Mobilization in Russia for March 25-27, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Pavel Prikashchikov, a suspect in a case of rape and sexual violence against orphanage children, has avoided punishment by going to war. A former orphanage resident himself, Prikashchikov initially pleaded guilty to having sexual relations with children but later retracted his testimony. A final verdict was never issued—his case was suspended due to his contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

Former head of the Ivolginsky district in Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], Viktor Ochirov, who was sentenced in 2024 to seven years in a maximum security penal colony for bribery, has decided to go to war. The official extorted 320,000 rubles [$3,800] from a local entrepreneur and demanded kickbacks from contractors. In total, Ochirov received more than 1.5 million rubles [$17,800] for "unhindered acceptance and payment of work."

Law enforcement officers conducted another raid in Saint Petersburg. During the roundup, more than 150 people were checked, including foreigners and men who recently obtained Russian citizenship. Twenty-five men were taken to the draft office for verification and military registration. They were also encouraged to sign a contract with the MoD.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

On its website, the All-Russian Federation of Sports for People with Intellectual Disabilities announced the death of Aleksandr Rabotnitsky, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and Honored Master of Sport. The announcement states that he died in the "special military operation," which he had joined as a volunteer fighter. Those close to him believe that his decision to leave the world of sport and take part in the invasion was driven by mounting debts. Earlier, reports revealed that Aleksey Bugaev, a former Russian national soccer team player, also died in the war.

On the night of March 26, at a checkpoint in the Oktyabrsky district in the Kursk region, officials detained a Russian soldier attempting to remove looted property. Yury Pyryev, a 60-year-old participant in the war, has a previous criminal record for theft and fraud. Officials searched the GAZelle van he was driving and found items taken from local residents, including religious icons, two safes, a welding machine, and other belongings. The ASTRA Telegram channel reports that officials handed Pyryev and the stolen goods over to the military commandant’s office, but a criminal case has yet to be opened.

One of the three soldiers involved in a car crash that killed two paramedics has returned to the war. In February, a BMW X7 carrying three servicemen—Isa Abdurashidov, Murad Musaev, and Ramazan Gadzhimuradov—ran a red light at 100 km/h and crashed into an ambulance in downtown Belgorod. The collision killed paramedics Olga Lyubimova and Marina Parovyshnik. Following the fatal accident, the soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Moscow. As of now, the alleged driver, Ramazan Gadzhimuradov, remains in critical condition, Isa Abdurashidov is recovering at home, and Murad Musaev has already returned to the war in Ukraine.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], authorities have opened a criminal case against Warrant Officer Aleksandr Polischuk, his wife Darya, Sergeant Kseniya Skryabina, and military accountant Natalya Sudareva. According to case materials, the suspects devised a fraud scheme involving military death gratuities. Polischuk targeted vulnerable locals—such as orphans, socially disadvantaged individuals, and the poor—who typically had no close relatives. He persuaded them to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense and enter sham marriages with either Skryabina or Sudareva. After sending these soldiers to the frontline, Polischuk allegedly used his connections to ensure they were assigned to high-risk assault units, increasing their likelihood of being killed in combat. Once they died, the conspirators fraudulently claimed state compensation for themselves. At least two confirmed victims of the scam have been identified, though the actual number may be higher. Case materials indicate that Skryabina had multiple previous surnames. The incidents occurred no later than summer 2024, and the case was officially opened in March 2025.

In a village in the Vologda region, serviceman Valery Smirnov was detained on charges of grievous bodily harm. According to witnesses, the soldier was drinking alcohol with a local resident, Aleksandr Antufyev, when an argument broke out. Smirnov then grabbed a knife and stabbed Antufyev in the stomach. The victim is in intensive care, and doctors are fighting for his life.

On a highway in the Belgorod region, a crash involving a military trailer killed two people. On the evening of March 19, 29-year-old Ilya Yaroslavtsev collided with a military trailer that had blocked the road without warning signs or lights. The crash killed his 22-year-old cousin, while his 47-year-old mother died in hospital five days later. The driver of the trailer was detained, and the case was transferred to the Investigative Committee, but the injured party has been unable to learn what charges have been filed and has received no updates from the investigators.

On the morning of March 26, a shooting occurred in the Moscow suburb of Zheleznodorozhny. The gunman was reportedly waiting outside an apartment building for an officer of the MoD. Some sources claim the target was a General Staff officer, while others say he was affiliated with the GRU [Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation] or Russia’s Special Operations Forces. The body of the gunman was later found in a tree line in Balashikha. According to preliminary reports, the victim was wounded, but his driver returned fire, scaring off the shooter. Later, the gunman’s body was found in a tree line in Balashikha. He had suffered a gunshot wound, likely inflicted by the victim’s guard. Another possibility being considered is that the shooter took his own life.

In Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a war participant was detained in connection with a case of going AWOL. He had been hiding at his girlfriend’s place and physically abusing her. According to Nadezhda, she met the soldier, Stepan, in December 2024 on the VKontakte social network. He did not tell her that he was wanted, and after a month of messaging, he moved in with her. At the end of January, Nadezhda received a call from criminal investigators, who informed her that Stepan had failed to return from leave to the frontline in August-September 2024. At one point, he brutally beat her until she lost consciousness and then stabbed her in the thigh. After subsequent beating on March 20, Nadezhda fled to a friend’s house, while Stepan stole 140,000 rubles [$1,660] from the apartment before being detained. The commandant’s office in Yakutsk confirmed to journalists that Stepan is being held in custody, from where he has continued sending threats to Nadezhda. So far, he has only been charged with going AWOL.

