Mobilization in Russia for March 11-13, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

New bills will target "foreign agents and individuals who fled the country," says Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly]. According to him, courts should try citizens living abroad in absentia if they spread military "fakes," discredit the Armed Forces, or call for acts of terrorism, extremism, mass unrest, separatism, the launching of an aggressive war, or the rehabilitation of Nazism. Moreover, lawmakers will likely toughen penalties for calling for sanctions and for discrediting the Armed Forces, imposing prison terms of up to five years and allowing property confiscation. Volodin also called for sentences of up to seven years for anyone "assisting international organizations in which Russia does not participate," and he proposed designating as "foreign agents" those who aid foreign state bodies or international organizations in "activities directed against Russia’s security," as well as individuals involved in collecting "information in the field of military-technical activities." However, legal experts told the independent outlet Agentstvo [Agency] that these measures will probably not spur major changes and instead seem designed to intimidate citizens.

Yaroslav Nilov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs, introduced a bill that would allow students expelled from military academies for poor performance or misconduct, as well as those who refused to continue their service after graduation, to avoid reimbursing their education costs if they go to war. The proposal would apply retroactively to cadets who were mobilized, enlisted, or joined a Ministry of Defense "volunteer unit" after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the explanatory note, these former students “fully apply the professional skills and abilities they acquired during training on the battlefield.” As a result, the government should regard the state’s expenditure on their education as "fully compensated."

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

The former head of the Industrial district of Perm, Dmitry Drobinin, accused of accepting a bribe, has been deployed to the war. According to the investigation, in March 2023, Drobinin and his deputy, Yegor Amosha, embezzled 500,000 rubles [$5,760] belonging to a charitable foundation.

The investigation into the murder of an employee of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has also been suspended. The accused—Vlad Terpugov, a former member of Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] and the son of the president of the Kemerovo Judo Federation—signed a contract with the MoD and has already departed to the frontline, as reported by his lawyer.

Two Saint Petersburg residents accused of extorting 1.3 million rubles [$15,000], who have been in pre-trial detention since December 2024, have filed lawsuits against the MoD and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanding contracts be signed with them for their deployment to the war. Aleksey Popov and Andrey Shuvalov claim that the investigative proceedings in their case have been concluded, yet they were denied the opportunity to sign contracts, which, in their opinion, violated their rights. In Shuvalov's lawsuit, it is noted that he does not demand the due payments but only wants to fulfill his "duty to the Motherland."

The Russian authorities continue active recruitment of contract soldiers amid proposals for a ceasefire and negotiations with the U.S., the Vyorstka media outlet reports, citing government sources and open data. Authorities in the Moscow region have announced a tender worth 78 million rubles [$898,100] to organize advertising for contract military service, which is planned to run at least until the end of the year. Recruitment of volunteer fighters remains active in Moscow as well. A source in the mayor’s office stated that there are no signs of "scaling down the military recruitment campaign."

A source in a draft office in one of the Siberian regions also confirmed that recruitment requirements remain unchanged. However, in one region of the Russian Far East, there is no apparent rush for recruitment, according to another source. Meanwhile, Eskender Bariyev, head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, reported an increase in military recruitment efforts in Crimea. He added that sources had previously observed a sharp decline in the number of people willing to sign contracts on the peninsula.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

On March 9, 37-year-old mobilized soldier Timur G. was assaulted and forcibly shoved into a car while he was with his 14-year-old son. Witnesses claim the man’s face was beaten. When a bystander asked who they were and where they were taking Timur, the detaining individuals identified themselves as criminal investigation officers and stated that they were taking him to the commandant’s office because he was "on the run." In May 2023, while on leave, Timur suffered an injury, but was denied medical treatment and ordered to return to his unit. Fearing another deployment to the frontline, he decided to stay home. Later, it became known that a criminal case was opened against him for leaving his military unit. His relatives still do not know his whereabouts, but available information suggests he may have been taken to the commandant’s office in the city of Sievierodonetsk.

A 40-year-old Azerbaijani citizen, Ildyrym, who lost his fingers and feet in the war, is unable to obtain a Russian passport. According to him, beginning the prosthetic process is also impossible due to the lack of legal documents. As a result, he is considering returning to his homeland, where he faces up to eight years in prison for mercenary activity.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Makhachkala, an armored personnel carrier ran over a civilian vehicle, killing the driver.

