Mobilization in Russia for May 17-19, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Prosecutor General's Office has prepared a new draft order on organizing oversight to protect the rights of participants in combat operations and members of their families. The document tells prosecutors they must ensure "continuous supervisory support" for appeals, ascertain the full scope of a complainant's problems rather than only the specific grievance, and secure full restoration of violated rights. If a complaint involves failure to pay monetary allowances, denial of benefits due to the service member, problems with the military medical board, delayed discharge, or failure to grant leave or to issue a combat veteran certificate, prosecutors must examine not only the individual service member's situation but also conditions in the unit or military formation as a whole. The Prosecutor General's Office also wants to place under special monitoring the timeliness of payments and the provision of allowances, the issuance of combat veteran certificates, compliance with military medical board deadlines, the legality of discharges on health grounds, the provision of leave, and the legality of orders declaring service members missing in action, absent without leave [AWOL], or prisoners of war. Previously, the Prosecutor General's Office prepared a new draft order, "On the Organization of Prosecutorial Oversight over Compliance with Legislation on Military Registration and Conscription of Citizens for Military Service."
Army Recruitment
Head of Mari El [Russia's constituent republic] Yury Zaitsev signed a decree cutting the regional sign-up bonus by 300,000 rubles [$4,210]. As a result, starting May 18, instead of the 2.6 million rubles [$36,520] set in March, the total will be 2.3 million rubles [$32,300]. Counting the federal component of 400,000 rubles [$5,620], individuals signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense will receive 2.7 million rubles [$37,920].
Authorities in the Vladimir region have begun forming the volunteer unit BARS-Vladimir to counter UAVs. According to Governor Aleksandr Avdeyev, 50 people have already joined the unit. The regional authorities say that service in the regional mobilization reserve will take place exclusively within the region and will not involve deployment to the war in Ukraine. According to Avdeyev, service in BARS-Vladimir will pay from 100,000 rubles per month, with additional bonuses available for carrying out combat missions. Service in the unit can also be combined with regular civilian employment. Governors in the Perm region and Chuvashia [Russia’s constituent republic] have likewise announced the formation of BARS volunteer units to counter UAVs.
In the Tomsk region, women are being encouraged to sign contracts for service in UAV units. Advertisements recruiting women for positions as drone operators assigned to facility protection duties and UAV forces are being published on the social media accounts of local municipal administrations. Applicants are offered free training in several specialties, including UAV and FPV drone operation, as well as FPV drone maintenance. The contract is offered for a fixed term of one year, with the candidate's primary civilian job reportedly preserved during service. The advertisements also assure applicants that women will not be transferred to assault units or deployed to the line of contact. Applicants must be between 18 and 40 years of age, have no criminal record, and not be pregnant at the time the contract is signed.
The MoD has published at least three videos on its social media accounts featuring university students who interrupted their studies and signed contracts with the ministry to take part in the war. In all cases seen thus far, the students are described as coming from stable, well-off families and studying technical disciplines related to UAVs, programming or engineering. Each of them says that after completing their contract, they intend to return to university and continue training through a military training center. According to The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet], the parents of one of the students were registered at the time of his birth at military units belonging to the 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade in the town of Bataysk, Rostov region.
According to human rights advocates, draft roundups have resumed in Moscow. Timofey Vaskin, a lawyer with the human rights organization Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School], said that as early as April, the organization had been receiving complaints from men who failed to appear in response to draft notices at the Unified Military Recruitment Center. They were detained, taken to draft offices, fined and forced through conscription procedures, after which they were issued deployment notices but ultimately allowed to return home. However, since mid-May, a new wave of complaints has emerged. The roundups often take place on weekends, when lawyers, attorneys and human rights advocates are off duty. Even individuals who are formally appealing their draft decisions in court are being detained. Cases have been documented both in which conscripts were sent to military units and in which detainees were eventually released. The Telegram channel Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] has also reported several cases of conscripts being detained in the Moscow metro. In two instances, the young men were taken through Interior Ministry police stations to the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street. Another conscript was reportedly held at a police station for five hours and pressured into signing a draft notice from the draft office.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Barnaul Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Ivan Raskovalov to twelve and a half years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of robbery and desertion. Raskovalov was supposed to return to military service in September 2024, but instead remained at home. On June 5, 2025, he and two teenagers, Kirill Bespalov and another youth who is still under 18, assaulted a man while intoxicated in Biysk and stole his bank card. The group then withdrew 300,000 rubles [$4,214] from the account and split the money among themselves. Raskovalov was detained on June 9 and placed in a pre-trial detention center. The serviceman had previously been convicted at least seven times.