The military court in Nalchik sentenced soldier Denis Litvinov to five years in a penal colony on charges of going AWOL. According to investigators, Litvinov failed to report for duty in June of last year. He was finally detained by police in January 2025 and taken to the commandant’s office.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced prisoners of war from the Azov Brigade to long terms of imprisonment—ranging from 13 to 23 years—in a maximum security penal colony. A total of 23 men and nine women were convicted. Another Ukrainian prisoner involved in this case, Oleksandr Ishchenko, died in pre-trial detention before the verdict was delivered. The court began considering the case against 33 former fighters of the Azov Brigade in June of last year. They were charged with participation in a terrorist organization, undergoing training for terrorist activities, and attempting a violent seizure of power in the territory of the so-called "DPR." Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] has noted that during the court proceedings, the defendants repeatedly stated that their testimonies had been falsified, that their interrogations were conducted without lawyers, and that they had been subjected to humiliating treatment, denial of medical care and torture. Mediazona has also provided a detailed account of how the trial was conducted.

In the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region of Ukraine, a 47-year-old Crimean Tatar, Eldar Karamurza, has been detained. He is a father of four children and a person with a second-degree disability diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Karamurza was accused of having ties to the 48th Separate Assault Battalion named for Noman Çelebicihan and of participating in the economic blockade of Crimea. Presumably, he is being held in pre-trial detention in Novotroitske. For a month, Karamurza's family has not known his location or the exact charges against him.

A court in Nizhny Novgorod has placed a 27-year-old man in a pre-trial detention center in connection with a criminal case on an act of terror. According to investigators, the man "conspired via a messenger app with an unidentified individual who offered him a monetary reward for carrying out actions that would endanger the population in order to destabilize the activities of government authorities." The police specified that the manpurchased gasoline at a gas station and then, carrying a canister, arrived at a mobile provider's facility and set fire to a climate cabinet containing equipment.

A court in Kazan has ordered the detention of a local resident born in 1986 on charges of an act of terror committed in a group in conspiracy or by an organized group. According to investigators, in March 2025, the man "acted in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" by setting fire to communication equipment racks and attempting to break into a relay cabinet. The name of the detainee has not been disclosed.

During the trial of 58-year-old former police officer Konstantin Podoshvelev in Saint Petersburg, it was revealed that he faces charges of participating in a terrorist organization. His arrest was made public on Feb. 19, five days after his detention. Initially, he was accused of vandalism and damaging cultural heritage sites. According to investigators, Podoshvelev wrote the phrase "University for Murderers" on the wall of the Polytechnic University and "Russian Orthodox Church for Murderers" on the walls of two churches in Saint Petersburg. During the trial, it was disclosed that the investigation claims he made the inscriptions on the orders of the Freedom of Russia Legion. In court, the defendant denied the charges, claiming that operatives had beaten him and threatened him with torture.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Serhii Potynh to 18 years of imprisonment for allegedly planning an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Potynh was charged with participating in a terrorist organization, preparing an act of terror, as well as the illegal trafficking of explosives and explosive devices. The man worked as an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. According to law enforcement, in March 2023, he "joined a terrorist organization created by Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence" and received information from his "handlers" about the car of an employee of the "DPR police." At the end of May 2023, Potynh allegedly planted an explosive device under the vehicle, but the explosives were discovered and neutralized. The man was detained in June 2023.

A 44-year-old resident of the Omsk region has been placed in a pre-trial detention center on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to investigators, from late 2023 to early 2024, the man corresponded via messenger with an individual who identified as a member of the Freedom of Russia Legion. During their communication, the man allegedly decided to "participate directly in its activities with the special military operation on the side of Ukraine." The detained individual also purportedly provided information about military convoys, as well as the location and numerical strength of the military draft office.

In the Yaroslavl region, welder Vladislav Marov from Rybinsk has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for treason. As claimed by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the man "under the handler’s assignment" collected information about defense industry facilities. According to investigators, Marov opposed the war in Ukraine and contacted the ATESH partisan movement. He allegedly photographed industrial buildings in the region with their coordinates.

Assistance

Mayor of Magadan Larisa Polikanova has instructed municipal employees to start their workday by weaving camouflage nets for the military.

At a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Governor of the Krasnodar region Veniamin Kondratyev reported on the construction of a rehabilitation center for war veterans, designed for 500 patients. Initially planned in 2022 as a medical facility for patients recovering from heart attacks, strokes, and severe injuries, the center's purpose was revised in 2023. Following this change, the construction costs tripled from 3.9 billion rubles [$46.34 million] to 11.2 billion rubles [$133 million].

Children and Educational System

War veterans will develop a military training program for elementary school students in the Sverdlovsk region. During a meeting with Mayor of Yekaterinburg Aleksey Orlov, military officials discussed matters of "patriotic education" for young people and the introduction of "basic military training" in the general education system.

Miscellaneous

Nursultan Mussagaliyev, accused of war crimes in Bucha, has been appointed head of the Novosergiyevsky district in the Orenburg region. Mussagaliyev previously commanded a company in the 104th Airborne Assault Regiment and was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. In Ukraine, he is accused of violating the laws and customs of war. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he ordered the abduction, torture and execution of a local resident in the Bucha district.

Longreads

Mediazona, in collaboration with the Prizyv k Sovesti [Call to Conscience] coalition, has published a guide on how to avoid conscription.

The Regional Aspect media outlet tells the story of a man who was signed to a military contract and sent to the frontline despite being diagnosed with an intellectual disability.

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reports on a network of over 30 Orthodox military-patriotic camps for children and teenagers across Russia.

The Pervy Otdel [First Department] human rights project summarizes the initial results of its campaign to locate political prisoners. Thanks to hundreds of letters sent, they have been able to determine the whereabouts of several individuals convicted or charged for treason, "confidential" cooperation with foreign states, and espionage.