Mobilization in Russia for March 9-11, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Vladimir Putin signed a decree forming a State Council commission to support combat veterans of the war in Ukraine and their families. He named Governor of the Astrakhan region Igor Babushkin to chair the commission. Putin also signed a decree to provide one-time payments to individuals who sustained disabilities while taking part in combat operations in Donbas since May 11, 2014. Those with Group I disabilities will receive 6.05 million rubles [$68,800]; those with Group II will receive 5.24 million rubles [$59,600]; and those with Group III will receive 4.42 million rubles [$50,200].
Agentstvo [Agency], an independent media outlet, reports that the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund, led by Putin’s relative Anna Tsivilyova, spent significantly less than the sums allocated to it. The government allocated 6.34 billion rubles [$72 million] and 21.9 billion rubles [$249 million] in 2023 and 2024, respectively, for a total of 28.2 billion rubles [$321 million]. However, after the fund used only part of these resources, the government slashed the fund’s budget by 15.5 billion rubles [$176 million] from December 2023 to the fall of 2024. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor reports a 24,000-person increase in those needing prosthetics in 2023, yet the fund covered only a small fraction. It spent 1.4 billion rubles [$15.91 million] on prosthetics, 2 billion rubles [$22.75 million] on housing adaptation and refurbishment, 719.1 million rubles [$8.17 million] on specialized vehicles, and 280.5 million rubles [$3.19 million] on rehabilitation equipment. Salaries and organizational expenses took over a quarter of the fund—3 billion rubles [$34.10 million]. Agentstvo found no decrees allocating grants to the fund in 2025.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Governor of the Irkutsk region Igor Kobzev has announced an increase in the regional payment for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense to 1 million rubles [$11,400], up from 400,000 rubles [$4,550].
Advertisements for signing contracts with the Russian Armed Forces, suggesting the imminent end of combat operations, have begun appearing on the VKontakte social network, offering over 5.5 million rubles [$62,500] for the "first year of service."
The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has noted that the Draft Register has not yet become operational, despite the scheduled start of the spring 2025 conscription campaign on April 1, less than a month away. The Draft Registry website has not been updated since its launch in the fall of 2024, and it still indicates that the site is in test mode for three regions. In December 2024, the government extended the deadline for fulfilling state contracts related to the development of the Unified Military Register—the register of Russians subject to military service [digital system to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices]—to Dec. 31, 2025. According to lawyers, under the current legislation, the introduction of restrictions by a draft office is possible even without using the Unified Military Register. However, they do not anticipate widespread restrictions without the Register's infrastructure being in place.
Meanwhile, a draft officer in the Krasnoyarsk region has been sending letters to the parents of conscripts, asking them to "assist in determining the whereabouts" of their sons and encourage them to report to the military commissariat. These letters are being sent to the parents of young men who did not complete the conscription process for military service in 2024 and refer to them as draft dodgers. However, these letters have no legal force.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
The Put Domoy [Way Home] Telegram channel, run by the wives of mobilized soldiers, has announced an event on March 15. Activists are calling on supporters to lay flowers at the Eternal Flame or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in their respective cities. "Let this serve as a reminder that nothing is over yet, that our loved ones are still forced to be on the frontline. We haven’t forgotten anything! And we won’t stop until the mobilized soldiers are brought home," the channel's post stated. Women held similar events a year ago, but they later ceased.
Relatives of missing soldiers from Udmurtia [Russia's constituent republic] have complained about delays in obtaining DNA tests. According to them, the local branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund is fully booked until the end of July 2025.
The mother of mobilized corporal Maksim reported that her son has been persecuted by the military command. Six months after being mobilized, the 22-year-old soldier came under attack and returned home "completely broken." According to the woman, doctors diagnosed him with suicidal tendencies, aggression, and severe depression, advising that he should not serve with a weapon. In May 2023, Maksim was referred for a medical evaluation to determine his fitness for service. It is unclear whether he completed it. By the fall of 2024, his condition had gradually improved, but he soon learned that a criminal case had been opened against him for going AWOL. In 2025, he voluntarily reported to the commandant’s office, where he was told he needed to undergo a military medical board examination. However, instead of being evaluated, he was sent to a garrison in the town of Chebarkul and, six weeks later—without undergoing the medical board—was deployed to the frontline. There has been no contact with him since. Previously, ASTRA reported that refuseniks from Chebarkul were being sent to combat zones via transit through the cities of Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don.
The Agentstvo media outlet has obtained three complaints filed with the Military Prosecutor’s Office by relatives of soldiers serving in the 35th, 132nd, and 137th brigades. The complaints describe mistreatment of troops on the frontline, beatings in the rear, and threats of execution. Soldiers and their families have repeatedly raised concerns about such abuses in public statements as well. The complaints were submitted several weeks ago, but there is no information indicating that they have led to any positive resolution.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Astra managed to identify the man who has been terrorizing residents of an apartment building in Orsk. He turned out to be 33-year-old previously convicted Vladimir Gvozdev. According to an acquaintance, Gvozdev served in the Wagner Group and then signed a contract with the RuAF. His social media profiles indicate that he serves in the 506th Motorized Rifle Regiment. In 2025, after being wounded, he underwent treatment in Udmurtia. According to neighbors, the serviceman escaped from the hospital and is now effectively a deserter. However, despite being detained multiple times due to ongoing conflicts with neighbors, he was repeatedly released by the police. In 2010, Gvozdev was found guilty of theft.
