Mobilization in Russia for May 20-22, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
In Moscow, draft offices have begun to write en masse to legal entities and demand they register with them, citing a 2006 government decree. Legal entities on the military register must annually reconcile records with the draft office, inform it about employee hiring and dismissals, and deliver draft notices to their employees. Failure to fulfill these obligations may result in fines up to 400,000 rubles [$5,000].
The Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] passed a bill establishing a separate quota for children of "individuals who participated in combat operations on the territory of the Russian Federation" to enroll in state-funded bachelor's and specialist degree programs. Such a benefit was previously available only to children of service members who participated in combat operations abroad.
The Novye Liudi [New People] party has appealed to Health Minister Mikhail Murashko with a proposal to launch a national retraining program for specialists working with individuals returning from the war in Ukraine. The proposed initiative, tentatively titled Peaceful Life, aims to address the issue of domestic violence caused by PTSD.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
The number of new war participants who have applied for payment holidays under the special program since the start of mobilization in 2022 has exceeded half a million. In the first quarter of 2025, such benefits were granted nearly 55,900 times. This is slightly less than in the final quarter of 2024 (65,000 people), which remains the record for the number of approved payment holidays. In total, by the end of Q1 2025, 532,200 people had used the benefit.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The Soldatskaya Pravda Telegram channel has published an audio recording of communications from one of the battalions of the 394th Regiment. In the recording, the commander orders subordinates to shoot soldiers who refused to take part in an assault, and also threatens to "level the block" where the refuseniks are located using tank fire.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Moscow region, authorities detained two convicts who escaped while being transported to the frontline. According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, a total of 18 former defendants whose criminal cases had been suspended were being transported from the Tver region. All had signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense and were supposed to arrive at a military collection point in Moscow. The transport carrying the convicts stopped at a gas station, prompting guards to let everyone out of the vehicle. Seizing the opportunity, 29-year-old Nikita Grigoryev and 41-year-old Andrey Shkarin fled from their convoy. The fugitives were apprehended 60 kilometers from the escape site and taken to police custody. The Federal Penitentiary Service maintains that "there were no escapes from correctional facilities or during transportation."
A court in Ufa has ordered a two-month pre-trial detention for former Wagner Group mercenary 43-year-old Yevgeny Shadrin, who killed and dismembered his acquaintance, 48-year-old Dmitry Kiryushkin. Shadrin faces murder charges. Before the war, Shadrin had multiple convictions, including for murder. The ex-mercenary was detained on May 18 after neighbors complained about a corpse-like odor coming from his room.
The Pskov Garrison Military Court has sentenced a conscript soldier to one year of confinement in a disciplinary unit for hazing. The conscript, dissatisfied with a remark and insult made by a fellow soldier during an evening formation, struck the latter in the face. As a result, the victim sustained skull fractures that were deemed life-threatening by the court.
In Nizhny Novgorod, two local residents, aged 27 and 36, have been detained. According to investigators, the men, acting at the direction of third parties and for a promised reward, had set fire to a telephone tower in the Sormovo district. Both men have been detained and charged with attempting to commit an act of terror.
In the Tver region, a court has placed two teenagers born in 2008 and 2011 from Vyshny Volochyok in custody. They are accused of preparing to set fire to a draft office. According to law enforcement officers, the teenagers "pledged allegiance to the Russian Volunteer Corps." Allegedly, "acting under instructions from Ukrainian handlers," they planned to set fire to a draft office on the eve of Victory Day. The teenagers have been charged with attempted terrorist attack and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported the detention of a Kazan resident born in 2000, who was accused of preparing an act of sabotage using a drone at one of the city’s factories. According to investigators, from February to October 2024, he planned the attack and underwent training in "the basics of conspiracy" and "methods of making explosive devices." The man is charged with attempted sabotage and undergoing training for its execution. In FSB materials, he is described as a member of pro-Ukrainian organizations. Details about the target of the attack, the time of detention and further actions have not been disclosed.
A man who allegedly planned to carry out a terrorist attack on the Trans-Siberian Railway has been detained in the Amur Region, and a criminal case has been opened against him under the article on state treason. According to law enforcement officers, the man was also planning to take part in the war on the side of Ukraine. The detainee allegedly received an assignment from Ukrainian handlers via Telegram. During the interrogation, he said he was to assemble an improvised explosive device. According to data from the FSB, the man had previously been convicted under articles on preparing an act of sabotage and participation in a terrorist organization.
