing loud music coming from a neighboring apartment, he broke down the door and, during the ensuing conflict, killed the apartment’s owner. Zedgenizov had previously been mentioned in connection with the murder of another Krasneno resident in September 2024. However, no verdict in that earlier case is publicly available. It is possible that he signed a contract with the MoD before the court reached a decision.
The Ulan-Ude Garrison Military Court sentenced war participant Dmitry Novikov to five years in prison in a case involving intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm and theft. Taking into account the unserved portion of a sentence from a previous case, the final sentence was set at 15 years in a maximum security penal colony. According to the court, on Feb. 23, 2025, Novikov assaulted an acquaintance while drinking alcohol, causing a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs and other injuries.
The Saint Petersburg Garrison Military Court sentenced serviceman Daniil Tregubov to three years of probation on charges of violating traffic rules resulting in grievous bodily harm. On the evening of Jan. 14, 2025, Tregubov, who was intoxicated, ran a red light at an intersection and collided with another car. A passenger in the other vehicle sustained severe injuries. A medical examination later found that Tregubov was under the influence of narcotics.
The Pyatigorsk Garrison Military Court sentenced a serviceman to six years and three months in prison in a case involving three counts of going AWOL. Taking into account a previously imposed suspended sentence, the final term was set at seven years and three months in a penal colony.
In the Leningrad region, Aleksandr Kukin, a 23-year-old participant in the war against Ukraine, has been detained on suspicion of murdering his 30-year-old friend, Fyodor Bogdanov. On March 4, Bogdanov invited Kukin, who had lost a leg on the frontline, to his home in the village of Osmino. On the same day, while they were drinking together, Bogdanov, according to Kukin, insulted him, after which Kukin grabbed Bogdanov by the neck and strangled him. Kukin was detained on the same day and has already pleaded guilty.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov Brigade to prison on charges of participating in a terrorist organization and training in terrorist activities. Serhii Shchepkyv, born in 1981, was sentenced to 29 years in a maximum security penal colony; Artiom Domshenko, born in 1997, was sentenced to 18 years; and Ihor Shcherbonos was sentenced to 18.5 years.
Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that in 2025, law enforcement officers detained more than 2,500 people on charges of terrorism. According to him, 27 people were killed during the detentions, allegedly due to armed resistance. In addition, the FSB managed to prevent 423 terrorist-related crimes, including 308 terrorist attacks.
A court in Saint Petersburg placed a 14-year-old boy in a pre-trial detention center on charges of a terrorist attack after he set fire to a gas station in the settlement of Metallostroy on March 7. After the arson, the boy attempted to flee but was detained. At the hearing, he said he had been forced to carry out the attack by scammers posing as intelligence service officers, who threatened him and his family with violence. The teenager partially admitted guilt but disputed the case’s classification as a terrorist attack and asked to be placed under house arrest instead.
The 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced 23-year-old National Research Nuclear University MEPhI student Severian Khorokhordin to 19 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason, a terrorist attack, participation in a terrorist organization and the legalization of criminally obtained funds. According to investigators, since 2023 Khorokhordin had been communicating with a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and, at his direction, posted leaflets in Moscow and Obninsk promoting the Ukrainian Hochu Zhit ["I Want to Live"] project. In February 2024, investigators say, he set fire to a car bearing symbols of the "special military operation," for which he received about 45,000 rubles [$570]. He was also accused of burning two relay cabinets on the Obninskoye-Shemyakino railway line on instructions from the Freedom of Russia Legion. Khorokhordin was detained in August 2024.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced 22-year-old Ruslan Kolomoyets to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony and 19-year-old Nikolay Boychenko to six years in a penal colony in a case involving a terrorist attack committed in a group. Kolomoyets was also stripped of his rank of junior sergeant in the Ministry of Emergency Situations and found guilty of involving a minor in terrorist activity and in a criminal group that committed a grave crime. The two young men were accused of setting fire to a transformer station in the early hours of July 31, 2024. During questioning they said they had received 20,000 rubles [$260] for carrying out the arson.
The same military court also sentenced Andrey Peshkov, a resident of the Krasnodar region, to 10 years in prison for aiding terrorism and making public calls for terrorism. Prosecutors said Peshkov, in private messages, urged someone he knew to join the Russian Volunteer Corps. In addition, in the summer of 2025, Peshkov posted a comment expressing support for a unit fighting against Russia.
A court established by Russian authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region sentenced 68-year-old Halyna Bekhter, a resident of the village of Plodorodne, to 11 years in a penal colony on treason charges. According to investigators, in July 2023 she transferred 1,240 rubles [$16] from her account through a Ukrainian banking app to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The court deemed this an act of providing "financial assistance to the armed forces of a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation."
Miscellaneous
The Mozhem Ob’yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel published a roundup of meetings with widows and wives of war participants organized by officials and politicians ahead of International Women’s Day. During these events, authorities tried to persuade the women that the war and even the deaths of their relatives in it should be viewed as a source of pride, not a tragedy, and as an opportunity to receive gifts.
Longreads
Mediazona, an independent Russian media outlet, followed the cases of people detained in recent days for arson attacks instigated by scammers and found that the same acts can lead to very different charges. Some defendants received lighter sentences, while others were prosecuted under terrorism laws.