Mobilization in Russia for May 27-29, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] Defense Committee declined to endorse a bill that would exempt cadets expelled from military academies from repaying tuition fees if they took part in the war against Ukraine as mobilized or contract soldiers, or as members of a volunteer unit under the command of the Ministry of Defense. Neither the federal government nor the Accounts Chamber endorsed the initiative.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, stated that since the beginning of the year, almost 175,000 individuals signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense to participate in the war, with a further 14,000 or more joining volunteer units. As the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet points out, Medvedev’s statement implies that around 35,000 individuals enlist every month, a figure that differs from the 50,000 to 60,000 new joiners reported by Vladimir Putin two weeks ago.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
Irina Krynina, co-founder of the Nash Vykhod [Our Way Out] movement, reported that five prisoner of war camps continue to operate in Ukraine, three of which opened last year, despite the recent 1,000-for-1,000 exchange. Krynina says that these camps hold thousands of Russian service members, including severely wounded and sick individuals, as well as some captive for over three years. Aleksandr Sementsov, a representative of the official Ukrainian project Khochu Naiti [I Want to Find], stated that, with the project's assistance, relatives have located 2,351 Russian military personnel in captivity. However, Russia has only repatriated 983 of them. Previously, pro-war bloggers and channels close to Russian security services asserted that a significant exchange would ensure nearly all captured Russians returned home.
The Telegram channel of pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov called a recent video address by servicemen from the 5th Motor Rifle Brigade a fake. In the video, the soldiers complained that wounded troops — including those using crutches and canes — were being kept in a basement without medical treatment and were being sent on assault missions. They also said they were threatened with violence for refusing to comply.
Solovyov claimed the footage was staged to "discredit" the Russian army and posted a so-called "refutation" — a video showing four of the original speakers in hospital clothing inside a medical facility. In the clip, they say they were forced to participate in the "staged" video under threat of being sent on an assault mission. Solovyov also claimed that the video was organized and distributed by serviceman Yevgeny Pak, who, according to him, is facing a criminal case for conspiring and committing violence against a superior officer using weapons in a group.
The Astra and Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channels spoke with Pak. He has not been detained and says he is currently in Russia, expecting to be questioned soon by military investigators. According to Pak, the video was completely truthful and no one was coerced into recording it. Ostorozhno, Novosti reports it has obtained 10 statements from Pak’s fellow soldiers denying that he forced anyone to take part in discrediting the command. Pak said his group was broken into units of five and reassigned to different positions. He also said that after the video gained attention, the wounded men shown in it were "taken somewhere." This has been confirmed by the wife of one of the wounded soldiers who appeared in the original footage. She said that some of them were taken to a hospital, where they reportedly received medical attention. According to her, investigators questioned them recently, and they are now said to be awaiting a medical evaluation board — though their current status remains unclear.
A 50-year-old Czech citizen who was convicted in his home country for tax evasion and who fought in the Russian Armed Forces claims that he unknowingly signed a contract with the Russian army, believing that it was for business in Ghana. According to him, an agency recommended by a friend took his passport and did not give him a copy of the contract. After signing the documents, he was sent to training and then to the frontline in Ukraine, where he spent eight months. While on leave, he sought help from the Czech embassy. He could be prosecuted in the Czech Republic for serving in a foreign army. The Czech Foreign Ministry confirmed that it is looking into the case.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Albert Nugmanov, a 38-year-old participant in the war in Ukraine who has been accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old schoolgirl, escaped from custody in Kazan. He has been wanted since May 26 after fleeing the military investigative department. Nugmanov was previously convicted of hijacking and fought in the 1st Motorized Rifle Brigade. He was mobilized in 2022, was wounded, and returned for treatment. In early May 2025, he was detained based on his wife's accusation that he molested her daughter.
