Mobilization in Russia for March 30-April 1, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] passed a law allowing parents, spouses and children of service members who are undergoing treatment or rehabilitation to request up to 35 days of additional unpaid leave. In the event of a service member’s death, parents, widows and children may take up to 14 days of unpaid leave.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to begin the 2025 spring conscription campaign, which will run from April 1 until July 15. Under current legislation, men aged 18 to 30 are required to serve, while those who turn 30 before or during the campaign are placed in the reserves. According to the new decree, the Ministry of Defense aims to recruit 160,000 conscripts, making this spring campaign the largest since 2011, when 203,000 men were called up. In comparison, 150,000 were conscripted in the spring of 2024 and 133,000 in the fall, while in 2023, the numbers stood at 147,000 in the spring and 130,000 in the fall. The 2022 conscription campaign brought in 134,500 recruits in the spring and 120,000 in the fall (see the infographic for trends in previous years).

During a briefing, Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, Deputy Head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, stated that the upcoming regular conscription campaign will "utilize the state information system." Authorities plan to summon potential conscripts to draft offices using both traditional paper draft notices—delivered by registered mail or in person—and digital draft notices sent to personal accounts on the Gosuslugi public services portal, or on Mos.ru for those in Moscow. Tsimlyansky emphasized that those conscripted "will not be deployed to participate in the special military operation." However, despite such assurances, conscripts are frequently killed in Russia's border regions.

Conscripts will begin being sent to military units from military collection points starting April 10. At the same time, conscripts drafted in the spring of 2024 will be discharged into the reserve.

The Vyorstka media outlet, in collaboration with the human rights organization Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School], provides an overview of the new measures coming into effect for the 2025 spring conscription campaign. Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories] has also prepared a guide on what to know about the upcoming conscription. Meanwhile, Mediazona and the Prizyv k Sovesti [Call to Conscience] coalition have compiled instructions on how to legally avoid conscription. Additionally, Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet] reminds readers of actions and decisions that can help evade military service.

The military commissar of the Rostov region, Igor Yegorov, stated that electronic draft notices will not be issued during the spring conscription campaign, as the necessary software has not yet been implemented. Meanwhile, around 2,000 people will be conscripted from the Tyumen region.

The authorities of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] have extended the payment of 1.6 million rubles [$19,000] for signing a contract with the MoD until April 30. Previously, this measure was in effect until March 31. On March 27, the republic’s Prime Minister, Andrey Nazarov, reported that in 2024, 13.4 billion rubles [$159 million] had been allocated from the regional budget to support participants in the war with Ukraine and their families.

Authorities in the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject] have raised the contract sign-up bonus for the third time since the beginning of the year. In mid-January 2025, the payout increased from 800,000 rubles [$9,520] to 1 million rubles [$11,900]. A month later, it was raised again to 1.6 million rubles [$19,040]. Now, the bonus has been raised to 2.1 million rubles [$25,000]. With the national payment from the MoD included, contract soldiers will receive a total of 2.5 million rubles [$29,800].

The Idite Lesom! [Flee Through the Woods/Get lost you all] project reported on a conscript from Moscow who has been trying for six months to obtain a referral for a medical evaluation board, but the draft office continues to issue him draft notices for deployment. The project also noted that another conscript from Moscow had previously reported a similar issue.

At Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, a 25-year-old man was removed from a flight and served a draft notice. He told the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel that he is unfit for service due to third-degree flat feet. However, in 2024, when he attempted to obtain a military registration certificate, he was assigned service fitness category "A" (fully fit for military service). Officials later assured him that this would be corrected after a medical evaluation, yet on the same day, he was issued a draft notice for enlistment. He attempted to challenge the decision in court, but his lawsuit was dismissed. In late March 2025, while trying to fly to Astrakhan, he was removed from his flight, taken to the airport police station and then escorted to the Unified Military Recruitment Center. There, without undergoing a medical examination or a draft board hearing, he was issued a draft notice for April 16. At the same time, he was charged with a misdemeanor for failing to appear at the draft office the previous year. Notably, he was not officially listed as wanted, and draft office staff had no official requests concerning him. As a result, it remains unclear on what legal grounds he was detained.

On April 1 in Tyumen, law enforcement officers conducted raids to locate draft dodgers and those who violated migration laws. A total of 35 men were detained, 13 of whom had not undergone military registration. The violators were taken to the regional draft office.

The Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet has reported that Aleksandr Yemelyanov, a 22-year-old Lieutenant from Russia's constituent Republic of Udmurtia has signed a contract with the MoD to join the war against Ukraine. In the fall of 2024, at a training range in Ussuriysk [Primorsky region], Yemelyanov shot and killed Artyom Antonov, a 19-year-old conscript from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Andrey Gorev, a resident of the Vladimir region born in 2004, has been reported killed in the war with Ukraine on Feb. 14. Dovod [independent Russian media outlet] reported, citing a source, that Gorev was performing statutory military service and came under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russia's border territory.

Information has emerged about a second Russian soldier born in 2007 who was killed on the frontline. In the village of Novoyuryevo in the Tambov region, 18-year-old Artyom Sutormin was laid to rest. The local church priest who attended the funeral stated that Sutormin went to war after finishing school. Born on Jan. 12, 2007, he died on March 21, 2025. The exact date when he signed his military contract remains unclear.

