Mobilization in Russia for May 10-13, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin has relieved Sergei Shoigu of his post as Minister of Defense, which he had occupied since 2012, and appointed him Secretary of the Security Council instead, replacing Nikolai Patrushev, whose new position is still unknown. Putin has proposed that Andrey Belousov [former First Deputy Prime Minister] should head the Ministry of Defense. The Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly] is expected to confirm his appointment. On May 13, Belousov spoke at a session of its Committee on Defense and Security, promising to address the health care and benefit issues affecting the participants of the war against Ukraine. While noting that they are well compensated financially, he stated that authorities should work on helping them with housing.

Eduard Sharafiev, a member of the State Council of Russia's constituent Republic of Tatarstan and concurrently a participant of the "special military operation," stated that the new Minister of Defense ought to increase the salaries of service members taking part in the invasion by 100,000 rubles [$1,080]. At present, they earn approximately 210,000 rubles [$2,270] per month. Sharafiev considers it unjust that Moscow couriers are paid more or less the same amount. According to him, the raise would also attract new volunteer fighters and contract soldiers.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs decided not to press charges against Vyacheslav Dyukov for "discrediting the Armed Forces." During a session in February 2024, the Krasnoyarsk City Council member had referred to men, who sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, as "alcoholics, homeless individuals, derelicts and convicts." Following the incident, the United Russia party [Putin’s ruling party] had expelled Dyukov, who also had to apologize for his words and announce his intention to go to war. In the end, however, he spent less than two weeks at the front.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

In the Moscow suburb of Solnechnogorsk, a raid against migrants took place. On May 12, law enforcement officers conducted a raid on public dining establishments. As a result, 20 people were detained and six were subsequently reported. Several individuals were sent to the draft office for registration, and another four foreigners have reportedly signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense. According to the head of the Solnechnogorsk district, the roundup was organized in response to complaints from local residents who requested to check the legality of the migrants' stay in Russia.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Vladimir Osokin, Yevgeny Surovtsev and Vadim Dorzhiev from Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], Mikhail Mukhomedzyanov, Pavel Klivtsov and Vladislav Naduvanov from the Irkutsk region, Aleksey Shirokov and Dmitry Gordeev from the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], Andrey Mazlov and Aleksandr Streltsov from the Kirov region, Shamil Baikov from the Orenburg region, Ivan Sitnik from the Krasnoyarsk region, Yevgeny Kalashnikov, Aleksey Shevtsov and Arthur Yankovoy from the Belgorod region, and Dmitry Shanin from the Yaroslavl region.

Former Wagner Group mercenaries from the Oryol region have recorded a message to Putin. In the video, men who returned from the war in Ukraine state that they have not been able to obtain veteran IDs for a year. According to these ex-mercenaries, the draft office told them they "have no relation" to volunteer fighters. 200 people have applied for veteran IDs, but only six have received them. The rest reportedly "neither receive IDs nor the benefits associated with them." The former Wagnerites also complain that they have not been able to receive social benefits or compensation for injuries. According to them, ex-convicts who fought in the Storm-Z unit are experiencing the same problems.

The sister of a contract soldier from the Samara region told the Astra Telegram channel journalists that her brother, who signed a contract in November 2023 without undergoing a medical examination, was sent to the frontline after two weeks of training. When his chronic back pain worsened, he was assaulted and sent to the refuseniks. Eventually, he disappeared after the arrival of a commander who persuaded the soldiers to go to the forward positions. Earlier, the Investigative Committee, to which the soldier's sister complained, found no violations, and the man was likely forced to waive claims against the command.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), on May 12, Russian soldiers shot off the finger of a 74-year-old local resident in the suburbs of Vovchansk town in the Kharkiv region. A criminal case has been initiated following the incident.

In the city of Volgograd, a court has sentenced contract soldier Sergey Tyulenev to 10 years in a maximum security penal colony for fatally assaulting an acquaintance, despite his guilty plea.