The Petrozavodsk City Court has sentenced 55-year-old war participant Sergey Maksimov from Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic] to six years in a maximum security penal colony in a case involving grievous bodily harm resulting in death. According to investigators, on Jan. 3, 2026, while drinking alcohol, he argued with his 50-year-old domestic partner and threw a knife at her, severing an artery in her leg. The woman died from blood loss. Maksimov had previously been convicted of murder, but after signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense and taking part in the war against Ukraine, he received a state award and his criminal record was expunged.
The Moscow Garrison Military Court has sentenced Daria Bezruchko, a native of Horlivka, to five years in a penal colony on charges of going AWOL. Her defense argued that the order mobilizing her into the Russian military had been signed on Jan. 1, 2023, even though she did not receive Russian citizenship until March 13, and that the case files contained no contract with the MoD. Although she held only Ukrainian citizenship at the time of mobilization, the court nevertheless recognized her as a Russian service member. After being drafted, Bezruchko was assigned to the 101st Rifle Regiment. She later unsuccessfully sought to have the mobilization declared unlawful through the courts. According to human rights advocates, the case is likely the first prosecution of a woman under this article.
The First Western District Military Court has sentenced Diana Chistyakova, a 30-year-old resident of Saint Petersburg who works with autistic people, to 12 years in a penal colony on terrorism charges. According to investigators, in October 2025 she threw three Molotov cocktails onto the grounds of a police guard and convoy regiment in the city. Two of the bottles failed to ignite, while the third caught fire near a police vehicle but caused no damage. Chistyakova was detained at the scene and placed in pretrial detention. Investigators said that before the attack, scammers had persuaded her to transfer roughly one million rubles [$14,089], after which they instructed her to carry out the arson attack.
An appellate military court, acting at the request of prosecutors, has increased the sentence of Eduard Markov, a 48-year-old resident of Balashov, from three and a half years in a penal settlement to 10 years in a maximum security penal colony. Markov had originally been convicted in a case involving attempted property damage. According to investigators, in the early hours of Dec. 23, 2024, while intoxicated, he threw three Molotov cocktails at an MTS cellular communications tower. He was initially charged with terrorism, but the trial judge ruled that he was guilty only of attempted property damage. In its appeal, prosecutors described the sentence as excessively lenient and asked the court to reclassify the charges as attempted terrorism and sentence Markov to 11 years in a maximum security penal colony.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported the detention of 51 people across 19 Russian regions on charges of "assisting Ukrainian call centers." Criminal cases have been opened against them for the illegal use of SIM boxes and the transfer of phone numbers. It is alleged that 34 Russian citizens and two foreigners were accused of administering SIM boxes, and another 15 Russians were accused of distributing phone numbers and registering internet accounts. More than 50 SIM boxes and over 8,000 SIM cards were seized during the raids.
In the Voronezh region, two foreigners born in 1982 and 1988 have been detained after allegedly being recruited by a representative of Ukraine's Security Service via the Telegram messenger app. According to the FSB, the men arrived in the region, retrieved drones equipped with explosives from a cache, and "detonated one of the UAVs on the territory of a military facility." The press release does not specify the location of the drone explosion or any potential damage. Both men were sent to a pre-trial detention center and face charges of sabotage at military facilities, possession of explosives, and providing "assistance to the enemy" as a foreigner.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced 21-year-old Iosif Kritsyn, a resident of Rostov-on-Don, to seven years in prison on charges of preparing to participate in the activities of a terrorist organization. According to investigators, while in a penal colony, Kritsyn "studied the ideology" of the Russian Volunteer Corps and contacted its alleged member, expressing a desire to join the organization. After his release in September 2024, Kritsyn allegedly collected funds under the pretext of helping convicts, planning to use part of the funds to prepare for joining the Russian Volunteer Corps. He was detained again on May 5, 2025. The man was previously sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony for participation in an extremist group and causing bodily harm motivated by hatred. A month before his recent detention, Kritsyn was also arrested for 10 days on charges of petty hooliganism. Kritsyn's lawyer claimed that the young man had given his confession after being tortured with electric shocks.
