Mobilization in Russia for May 18-20, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service has drafted a bill that would grant the agency access to user data from the national Mir payment system and the Faster Payments System, along with information on transfers and transactions. The bill’s authors assert this measure is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. The federal agency currently maintains a list of individuals it designates as "extremists and terrorists," which includes targets of politically motivated cases whose financial accounts are subsequently frozen.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, stated that the agency helped to identify 80,000 naturalized citizens who had failed to register for military service. He additionally claimed that authorities sent 20,000 of these individuals to the war against Ukraine.
The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel reports that Moscow courts increasingly return fine cases to draft offices for re-examination. Conscripts and other individuals liable for military service frequently appeal fines that draft offices impose for ignoring draft notices. While courts previously often sided with the appellants and dismissed cases due to procedural violations, judges now do not terminate the proceedings, even when they void draft office decisions. Instead, the courts send the case materials back to the draft office for a new review. The Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates a three-year statute of limitations for Article 21.5 violations, which permits draft offices to again fine individuals for ignoring draft notices.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
Journalists from Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] have determined, based on databases that appeared at the end of 2024, that since the beginning of the war, around 50,000 Russian servicemen have been declared deserters or as having gone AWOL. The main reasons for being declared wanted include abandoning positions on the frontline, fleeing from military units, and refusing to return to service after medical treatment. Notes in the databases indicate that the primary causes of desertion are injuries or illnesses. Around 500 men did not return from leave, and several more disappeared after escorting bodies of the dead. According to the outlet, some servicemen listed in the database were later confirmed dead, captured, or missing in action—nearly 300 such cases are known so far. The actual number of deserters may be even higher. Earlier, it was reported that in 2024 alone, the total number of documented cases of "evasion of service" reached 50,554.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the city of Ufa, 43-year-old Yevgeny Shadrin—a former mercenary of the Wagner Group—was detained. The man is suspected of killing an acquaintance on May 11. After the murder, the former soldier dismembered the victim’s body and placed the remains in bags. He reportedly lived with the remains for nearly a week until his arrest on May 18. Before participating in the war, Shadrin had multiple prior convictions, including for murder, theft, and assault.
In the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject], 30-year-old Maksim Solovyov, a previously convicted war participant, was detained for the murder of a father of two. Solovyov signed a military contract in October 2024, several months after being convicted of arson.
According to the Astra Telegram channel, on May 16 in the village of Holmivskyi in the Donetsk region, a 43-year-old Russian serviceman assaulted and raped a 41-year-old local woman. The suspect was detained and handed over to the military police. He confessed to the crime.
A criminal case for looting has been opened against 44-year-old Aleksandr Yerkin, a serviceman of the 11th Air Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, who stole a car from a resident of the village of Rastvorovo in the Kursk region.
On May 17 in the city of Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo region, a 22-year-old intoxicated soldier stole a car from a drinking companion and struck two underage girls with it. The victims survived, but their current condition remains unknown. The man was arrested. It was later revealed that he had participated in the war and was wanted for going AWOL. He signed a military contract in August 2024 but left his unit on April 1, 2025.
While on leave, a previously convicted serviceman attempted to rob an elderly woman. On May 19, in the city of Kemerovo, an unidentified man knocked on the door of 69-year-old Galina Arkatova, asking for a glass of water. When she opened the door, he immediately stabbed her in the neck. The woman fought back and managed to resist the attacker. She was hospitalized with multiple stab wounds. The assailant fled the scene but was later apprehended. He was identified as 42-year-old Aleksandr Kuchkin, a serviceman with the 74th Motorized Rifle Brigade. He had prior convictions for murder, theft, robbery, and drug-related offenses, and had been recruited into the military from a penal colony.
In Nizhnevartovsk, a war participant has been stalking and assaulting his ex-wife for several months. According to 25-year-old Anastasia, during their three-year marriage, her husband beat her several times, and in 2023 he was placed under house arrest for organizing illegal migration. In September 2024, the man signed a contract and was deployed to the frontline. There, he was wounded, and upon returning to Nizhnevartovsk, he began threatening his wife, which led her to file for divorce. He also assaulted her several times. According to Anastasia, she filed around 10 complaints with the police but has yet to receive any response.
A 16-year-old resident of Arkhangelsk has been sentenced to six years in a juvenile correctional facility in connection with an act of terror due to the arson of a United Russia [Putin’s ruling party] office. The teenager pleaded guilty. According to him, he was looking for a side job when someone offered him $2,000 to set fire to a post office or a political party office. He recorded the arson on his phone and sent the video to his handlers, but never received the money.
Nikita Stepanov and Sergey Ivanov, residents of Novosibirsk have been sentenced to six and twelve years in a penal colony for sabotage committed in a group in conspiracy. One of the men was a minor at the time of the offence. In November 2023, 16-year-old Stepanov received an offer through a messenger app to earn money. For 20,000 rubles [$250], he was instructed to set fire to a relay cabinet. Stepanov involved his friend, 20-year-old Ivanov, in the arson. On the evening of Nov. 21, 2023, they set fire to a relay cabinet on the section between Kleshchiha and Chemskaya stations, filmed the arson and sent the video to their handlers. After that, an unknown person transferred the payment to Stepanov. The young men were later detained.
The Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg sentenced anarchist Aleksey Rozhkov, abducted in Kyrgyzstan, to 16 years in prison for committing a terrorist attack. He is charged with setting fire to a draft office in the town of Beryozovsky in March 2022, and justifying terrorism and spreading false information about the Russian army based on an interview in which he discussed his anti-war action. Previously, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] detailed his story. We also covered the trial in our summaries.
Additionally, a court in Yekaterinburg sentenced 20-year-olds Arseny Klimin and Danila Eliseev, as well as 21-year-old Nikita Sukhorukov. Klimin was sentenced to eight years, while Eliseev and Sukhorukov each received seven years in a maximum security penal colony. According to the prosecution, from June to September 2023, they conspired with a member of the Freedom of Russia Legion to attempt to set fire to three relay cabinets on the railway in Yekaterinburg. All three were charged with preparing a terrorist attack. The investigation considers Klimin the organizer. More details about the case.
Scammers persuaded a high school student from the city of Nefteyugansk to set fire to cars adorned with Victory Day stickers, threatening to arrest his mother and sister. The 16-year-old ninth grader was first tricked into providing his passport details. Then, under threat of facing criminal charges for allegedly transferring money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they coerced him into transferring 200,000 rubles [$2,480] from his mother's card. Subsequently, they convinced the boy to search the city for cars with St. George ribbons and Victory Day stickers. On May 16, within a few hours, he set fire to four cars. Later that evening, the boy was apprehended.
In Perm, a chef named Sergey Tokarev was arrested on suspicion of sabotage. It is alleged that for financial compensation, he set fire to relay cabinets on May 15, receiving $500 for the arsons.
In the Krasnodar region, a resident of Tuapse born in 1991 was arrested on suspicion of treason. According to investigators, the man contacted representatives of the Russian Volunteer Corps and expressed readiness to carry out tasks within the Krasnodar region.
A court has sentenced a 37-year-old programmer Aleksandr Levchishin from the Irkutsk region to 14 years in a maximum security penal colony for "unauthorized interference" with critical infrastructure and state treason. He was detained in July 2023. According to prosecutors, Levchishin, while working as a programmer at a clinical hospital in Bratsk in April 2022, copied electronic medical records of military personnel "to provide the data to the Ukrainian side."
The independent media outlet SOTAvision analyzed criminal case statistics over several years and discovered a decline in the overall number of convictions nationwide. Simultaneously, there has been an increase in cases involving extremist and terrorist charges, as well as charges of state treason, espionage and "false information" about the military. According to research by the Pervyi Otdel [Department One] human rights project, official statistics on state treason and espionage cases are underreported, failing to reflect all cases actually processed through the courts.
In 2024, 145 people were convicted under military censorship laws, representing a one-third increase from the previous year. According to judicial statistics from the Supreme Court's Judicial Department, 63 people were convicted this year for discrediting the Russian army, while 82 were convicted for spreading "false information" about the RuAF. In 2023, authorities convicted 46 people under discreditation charges and 59 for spreading false information. In total, 105 individuals faced such criminal charges that year which is nearly 1.5 times fewer than in 2024.
Children
At a rehabilitation center in Chelyabinsk, where children who have experienced abuse, the loss of loved ones, or parental abandonment are cared for, instructors held a "lesson of courage." They dressed the children in helmets and bulletproof vests and allowed them to handle assault rifles. The children learned about war and patriotism, as framed by the state's official ideology.
Assistance
Acting Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, Denis Pasler, announced plans to open a rehabilitation center for war veterans in the area. The exact location of the center has not yet been decided.
Aleksey Tomanov, a member of the Kursk Regional Duma from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) [right-wing populist and ultranationalist political party],stated that those who failed to assist with delivering humanitarian aid to the border region and evacuating residents during the occupation were expelled from the party's regional branch. He promised to replace "those who hesitated in a time of danger" with war veterans from the war in Ukraine. According to Tomanov, 80 military personnel have already joined the Kursk branch.
Miscellaneous
Participants in the war with Ukraine are expected to receive 10 percent of mandates in municipal and regional assemblies at the end of the September election. At the same time, according to the newspaper's sources in the regions, these plans may be hindered by the criminal record of some war veterans and their unwillingness to participate in politics. A total of 21,400 people, including 940 war veterans, have applied for the primaries, which will be held on May 19-25.
Longreads
Novaya Gazeta [independent Russian newspaper] told the stories of the searches for two missing Russian soldiers. In Omsk alone, relatives are unable to find more than 900 servicemen.
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet published an article about Ukrainian prisoners of war, the conditions in which they are held and the tortures they are subjected to.
The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet told the story of 38-year-old Chita resident Maksim Ivannikov, who was sentenced to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony for a sarcastic comment on Telegram, in which he allegedly suggested "joining the partisans and destabilizing the regime from within."