ASTRA and Anastasia Kashevarova [pro-Russian propagandist] report that Azamat Batyrbayev, a serviceman of the 68th Tank Regiment who brutally beat and raped his ex-wife Diniya Batyrbayeva in January 2025, has changed his phone number and continued to threaten the victim, assuring her that he would “finish what he started.” A criminal case has been opened against the man for inflicting moderate bodily harm. Diniya is currently collecting evidence for a new complaint to the military police, but she fears that her former husband may evade accountability—after the attack, he was taken back to his military unit and sent to the frontline before trial, from where he continues to send her threats.
A contract soldier has been sentenced to eight years in a penal colony for going AWOL. He signed a military contract in spring 2023 but was hospitalized with pneumonia a few months later. Instead of returning to his unit after treatment, he went home to the Tyumen region. Five months later, he was detained by military police. He was reassigned to a different military unit for the duration of the investigation, but he escaped and was detained again by the military police.
The criminal case against a Moscow region resident who was mistakenly declared AWOL has been terminated by the court. In the fall of 2022, Pavel was mobilized into the army in the city of Petrozavodsk, Russia's constituent Republic of Karelia, and served in an assault company in Smolensk, from which he had allegedly fled. However, Pavel had never been in Petrozavodsk and had not received any draft notices. After mobilization began, he crossed the border into Kazakhstan. He later returned to Russia, and on Sept. 1, 2024, military police officers arrived at his home. The draft office in the town of Istra, Moscow region, has confirmed that Pavel was not mobilized and did not sign a contract with the MoD. Consequently, lawyers were able to dismiss the criminal charges for going AWOL. The order for Pavel's inclusion in the military unit's roster was deemed illegal, and the unit was ordered to remove him from the lists.
In Ufa, the capital of Russia's constituent republic of Bashkortostan, a 19-year-old local resident has been detained on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a cell tower. According to the FSB, the young man received instructions via Telegram from an unknown individual who promised to pay 15,000 rubles [$190] for the arson. A criminal case has been initiated for attempted sabotage, and the young man has been arrested.
In the Rostov region, a 19-year-old man has been detained on charges of attempting to commit an act of terror. According to the police, a report was received by the duty unit about an unauthorized individual on the premises of a railway park. Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene and detained a local resident. The man claims that he had previously been contacted by an unknown individual who introduced himself as an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This person allegedly told him that he or his parents were "facing up to 25 years" of imprisonment for supporting Ukraine. To avoid punishment, the caller suggested setting fire to an electrical panel.
In the annexed Crimea, the FSB has detained Tamara Chernukha, a 61-year-old paramedic from the village of Chornomorske. According to her relatives and human rights defenders, she has been under arrest since February 2025 on charges of treason. Law enforcement officers took Chernukha from her home, seizing electronic equipment and documents. It was later reported that she is being held in a pre-trial detention center.
A military court in Khabarovsk has sentenced a resident of Yakutsk, Yan Borisov, to 18 years of imprisonment on charges of treason, training for terrorism, participation in a terrorist organization and public justification of terrorism on the internet. The court did not disclose details of the case.
The First Western District Military Court sentenced 24-year-old university student Daniil Galitsky to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason and justifying terrorism. The court did not disclose the specific accusations against the young man or the date of his detention. A source identifying as a student of the same university told Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] that Galitsky was charged with financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Russian "Supreme Court of Crimea" sentenced a man from Dzhankoi to 20 years in a maximum security penal colony for collaborating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). It is alleged that the man established contact with Ukrainian intelligence services in 2022. He reportedly passed coordinates of the Russian MoD and Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard] facilities in Dzhankoi and the Krasnoperekopsk District of Crimea. The name, surname and age of the convicted individual were not disclosed.
Three residents of Saratov region have been found guilty of treason, group sabotage, and laundering money obtained through criminal means. Yury Aksyonov was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Dmitry Aksyonov and Vlas Shirokov each received 18-year sentences. According to case materials, in the spring of 2024, Yury Aksyonov established contact with a representative of Ukrainian military intelligence, who offered him money to organize arson attacks targeting infrastructure facilities. Aksyonov recruited two acquaintances to assist him. In April and May, they set fire to railroad equipment and a cellular base station, receiving approximately 75,000 rubles [$940] in cryptocurrency for their actions. They were arrested by the FSB a few days after the final arson.