In Saint Petersburg, Alisher Yusupov, a war veteran with multiple prior convictions for theft, robbery and armed assault, was detained and later released. He had threatened a woman with a knife and raped her. However, the victim withdrew her statement, claiming the encounter was "consensual." As a result, no criminal case was initiated.

A court in Pyatigorsk sentenced a serviceman to six years in a general regime penal colony for going AWOL. According to the prosecution, the defendant "decided to take a break" from service and went home in June last year, staying there until the end of September before voluntarily returning to his unit. In November, he went AWOL again, but this time, officials from the draft office discovered him.

In Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, authorities have opened a criminal case on fraud charges against several men who deceived local residents into signing contracts with the MoD for deployment to war. According to the investigation, in the fall of 2024 and winter of 2025, three men, along with unidentified accomplices, tricked several locals into signing military contracts. Additionally, the fraudsters coerced them into entering sham marriages to gain access to payments from the MoD. In total, they managed to withdraw over 2 million rubles [$23,000] from the victims’ accounts, which they had already spent.

A court in Omsk has arrested two local medical workers for two months on charges of accepting a bribe from a serviceman. According to investigators, in the spring of 2024, the women received 500,000 rubles [$5,760] from the serviceman. In exchange, they fictitiously sent him to a hospital and diagnosed him with a neurological disorder. As a result, the man was deemed unfit for further service.

Mikhail Avdonin, a resident of Arkhangelsk, has been sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment on charges of vandalism, attempted act of terror, participation in the activities of a terrorist organization, and treason. According to law enforcement officers, in September 2023, the young man entered the territory of a military unit in the Arkhangelsk region with "incendiary materials" to carry out an arson attack on the orders of the Freedom of Russia Legion. After his detention, a criminal case was initiated against Avdonin for "attempted act of terror."

A court in Saint Petersburg has sentenced Pyotr Romanyuk, a Ukraine-born resident of the town of Suojärvi, to 15 years imprisonment for setting fire to a draft office. The man was found guilty under charges of committing an act of terror. He was detained in the Karelian town of Suojärvi in May 2024. The defense argued that the analysis of footage from a CCTV camera was conducted with violations and does not prove that Romanyuk was the arsonist.

A court in Kaliningrad has placed a teenager accused of setting fire to electrical distribution panels of cell phone towers in pre-trial detention. According to law enforcement, the accused, along with two other minors, committed arson in December of last year. The teenagers reportedly filmed their actions and later sent the recording to an unidentified person in exchange for money. They face criminal charges of sabotage.

In Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk region, the Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained a Russian citizen who allegedly, on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services, intended to mail bombs disguised as perfume sets to war participants and government employees supporting them. According to the FSB, the bombs were addressed to recipients in Moscow, Voronezh, and the Krasnodar and Saratov regions. The packages, decorated with Saint George ribbons, were discovered at the Chelyabinsk airport, with explosive devices designed to detonate when the package was opened. During interrogation, the detainee stated he was promised $6,000 for sending the bombs, but never received the money. The agency also claims that in 2024, the man "on instructions from handlers" surveilled Russian military personnel in Engels and defense industry employees in the city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities have opened a criminal case against the young man for illegal possession of explosives, and are "considering" charges of attempted act of terror.

The FSB reported the arrest of a 22-year-old resident of Nizhny Novgorod, accused of treason. According to investigators, he maintained contact with Ukrainian intelligence agencies and twice sent cryptocurrency payments for purchasing drones. In a video released by law enforcement, he read a confession that appears to have been prepared in advance by agency personnel.

Saint Petersburg resident Ilya Tarasov was arrested on charges of treason. According to investigators, in late February 2025, he transferred 12,532.28 rubles [$145] to an unspecified fund "for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." Tarasov was detained on March 11 and pleaded guilty.

