Mobilization in Russia for May 1-4, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 106,745 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 12,058 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,982 soldiers.

A conscript reportedly signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense just two and a half hours after arriving at the Chebarkul military unit in the Chelyabinsk region. The 20-year-old conscript had spent the first five months of his service with the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN) in the Pskov region. On April 20, 2025, he was transferred to the Chebarkul garrison. According to his mother, two hours and 24 minutes after arriving at the unit, he called her to report that he had been morally broken and had signed a contract. On the same day, he submitted a request to withdraw from the contract, while his family contacted military prosecutors. The request, among other things, mentioned that the young man was summoned to a separate office, where a sergeant fired a shot from an air pistol near him. He was also shown graphic photos and videos of corpses and mutilated soldiers without limbs and was told that he would face the same fate if he refused to sign. His mother said that the family managed to reach the division commander, who insisted the contract was signed voluntarily and without coercion. So far, the family has not received substantive responses from the prosecutor's office or the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee. Journalists from 74.RU [Chelyabinsk city online media outlet] have noted that in recent days, two more families of conscripts serving in Chebarkul have approached them with similar appeals. The command of the 90th Tank Division, stationed in Chebarkul, has faced repeated complaints of coercing conscripts into signing contracts, as well as reports of forged signatures.

The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel reports that officials in Moscow issued a draft notice to a student despite his being entitled to a draft deferment. The young man had responded to several prior summonses by visiting the draft office each time. In mid-April, he was summoned again—this time for a "pre-commission"—but was instead confronted with a full draft board and handed a draft notice to report to the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street to begin his statutory service.

The wife of Artur Mukhamedyarov, a 28-year-old contract soldier from Ufa, says he has been abducted. Her husband enlisted in August 2022 and joined the 57th Motorized Rifle Regiment. After sustaining multiple combat injuries and complaining about his health, his commanders sent him to “the pit”—a form of informal detention. He managed to escape in July 2024 and returned to Ufa. On Sept. 26, unidentified men stopped his car, pushed him into their vehicle and drove him to an unknown location. On Oct. 4, he phoned his wife and said his commanders were planning to send him on an assault mission. She has not heard from him since. Later, his mother received an official letter stating he had been declared missing as of Oct. 25. His wife believes that soldiers from the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade, to which commanders attached him on Oct. 1, carried out the abduction.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

According to the Baza Telegram channel, 42-year-old serviceman Vladimir Z. has been detained on suspicion of murdering fellow soldiers. Criminal cases have been opened against him on charges of murder committed in a way dangerous to the public and attempted murder of two or more persons. According to investigators, in late July 2024, at a temporary deployment site in the so-called "DPR," three subordinates refused to follow Vladimir’s order to deliver food supplies to forward positions. In response, he locked them in a cage and threw an F-1 grenade inside. One soldier died on the spot and the other two died shortly afterward.

The Southern District Military Court has sentenced mobilized soldier Maksim Parilov to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony in a case concerning the murder of his commander. He was also stripped of his sergeant rank. According to investigators, on March 19, 2024, Parilov and a fellow serviceman were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. That night, the soldiers began firing an assault rifle. A warrant officer who was acting as the platoon commander in Parilov’s unit came running in response to the gunfire. After a confrontation, the sergeant shot the commander at least 11 times, including three shots to the head. Fellow soldiers testified that Parilov asked them to help hide the body, saying, “I wasted the officer—let’s go bury him.” The warrant officer’s body was found in a tree line the following morning, and Parilov was arrested the same day.

According to the Pepel-Kursk [Ashes-Kursk] Telegram channel, the serviceman who shot and killed a large family in the Kursk region in the early hours of April 30 has been identified as Dmitry Stenkin, an ex-convict from Astrakhan with an extensive criminal record. The channel reports that in 2017, Stenkin was convicted of raping a minor. In 2022, he was sentenced to 10 months in a penal colony for making death threats. Most recently, on October 22, 2024, he received a two-year sentence in a maximum security penal colony for assaulting a police officer who had detained him while he was intoxicated.