The Murmansk Regional Court has sentenced Ukrainian citizen Polina Kuzmyna and Severomorsk resident Vladimir Grabovetsky to 12 and 14 years in a penal colony respectively in a case involving financing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Grabovetsky was charged with treason, while Kuzmyna was charged with aiding treason. According to law enforcement officers, Grabovetsky, "opposing the special military operation," devised a way to send donations to the Ukrainian army. For this purpose, he "involved Polina Kuzmyna, who was able to transfer money to the territory of Ukraine through her relatives." In total, from December 2022 to May 2024, the accused sent 78 money transfers which, according to investigators, were used to purchase personal protective equipment, drones and vehicles for the AFU and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The Penza Regional Court has sentenced a 35-year-old resident of Penza to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason and calls for extremism. According to investigators, in 2022, the man passed information about a Russian serviceman participating in the war to a "representative of Ukraine," and in 2023, he posted comments in an unnamed messenger "encouraging violent actions" against participants in the invasion of Ukraine.
The Krasnodar Regional Court has sentenced a resident of Krasnodar to 14 years in a maximum security penal colony in a case involving treason. According to investigators, in July 2023, the man established contact with an active serviceman of the AFU, received assignments from him, and reported on efforts to find people willing to assist the Ukrainian army.
The Second Eastern District Military Court sentenced Artyom Asalukhudin, 42, a resident of Ust-Ilimsk, to 18 years in a penal colony on charges of high treason, public justification of terrorism, preparation to join a terrorist organization, undergoing training for sabotage activities, preparation for sabotage and drug possession. According to investigators, in 2022, Asalukhudin left a comment “Good guy” on Telegram in support of Ruslan Zinin, who that year shot the military enlistment officer in Ust-Ilimsk, which formed the basis for the terrorism justification charge. Law enforcement officers later alleged that he had attempted to join the Freedom of Russia Legion, painted the organization’s symbols on building walls and prepared to set fire to a relay cabinet on the East Siberian Railway. He was detained in June 2024 following a search of his home, during which cannabis for personal use was found. Before criminal charges were filed, he was also placed under administrative arrest on charges of petty hooliganism.
The Second Western District Military Court sentenced Dmitry Balog, 39, a driver from Magadan and a native of the Kherson region, to 25 years in prison on charges of participation in sabotage and terrorist organizations, membership in a terrorist organization, terrorist attacks, sabotage and high treason. Prosecutors had sought 27,5 years in a penal colony. Balog was detained on Feb. 9, 2024, at a home in Domodedovo, outside Moscow, where he lived with his wife and daughter, the day after a car belonging to a war veteran was set on fire in the city. According to investigators, he collaborated with the Freedom of Russia Legion from 2023, and passed along information about military facilities. He was also charged with setting fire to four relay cabinets near Belye Stolby, damaging telecommunications equipment and burning Interior Ministry buses at a ministry parking lot in Domodedovo. In October 2023, he allegedly planned to set fire to a military base but did not go through with it out of fear of being caught. He has been held in pre-trial detention since February 2024. During the trial he said he had been tortured: his hands were burned with acid, he was given electric shocks to the groin, and investigators threatened to rape his older daughter, plant drugs on his wife and send his younger daughter to an orphanage. In court, Balog said the investigator had decided to pin all unsolved cases on him. He did not plead guilty to any of the charges. Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] that had previously covered Balog’s case, published his closing statement and reported on how the trial unfolded.
Assistance
Oleg Dzhafarov, a veteran of the war against Ukraine, has been appointed Deputy Governor of the Jewish Autonomous Region [Russia’s federal subject]. In this role, he will oversee support and rehabilitation services for military personnel, as well as lead initiatives involving "patriotic" and volunteer projects. Dzhafarov deployed to the conflict in June 2022, serving in the Russian Airborne Troops, and was awarded the "Hero of Russia" title. Following an injury, he was discharged from active service and subsequently joined the Time of Heroes personnel program.
Children and Militarization
In the city of Yekaterinburg, the children of migrants are being integrated into military-patriotic and volunteer organizations as a measure to "prevent terrorism and extremism." According to official data, 5,609 foreign children, predominantly from Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan, are enrolled in the city's schools and kindergartens.
Longreads
Mediazona details how Russian soldiers are attempting to face trial in order to receive an actual prison sentence and escape forward positions, yet still find themselves sent back to the frontline.
The Veter [Wind] project published a report on how severely wounded Russian soldiers are being forcibly returned to the frontline before completing their medical treatment.
The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel details how a separate barracks for political prisoners and deserters has been established at a penal colony in the Magadan region.
Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] analyzed how the continuous influx of wounded individuals is impacting the healthcare system and exposing existing flaws in medical care.