A court in Volgograd has sentenced Andrey Davydenko, a Wagner Group mercenary with several previous convictions, to three years in a maximum security penal colony for four thefts. He pleaded guilty in court. The judge considered his participation in the war, his injuries and his awards as mitigating factors. However, the verdict did not mention Davydenko's previous convictions. He received his last conviction in March 2022, when the court sentenced him to three years in a penal colony for a series of thefts.

The Borzya Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Aleksandr Chuprin to seven and a half years in a penal colony for theft with unlawful entry. The sentence was imposed in combination with a previous verdict by the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Garrison Military Court, which had found Chuprin guilty of going AWOL during mobilization.

The military court in Rostov-on-Don has found maintenance troop commander Pavel Nikiforov guilty of abuse of power. He forced his subordinate soldiers to build and guard his house. Investigators found that the illegal work increased the time needed to repair damaged military vehicles in the unit. Nikiforov faced up to ten years of imprisonment, but the court sentenced him to three and a half years of probation. The court considered the fact that Nikiforov has children and has already compensated the victims for moral damages to be mitigating factors.

Military investigators have refused initiating a criminal case for going AWOL against a resident of the Moscow region. In the summer of 2022, the man went to receive his military ID at the draft office, from which he was deceitfully sent to a military collection point, and then to a combat zone. Only after several months was he able to return home. According to the command that declared him AWOL, the man reportedly expressed a desire to sign a contract and voluntarily went to the frontline. However, no confirmation of the man's request to sign a contract was found. Consequently, military investigators concluded that the man had not acquired the status of a serviceman and therefore could not be charged under the AWOL article.

On the night of May 12, an unidentified person threw two bottles filled with a flammable liquid at the draft office in the town of Suoyarvi in Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic]. The fire extinguished itself, and traces of ignition were only discovered during an inspection of the building. The arsonist is being sought.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported the detention of a resident of the Nizhny Novgorod region on charges of treason. According to the intelligence services, on Feb. 27, 2022, three days after the invasion began, the detainee transferred money to the "Come Back Alive" foundation "for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to acquire armored vehicles, ammunition, gear, and medicines."

The FSB in the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject] has reported the detention of a local resident who, according to law enforcement, was engaged in espionage for Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence. According to law enforcement, the detainee allegedly collected and transmitted information about military infrastructure objects the Primorsky region. The man has been charged with treason.

The lawyer of 25-year-old Aleksey Grigoryev from Novotroitsk, accused of arson of a draft office, an FSB office and a railway station, has sent the SOTAvision media outlet copies of his client's letter from detention. In it, Grigoryev writes that he is being subjected to moral and physical pressure, demanding that he renounce his lawyer. The man complains that he is being intentionally kept in unbearable conditions, and that he is not being provided with medical care or medication.

A Ukrainian with cerebral palsy is being held in a Russian prison. This information became known from a letter from political prisoner Vladimir Sergeyev. According to Sergeyev, the Ukrainian, whose name he does not mention, walks with crutches because he is paralyzed below his knees. He was sentenced to nine years on terrorism charges for allegedly inciting Russians to commit acts of terror.

Children and Educational System

According to government procurement contracts, the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania [Russia's constituent republic] will spend 250 million rubles [$2.70 million] on drone pilot training and related equipment for educational institutions.

Former Wagner Group mercenary Ildar Akbulatov, sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2011 for being a member of a gang responsible for three murders, one attempted murder, several robberies, and thefts, now teaches patriotism at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. He also became the head of a "charity foundation" that assists Russian soldiers.

Longreads

The Sota media outlet has analyzed data on the years-long preparations by Russia and the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Doxa online student magazine has published a story detailing the activities of the frontline song and dance ensemble of the Central Military District, which regularly performs in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet sheds light on how relatives of deceased servicemen divide death gratuity payments, often through the courts.