Mobilization in Russia for May 28-31, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Eleven of the 12 lawmakers withdrew their signatures from a bill that would have ended draftees’ right to suspend a conscription order while their case was pending in court. Lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov noted that the bill now lists only Yury Shvytkin as its author. He died shortly after submitting the bill. Amendments to the procedure for appealing draft board decisions were introduced in March. Under current law, if a person liable for military service appeals a draft board decision, the conscription order cannot be enforced while proceedings are pending. The lawmakers had proposed requiring a separate court ruling to suspend the order.

A Ministry for the "Protection of Facilities" has been established within the government structure of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Governor Gleb Nikitin said it will protect "the sky over the region and facilities of its utility and energy complex" from drones. The new ministry will join the same group of ministries as the ministry of energy and housing and communal services.

Army Recruitment

At least five female students at a college in the Ulyanovsk region have signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. This was reported by the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, citing one of the college students. According to the student, on March 31 at Kuzovatkovsky Technological College, fourth-year students were gathered and pressured to sign up for contract military service. Initially, the offer was extended to male students, but then the college director began proposing a "new air defense contract" to female students, promising safe office work. The student knows of at least five young women who have signed the contract.

Two Russian citizens, a 31-year-old resident of the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject] and a 44-year-old resident of the Krasnoyarsk region, both convicted of murder with extreme brutality and sentenced to 15 and 18 years in a penal colony respectively, have signed contracts with the MoD and departed for the war in Ukraine.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 223,539 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 18,955 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 2,333 soldiers.

Moscow resident Denis Demidov, 25, who suffers from a mental disorder, was reportedly sent back to the frontline despite being deemed unfit for military service. According to relatives, Demidov and his brother were mobilized in 2022. Initially they were assigned to dig trenches, but were later sent to forward positions. In the summer of 2023, Demidov suffered a gunshot wound to the knee. While he was being treated in hospital, his older brother was killed. After recovering from his injury, Demidov was returned to his unit. Later, he developed a depressive disorder accompanied by suicidal thoughts. Between 2024 and 2025, he spent a total of six months in a psychiatric hospital. Upon admission, he complained of intrusive memories of his deceased brother and friends, sleep disturbances, irritability, loss of interest in life and apathy.

He was ultimately assigned the service fitness category "V" (partially fit for military service), which barred him from carrying weapons or taking part in combat operations. Nevertheless, after his discharge from the psychiatric hospital, he was again returned to his unit. Later, he was sent back to Moscow, where he reportedly attempted suicide. However, instead of being hospitalized, Demidov was taken to a police station and then transferred back to his military unit. On May 30, he was reportedly sent once again to forward positions.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the Krasnodar region, officers of the Federal Security Service detained two teenagers, aged 18 and 17, from the town of Tuapse on charges of preparing an act of terror. According to law enforcement, in March the 18-year-old received instructions via a messaging app from an unidentified "member of a terrorist organization" to manufacture explosives in exchange for money for use in the bombing of "an administrative building with a large number of people present."

Investigators allege that the young man assembled the main charge of an improvised explosive device, which he was supposed to deliver via a dead drop. He then allegedly photographed the selected target, surveillance cameras and other security measures together with his 17-year-old acquaintance. Both teenagers pleaded guilty and were placed in pre-trial detention. Mediazona identified one of them as Ivan Musiliznichenko from the village of Shepsi.

A court in Moscow has ordered Vitaly Larin, 61, held in pre-trial detention for two months. He is accused of preparing to manufacture an explosive device intended for an attack on the Ministry of Justice building. No further details of the case have been disclosed. As the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel discovered, another Moscow court sentenced Larin to 15 days of administrative detention on May 18 for displaying extremist symbols. According to the allegations, he brought a bag containing leaflets reading "Glory to Ukraine" into the Ministry of Justice building. At the time, Larin did not plead guilty and stated that he worked there as a security guard. He claimed that while walking through the building, he found an unidentified bag, briefly handled it and left it where it was.

In Novorossiysk, FSB officers detained a 32-year-old lathe operator on charges of preparing a terrorist attack. In a video released by the agency, the man says he moved to the city from the Amur region a year ago. He found a side job on Telegram from a person who, according to investigators, turned out to be an officer of Ukraine’s Security Service. That person allegedly instructed the detainee to blow up a section of railway track as a passenger train passed over it in order to cause "mass casualties." The man was detained while allegedly scouting a section of railway track.

Kirill Gantimуrov, 24, a resident of Buryatia, a Russian constituent republic, was sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony on charges of vandalism, inciting participation in a terrorist organization and incitement to extremism and terrorism. According to the prosecution, in 2024 and 2025 Gantimуrov told his underage friends about the benefits of joining the Russian Volunteer Corps, and they, under his influence, painted slogans and drawings on the walls of buildings in the village of Zaigrayevo that law enforcement deemed supportive of neo-Nazi ideology. He was also charged with posting messages in support of the Russian Volunteer Corps in a Telegram community chat. Two minors received one-year probation in connection with the case.

A court in Rostov-on-Don has ordered artist Viktor Kirman, 63, held in pretrial-detention center on charges of treason. Before that, beginning on Feb. 26, he was arrested nine times on administrative charges of disobedience to police and petty hooliganism. During these successive short-term detentions, he told relatives that he had been tortured. According to Kirman, he was beaten and doused with water during interrogations in what amounted to a mock drowning. He also said he was subjected to electric shocks. On May 25, law enforcement officers again beat him, demanding that he sign unspecified documents and confess to transferring money to Ukraine. Investigators have emphasized that Kirman has relatives in Ukraine, including both of his daughters, who live there. The artist himself was born in Kirovohrad region but has lived permanently in Rostov-on-Don for the past 40 years. It remains unclear exactly what Kirman is accused of, but relatives say he does not admit guilt.

A court in Samara region has also ordered a resident of Tolyatti into pre-trial detention on treason charges. He is accused of passing information about the administrators of the pro-Russian Crimean SMERSH movement to Ukrainian intelligence services. The channel is run by blogger Aleksandr Talipov, who is known for cooperating with law enforcement agencies and organizing the persecution of residents of annexed Crimea with pro-Ukrainian views. Investigators allege that the detained man provided information about the channel’s administrators and subscribers to the Ukrainian side in order to exert pressure on readers and their relatives. The nature of that alleged pressure has not been disclosed.

Longreads

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet examined how the wartime recruitment system operates and who profit—and by how much—from misleading new recruits.

The Vyorstka media outlet reports on how law enforcement officers spent a year harassing the family of a deserter suffering from serious illnesses.