Also in Saint Petersburg, Ukrainian citizen Vladislav Sugakov was sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security penal colony for espionage. According to investigators, between April and May 2022, Sugakov collected information about the location of Russian army units in one of Ukraine's regions and passed it to the Security Service of Ukraine. The trial was held behind closed doors. The Bumaga [Paper] independent media outlet noted that Sugakov was brought to court with a broken wrist. His defense attorney, citing Sugakov himself, explained that he had fallen in the pre-trial detention center. According to media reports, Sugakov may have been arrested in the spring of 2022, but this information has not been officially confirmed.

The Southern District Military Court has sentenced 29-year-old former Mariupol police officer Aliona Holtvenko to 18 years in a penal colony and 30-year-old former Azov Brigade fighter Oleksandr Saakyan to 22 years in prison. Holtvenko was found guilty on three counts of terrorist attack and participation in a terrorist organization. Saakyan was convicted of espionage, passport forgery, illegal handling of explosives, recruiting for terrorist activities, participation in a terrorist organization, three counts of terrorist attack, and preparing a terrorist attack. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Saakyan and Holtvenko set fire to three vehicles in Mariupol that bore "special military operation" symbols. In May 2022, Saakyan allegedly joined a "terrorist organization" under the control of the Main Intelligence Directorate and recruited Holtvenko. Between March and June, he reportedly provided the SBU with information on Russian air defense systems in the Donetsk region and was preparing to blow up a Russian military vehicle. He was arrested while receiving an explosive device. According to Ukrainian sources, Saakyan went missing in Mariupol in March 2022 and was a member of the Azov Brigade.

The First Eastern District Military Court has sentenced a resident of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin region, to 14 years in prison on charges of attempted high treason and calls for terrorism online. According to Mediazona, the individual in question is 56-year-old Boris Franchuk, a native of the Khmelnytskyi region, who has been living in Siberia and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in recent years. He was added to the "register of terrorists and extremists" in May 2024.

Rustem Virati, a 60-year-old resident of the Kherson region and a defendant in the case of the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion, died in a penal colony in the Ulyanovsk region, as reported by his relatives on Feb. 10, 2024. The exact date and cause of death remain unknown. Virati was detained by Russian law enforcement in March 2023 in Novoolekiivka in the occupied part of the Kherson region. He was accused of being a member of the Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion. The Memorial Human Rights Defense Center notes that Virati was tried under an article for participating in an armed formation pursuing goals contrary to Russia’s interests. He reported multiple beatings and torture after his detention.

Assistance

In Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic], 5,911 war veterans and their relatives have undergone treatment in state-owned health resorts. For 2025, 100 million rubles [$1.15 million] have been allocated from the budget, which will provide treatment for more than 2,500 veterans.

Alexander Beglov, Governor of Saint Petersburg, announced that 91 individuals have been enrolled into the Time of Heroes personnel program for war participants in Saint Petersburg.

In Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the mayor of Vilyuysk, Yan Popov, asked citizens to donate their day's earnings to help participants in the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, in April 2023, Vilyuisk district authorities reported that more than 2 million rubles [$23,000] collected by district residents to help war participants had gone missing. Officials blamed this on "hackers from Ukraine."

The Vyborg Museum Reserve announced a tender for the purchase of a DJI Mavic 3T civilian aerial reconnaissance drone "for the needs of the special military operation." Earlier, in addition to quadcopters, the museum purchased an electronic warfare station for the frontline, as Bumaga found on the government procurement contracts website.

The mother of a "hero of the special military operation," who is still fighting in Ukraine, received a certificate of appreciation from the mayor of Perm, Eduard Sosnin.

Miscellaneous

Russia is facing a shortage of personnel in both the FSIN and the police. According to FSIN Director Arkady Gostev, the staffing deficit in the penitentiary system has reached 23%. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev reported that one out of every two district police officers resigned last year, and the total number of vacancies in the ministry increased by more than 33,000 to more than 172,000.

Longreads

The Sever.Realii [part of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet, tells the story of Aleksey Shepilov, who was recruited from prison and contracted HIV during the war. Despite this, he was neither discharged from the army nor given treatment.

Vyorstka reports on the new version of the Zarnitsa 2.0 military-style exercises, in which Russian teachers are enrolling students across the country.

The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel has examined more than 400 projects related to the war in Ukraine that have received financial support from the Presidential Grants Foundation.