The Second Western District Military Court has sentenced two men—Ukrainian and Russian citizens—accused of plotting to assassinate a high-ranking military officer. Oleg Zabolotny, a native of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The second defendant, Maksim Volga from Saint Petersburg, received a 19-year sentence. According to investigators, both men were recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. In 2022, Zabolotny allegedly completed a sabotage and reconnaissance training course while in the Kharkiv region, and later relocated to Russia. By May 2023, he began passing information to Ukrainian intelligence about military facilities and personnel in Voronezh. Volga, who lived in the Smolensk region, is said to have begun cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence in January 2023. In August of that year, following instructions from a handler, Volga allegedly retrieved firearms, more than 10 kg of explosives, and electric detonators from a hidden cache and delivered them to Voronezh. Zabolotny then reportedly used these materials to assemble an explosive device, which he planned to plant in the entrance of a residential building with the intent to assassinate a high-ranking military officer. Both suspects were arrested in August 2023.
A resident of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, born in 1998, has been sent to a pre-trial detention center on charges of espionage in favor of Ukraine. According to Russian law enforcement, the detainee provided Ukrainian intelligence services with information about the locations of Russian troops in the Luhansk region, including the exact coordinates of the home of the city commandant in Kreminna.
A court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 37-year-old Dmitry Adamyonok, a resident of annexed Crimea, to 12 years in prison for allegedly attempting to join the Russian Volunteer Corps. Russian law enforcement claims Adamyonok communicated with members of the group and expressed a desire to fight against the Russian military. He was charged with intended treason and participation in a terrorist organization, and was also accused of posting three online statements justifying terrorism.
A court in Kaliningrad arrested a lawyer Maria Bonzler until July 26, 2025. She is accused of cooperating on a confidential basis with a foreign state or organization. According to the investigators, in 2024, Bonzler provided intelligence services of an unfriendly state with information about local law enforcement officers "which became known to her due to her legal practice." The Investigative Committee did not specify which unfriendly state was involved. Bonzler was detained on May 28, and her home was searched. Additionally, law enforcement officers also visited two other lawyers who, like Bonzler, had represented Igor Baryshnikov, a resident of the Kaliningrad region. In June 2023, Baryshnikov was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in a case involving military "fakes." On May 20, a week before Bonzler’s detention, the European Union updated its sanctions list in connection with human rights violations in Russia. The list included Judge Olga Balandina, who issued the sentence to Baryshnikov.
Assistance
In early June, the second round of the School of Heroes program will begin in the Samara region. Forty-five participants of the war will begin in-person training, with another forty-five placed on a waiting list.
In the Vologda region, quotas for employment of veterans of the war with Ukraine have been introduced: starting from Sept. 1, enterprises with 100 or more employees will be required to allocate 1% of their jobs to them. There are approximately 450 such organizations in the region. If necessary, veterans of the "special military operation" will be able to retrain them for suitable vacancies free of charge. Similar proposals have been made by lawmakers in Karelia and by the prosecutor of Dagestan [Russia’s constituent republic]. In the Primorsky region, enterprises with over 100 employees are required to allocate at least 5% of jobs for veterans of the "special military operation," while companies with 35 to 100 employees must allocate at least 3%. A similar measure was previously introduced in the Samara region.
Children
The Rosmolodezh.Grants internet platform has published the results of its competition. According to Ostorozhno, Novosti, funding has been allocated to at least 15 projects related to the war, totaling 8.95 million rubles [$112,100].
A kindergarten in the village of Lidoga, Khabarovsk region, celebrated Border Guard Day. Judging by the photos, children with weapons in their hands played border guards and detained other preschoolers at a simulated border.
Longreads
The independent human rights project OVD-Info and the Kazan-based student media outlet Groza have examined how pressure on academia has increased since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Mediazona has published an article about Andrey Lazarenko, a Mariupol resident who was taken out of Ukraine and forced to take Russian citizenship. He is now on trial for state treason.