On March 10, in the Volgograd region, a participant in the war against Ukraine set fire to a store using a Molotov cocktail. Local residents told journalists that the man was drunk and attempted to buy alcohol during prohibited hours. After being refused, he threw a Molotov cocktail at the store. The administration of the Vologodsky district reported that the perpetrator was detained. He was charged with public intoxication, and a criminal case was also initiated against him for attempted arson.
In the village of Zanevka in the Leningrad region, two control panels of a Rostelecom cellular tower were burned — according to the local fire department, on the night of March 10. According to the Kremlin-aligned Mash on Moika news outlet, bottles containing lighter fluid and a crowbar were found at the scene. It is claimed that a criminal case for an act of terror has been opened.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a 49-year-old resident of the Belgorod region suspected of planning an act of terror in the city of Valuyki and the poisoning of Russian soldiers. According to law enforcement officers, the man was in contact with an unnamed terrorist organization and, on the instructions of his "handlers," collected and transmitted information about the location and movements of Russian soldiers in the border area. The FSB did not specify what kind of terrorist attack the detainee was planning to carry out in Valuyki or how he intended to poison the military personnel. Criminal cases have been opened against the man on charges of high treason, attempted participation in a terrorist organization, preparation for sabotage and an act of terror, as well as illegal possession of explosives.
Friends of university student Vladislav Afimin, who was arrested for high treason, have shared details of his criminal case with the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel. According to them, someone contacted Afimin and suggested he create graffiti with links to Ukrainian Telegram channels. Vladislav, who his friends say supports the Russian army, agreed just for fun. Eventually, the young men became friends and began meeting in person, after which the new acquaintance offered Afimin a chance to earn money and connected him with a handler who assigned him to photograph barracks at a military base, which he did. The next assignment was to photograph a military unit headquarters, but the young man refused and deleted their correspondence. Nevertheless, the FSB detained him soon after.
The Central District Military Court has received a criminal case against Pavel Svezhentsev, the author of the Uralskaya Respublika [Ural Republic] Telegram channel, along with another defendant whose name remains undisclosed. Svezhentsev is accused of aiding terrorist activities, calls for terrorism, and creating a terrorist organization. He was detained in July 2023, initially facing charges only for calls for terrorism. According to investigators, Svezhentsev allegedly contacted a "Ukrainian terrorist organization" and planned to form a combat unit within the Armed Forces of Ukraine to "liberate the Urals" and organize partisan groups in Russia.
30-year-old Ihor Sudilovsky, a former Ukrainian soldier from Sevastopol, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison on charges of attempted murder of a Russian serviceman. He was found guilty of treason, attempted terrorism, and illegal possession of explosives. According to investigators, in February 2024, Sudilovsky allegedly contacted Ukrainian military intelligence and "voluntarily agreed to cooperate confidentially" with the agency. His arrest was reported in March 2024. Prosecutors claim he was preparing an assassination attempt on an unnamed Russian military officer.
The Southern District Military Court sentenced 47-year-old Yalta resident Petro Zhitsky to 24 years in prison for an attempted murder of a former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada [the unicameral parliament of Ukraine] deputy, Oleg Tsaryov. Zhitsky was tried on six criminal charges, including treason, undergoing terrorist training, attempting to kill a public figure, and illegal arms and explosives trafficking. According to the court, Zhitsky established contact with a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer and passed on information to him. From December to October, Zhitsky stalked Tsaryov, and in May and June, he "determined a possible location for an attempt on his life." As reported by law enforcement officers, Tsaryov was attacked in the fall of 2023 at a health resort in Yalta, but he survived.
Children and Educational System
The Ne Norma [Not a norm] Telegram channel analyzed procurement by six regions to equip school classrooms for the Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland subject. In total, the Rostov, Kemerovo, Amur, Smolensk, Tambov, and Ulyanovsk regions will spend over 154 million rubles [$1.75 million] on purchasing mock-ups of Kalashnikov assault rifles, Makarov pistols, grenades, simulated injury devices, and other training aids.
At least 57 Russian schools have been legally compelled to display maps in their geography classrooms showing annexed regions as part of Russia, as revealed by the Vyorstka media outlet after examining court records.
According to Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet], 15,200 individuals received state-funded university places in Russia in 2024 under quotas for participants of the "special military operation" and their children. This represents 3.5% of all first-year students. Participants of the "special military operation" and their children are most often enrolled in programs for teachers, doctors, and programmers. One-third of those admitted under quota did so without exams. Of those who took the Unified State Exam [graduation examination in Russia’s schools], 70% would not have passed without the quota, as their scores were below passing grades.
The Higher School of Economics will launch educational cycles for training UAV operators in its Perm, Saint Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod branches starting the new academic year.
Miscellaneous
Following other regions, Governor of the Vladimir region Alexander Avdeyev announced the launch of the Heroes-33 program under Putin's declared the Time of Heroes personnel program, aimed at preparing war participants for leadership positions in government and municipal structures.
According to the If We’re Being Precise project, excess mortality in Russia in 2024 reached 7.8% (around 130,000 people). In five regions, the rate exceeded 30%: the Republic of Tyva (50.5%), the Altai Republic [(44.6%), the Nenets autonomous region (43.9%), the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region (35.4%), and the Republic of Ingushetia (33.7%). Analysts suggest the increase is likely linked to war-related losses.
Longreads
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet published an article about how relatives of missing soldiers in the Kursk region are trying to locate their relatives. Meanwhile, the Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel] covered the story of a mother whose son participated in the war in Ukraine, and who spent two years unable to get his death certificate.
Novaya Gazeta Europe conducted a study on events held in Russian museums. According to their findings, every sixth museum is involved in promoting the war. Since April 2022, a total of 3,272 artifacts related to the "special military operation" have been introduced into Russian museums.