Details have also surfaced about the death in combat of Russian sailor Konstantin Chistyakov. In February 2024, the 24-year-old Chistyakov was sentenced to 12.5 years in a penal colony on charges of rape and attempted rape resulting in grievous bodily harm. Chistyakov committed the crime on May 14, 2023, in Baltiysk. After consuming alcohol, he attacked a local woman, raped and severely assaulted her, but was apprehended by passersby. Information that Chistyakov avoided punishment by going to war after his sentencing had not been previously reported.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Chelyabinsk, a 25-year-old conscript soldier fell from a residential building window and died. Reports indicate that military police had arrived at his home earlier—allegedly because he had left his military unit without authorization. He attempted to climb from a 15th-floor apartment window onto the roof but fell. No official statement about the conscript's death has been issued.

The Novosibirsk Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Viktor Pavlovsky to three years and one month in a maximum security penal colony on charges of robbery with violence. In November 2024, Pavlovsky saw an unfamiliar man withdrawing money from an ATM. Pavlovsky snatched over 100,000 rubles [$1,190] from the victim and ran away. A person with the same full name as Pavlovsky had previously been convicted multiple times for robbery.

A soldier from the Tomsk region has been sentenced to 10 years in a penal colony for going AWOL, death threats and robbery. According to prosecutors, in February 2024, Yury Shadrin left his unit without permission and went to the Tomsk region. While at his ex-partner’s home, "dissatisfied with her complaints about his alcohol abuse," he struck her at least 10 times and then began to strangle her. The woman was pregnant at the time of the attack. After that, Shadrin held a knife to her abdomen and demanded money. The victim gave him 13,500 rubles [$160], after which he left. In June, Shadrin was detained by the police.

In the Rostov region, contract soldier Vitaly Astakhov has been sentenced to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death. According to the case files, in November 2023, Astakhov severely assaulted a hostel guest in Novocherkassk out of personal animosity, who later died. The animosity stemmed from the soldier's suspicion that the guest was associated with the AFU.

Another serviceman, sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony for going AWOL, was exempted from punishment due to receiving a "For Courage" medal for combat operations.

A 21-year-old cadet of a tank school, awarded the Order of Courage, set fire to a locomotive in Kazan. According to investigators, Dmitry M. received the arson task via Telegram and was offered 600,000 rubles [$7,140]. Dmitry agreed, bought gasoline from a gas station the next day and went to Yudino station where he carried out the arson, recording all his actions for accountability. Fortunately, the locomotive's cab partially burned without casualties. Dmitry was arrested and confessed during interrogation, revealing his intention to spend the money on drugs. According to the Baza Telegram channel, he had participated in the war with Ukraine, which earned him the award.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov sentenced Stanislav Rudenko from the Zaporizhzhia region to 10 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of aiding terrorism. He was tried for fundraising for quadcopters for the Azov Brigade. Over seven months, he allegedly donated 5,000 hryvnias [$120].

The First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction upheld the sentence of Ukrainian volunteer Iryna Horobtsova. In August 2024, she was sentenced to 10.5 years in a penal colony for "espionage" in the occupied part of the Kherson region. She was accused of transferring information to Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence about the movements of Russian troops and military vehicles in the city of Kherson.

Since January, Ukrainian POWs in Rostov’s 1st pre-trial detention center (SIZO-1) have been systematically beaten, Mediazona has reported. The pre-trial detention center in Taganrog had long been notorious among detainees for routine torture, while the one in Rostov-on-Don was previously considered relatively mild in comparison. However, this changed in January. Now, at Rostov’s pre-trial detention center, Ukrainian POWs are subjected to daily brutal beatings, forced to sing the Russian national anthem and "Katyusha," coerced into renouncing their lawyers and even pressured to inform on them. POWs report that the greatest cruelty comes from special forces officers assigned to the facility, who rotate in from other regions.

Children and Educational System

Sergey Sechenov, speaker of the Tomsk City Duma, proposed introducing a more careful selection process for military personnel invited to speak at schools. According to him, members of the "Veterans of the Special Military Operation Association" who have received pedagogical training could speak about the war in a manner that would not frighten children but instead inspire pride. Sechenov himself is a veteran of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Assistance

Lyudmila Romanova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Vladimir region, reported that over the past year, she received 5,248 complaints about human rights violations. Of these, 1,660 were related to participants in the war with Ukraine and their families. The majority of the complaints concerned issues such as the repatriation of POWs, the search for missing soldiers, compensation for injuries, as well as requests for leave and medical assistance.

Longreads

Idel.Realii has released the second part of a large study on life in Bashkortostan since the start of the full-scale invasion (the first part of the article is available here).

The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet shared the story of Nikolay Nefedov, a disabled auto electrician who was assaulted, forced to sign a contract and then sent to Ukraine to participate in "meat assaults."

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] published an investigation about a French radio broadcasting holding that operates in the occupied territories of Ukraine and promotes contracts with the Russian Armed Forces.

The Bumaga [Paper] independent media outlet spoke with residents of Saint Petersburg about how they managed to legally avoid military service through the alternative civilian service.