In Stary Oskol, Belgorod region, the wife of a serviceman accused him of setting their house on fire. On Oct. 29, 2024, the man, who had returned from the frontline due to an injury, came home armed and under the influence of drugs. Frightened, the woman fled with their children. About thirty minutes later, neighbors informed her that the house was on fire. She believes her husband caused the fire, but no criminal case was opened, as law enforcement cited a “lack of evidence of a crime.” The soldier was not detained and was sent back to the frontline. The woman turned to the local administration for help. Officials promised to restore the house, but in over six months, only the windows were repaired. It was only after the media brought attention to the case that authorities pledged to allocate funds and begin full-scale repairs.

A war veteran from North Ossetia–Alania [Russia's constituent republic] has been sentenced to six years in a penal colony for fraud committed in a group involving a large sum and grand theft. Arsen Gagiev, who served in Ukraine, was found guilty of two separate incidents. According to prosecutors, in January 2024, Gagiev convinced a conscript named Lysenko that he could exempt him from military service on health grounds. Lysenko collected 2.3 million rubles [$27,900] as a bribe and handed it to Gagiev. A separate incident involved theft from a serviceman in the same unit who had gone AWOL and was living at his mother's home, causing his payments to be suspended. Using a military police armband from his previous training, Gagiev persuaded the draft dodger to register his bank account to Gagiev's phone number, after which he stole over 1 million rubles [$12,100] from the account.

A court in Nalchik has sentenced 43-year-old Khachim Borsov from Kabardino-Balkaria [Russia's constituent republic] to six years and 15 days in a maximum security penal colony for going AWOL during the mobilization period. The sentence takes into account his previous unspent conviction for robbery. Borsov signed a contract with the MoD to participate in the war against Ukraine while already serving time in a maximum security penal colony. The court also handed down a verdict in the case of his son Charim for going AWOL. The 23-year-old man was sentenced to five years in a penal colony.

Kaluga Regional Court has sentenced a 16-year-old resident of Lyudinovo to six and a half years in a juvenile correctional facility on charges of sabotage and vehicle theft. According to investigators, in the summer of 2023, the teenager set fire to a battery cabinet on a railway under the instructions of an unknown individual he had met in a messaging app. The person, who claimed to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, promised the teenager 50,000 rubles [$610] in exchange for committing the arson and filming it. However, the teen never received the payment. The court’s press service also stated that prior to this incident, the young man had stolen a moped and a motorcycle, taken them for a ride and abandoned them on the street.

Children

Announcements have recently appeared on the platform of Moscow’s Electronic School, where students access their homework, promoting a "patriotic" summer camp offering militarized training. According to the ad, six two-week sessions are scheduled for students in grades 7-10 (ages 14-17). The camp promises tactical, engineering and firearms training, as well as lessons on topography, firearms training and field medicine. Participants will also learn how to operate UAV and navigate terrain. Moscow authorities expect more than 4,500 students to attend these militarized camps over the summer.

In Vladivostok, the "Great-grandchildren of Victory" children's parade took place, featuring around 1,500 first graders from the Primorsky region and North Korea. Fifty ceremonial units marched on the city's central square, representing different branches of the military—from motorized riflemen and artillerymen to medics and naval infantry. Among the participants were children whose fathers are involved in the war with Ukraine.

Longreads

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet published a piece detailing what awaits Russian soldiers upon their return from captivity. In most cases, they face interrogation and redeployment to forward positions, while some are sent to penal colonies. Only a few released prisoners are discharged and allowed to return home.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] shared the story of Atmir and Ratmir Haupshev, two brothers from Kabardino-Balkaria who were conscripted in the spring of 2024 and sent to guard the state border near Belgorod. They were killed just months before completing their service.