In addition, the FSB detained a taxi driver from Kaluga who allegedly provided coordinates of air defense systems to Ukrainian intelligence services. A case of treason has been initiated against the man. According to intelligence services, the man born in 1997 had been communicating via Telegram with a representative of Ukrainian intelligence services since September 2023, fulfilling tasks related to identifying locations of air defense systems in the region. He also allegedly discussed plans for sabotage and terrorist activities and studied materials on operating combat drones. Additionally, he purportedly purchased power banks, dry rations, and energy drinks to create a hideout for members of Ukrainian sabotage groups.
A court in Moscow pronounced a sentence for treason to a young man who was a minor at the time of the crime. The verdict was announced on Feb. 27, and the reason for the closed announcement of the verdict due to the defendant's age became known during the appellate court session on May 21. Its decision will also be issued behind closed doors. Apart from the fact of the verdict itself, there is no further information available about the case, including details on when the young man was detained and the specific charges against him.
A military court delivered verdicts in the case of two men accused of planning explosions in Russia’s Belgorod region in March 2024. Mikhail Timakov, a 21-year-old resident of Berdsk in the Novosibirsk region, has been sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony, while Aleksey Palchikov, a 36-year-old resident of Saint Petersburg, received an 18-year prison sentence. According to investigators, Timakov allegedly traveled from Siberia "on instructions from unidentified individuals" and placed a homemade explosive device in a trash bin near the State Inspectorate for Road Traffic Safety office in the town of Stroitel, near Belgorod, on March 27, 2024. FSB officers, who had been waiting for him in advance, apprehended Timakov at the scene. Palchikov, as claimed by the prosecution, left a bag containing explosives at the House of Officers on March 7, reportedly acting on orders from the Russian Volunteer Corps. Both Timakov and Palchikov were charged with an attempted terrorist attack committed in a group and possession of explosives. Palchikov was additionally charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and high treason, after investigators linked him to the RDK.
A court in Khabarovsk sentenced local resident Aleksey Detychev to four and a half years in a penal colony on charges of secretly cooperating with a foreign state. According to the prosecution, Detychev, "guided by his anti-Russian political views and political hatred toward the current authorities," maintained relations with a "representative" of the United Kingdom. In exchange for political asylum, he allegedly "offered to independently conduct anti-Russian propaganda among youth, using his position in educational institutions." He was also charged with collecting information about military products manufactured by Khabarovsk's defense industry. Detychev shares the same name as the deputy chairman of the Khabarovsk regional branch of the Red Cross.
The Supreme Court of Russia upheld the 20-year prison sentence for Ruslan Zinin, convicted of shooting at the military commissar of Ust-Ilimsk in the early days of mobilization in 2022. Zinin was found guilty of a terrorist attack, as well as illegal possession and manufacture of weapons. Zinin’s defense filed a cassation appeal against the sentence. The hearing lasted 40 minutes, after which the court rejected the appeal. Zinin’s lawyer intends to appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee.
Children
This week, schools and universities across Russia held ceremonial events commemorating the third anniversary of what authorities call the "liberation of the city of Mariupol." In Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, as well as in Ryazan and Rostov regions, school and college students watched patriotic videos and listened to stories from combat veterans and activists of Molodaya Gvardiya (the Young Guard, the youth wing of the United Russia party) about the "liberation of the city from Nazi occupiers," which had "been under the occupation of the Kyiv regime since 2014." In Saint Petersburg, school students participated in a "round table" discussion about Mariupol as a sister city, while in Adygea [Russia's constituent republic], children observed a moment of silence in honor of the Russian soldiers who "liberated the city."
Assistance
A bill has been submitted to the Legislative Assembly of the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject] that expands support measures for participants in the war with Ukraine. According to the document, families of war participants who do not have permanent registration in the Perm region will be eligible to receive free land plots at their actual place of residence within the region.
Longreads
BBC News Russian published the story of an Egyptian student who studied medicine in Russia before being recruited into the Russian Armed Forces.
The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] spoke to officers and enlisted soldiers who fought in Ukraine, revealing the methods commanders use to maintain discipline.
The Okno [Window] project highlighted the case of Pavel Stovchan, who, after unsuccessful attempts to break his contract, attempted suicide live on air, drawing attention to the problem of suicides among Russian soldiers.
The Vyorstka media outlet prepared an in-depth report on the deceptive tactics Russian authorities are using to recruit men into the war.
Mediazona, an independent Russian outlet, covered the court hearing of physicist Artyom Khoroshilov, accused of treason for transferring funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and of illegal interference in critical infrastructure through DDoS attacks.
Most.media reported how Russian schools are increasingly drawing children into the war.
Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] released a report on which projects from occupied regions received presidential grants in 2025.