Mobilization in Russia for May 29-June 1, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

An estimated 374,200 to 407,200 individuals signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense in 2024. Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] derived this figure from federal budget expenditure data and the size of sign-up bonuses. An August 2024 increase to the federal component of the sign-up bonus — from 195,000 to 400,000 rubles [from $2,500 to $5,120] — explains the estimate's range and made precise calculations of contract soldiers for Q3 2024 difficult. By the end of the year, Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov announced that authorities had recruited 427,000 contract soldiers, while Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, reported 450,000. Consequently, official authorities' recruitment estimates became less overstated compared to the previous year at only 5–15%. Vladimir Putin recently asserted that 50,000 to 60,000 enlistees join the war against Ukraine every month, whereas Medvedev claimed a significantly lower 35,000.

In Q4 2024, the pace of recruitment rose sharply, with 155,000 individuals receiving sign-up bonuses over three months, a substantial increase over the third quarter's enlistment of 50,000 to 60,000 people. Nevertheless, this recruitment level remained 23% lower than the figure for the corresponding period in 2023.

Vazhnyye Istorii, in collaboration with Janis Kluge of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, also assessed 2025 recruitment rates by examining regional budget expenditures. Their analysis indicates that an average of approximately 1,000 individuals currently enlist across Russia per day, although late April and early May revealed a declining trend in the number of recruits.

In four municipalities of the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject], local authorities have increased the bonuses for signing a contract with the MoD. In the Kungur and Oktyabrsky districts, payments will rise by 50,000 rubles [$640] to 150,000 [$1,920] and 100,000 rubles [$1,280], respectively. The increase will also apply to volunteer fighters from the Kizel and Chernushinsky districts, where the bonuses will be 100,000 [$1,280] and 200,000 rubles [$2,560], respectively. In addition, regional authorities offer 1.5 million rubles [$19,200] for signing a contract.

The administration of the Aleksandrovsky district in the Vladimir region has posted a government procurement contract for "services related to the search and selection of candidates to sign military service contracts" for participation in the war in Ukraine. The contract was signed with a sole supplier — the Voevoda military training center based in Moscow. This is the first known procurement of its kind in Russia (at least with this specific wording). The agreement was signed on May 28, and a similar contract was signed in Khanty-Mansiysk on May 29. There, local authorities are prepared to pay 9.5 million rubles [$121,600] to recruit 50 contract soldiers — 190,000 rubles [$2,430] per person.

A relative of a conscript reached out to the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, reporting that the entire unit where the young man serves is being sent from the town of Boguchar to the city of Belgorod. According to them, the conscripts were also being pressured to sign military contracts.

Scammers used the Gosuslugi public services portal account of a resident of the Samara region to submit an application for military service under contract. He reported that shortly before this, he had received a call from someone claiming to be from the Pension Fund, who promised a pension recalculation and tricked him into revealing an SMS code giving them access to his personal account. That same evening, he received a notification ordering him to report to the draft office the next day.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

BBC News Russian, in collaboration with Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and a team of volunteers, has identified the names of 110,608 Russian soldiers killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, based on open-source data. Among them are 12,288 mobilized men. Since the previous update a week ago, the list has grown by 983 names, including 203 mobilized soldiers. According to BBC News Russian estimates, the total number of Russian fatalities—including fighters from the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—may range from 191,000 to 269,000. The outlet also pointed out a starkly uneven distribution of losses: for men from regions such as Altai and Tyva, the likelihood of being killed in the war is 30 to 40 times higher than for men from Moscow. Experts attribute this disparity to the economic inequality between regions.

Yevgeny Pak, the commander of the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade's assault group, has accused his military unit's command and Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyev of making a staged a video in which injured soldiers allegedly refuted earlier accusations against the command. Pak claims that the video was recorded under threats of criminal prosecution from brigade commander Ramil Faskhutdinov. Meanwhile, Pak and 20 other individuals, including relatives of the brigade soldiers, have already filed complaints with the Investigative Committee and the Military Prosecutor's Office, accusing the leadership of violence and coercion. Pak previously confirmed the authenticity of the video address from the soldiers with complaints, despite Solovyev's attempts to discredit it.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the Vladimir region, a participant in the war with Ukraine has brutally murdered 54-year-old library worker Lyudmila Fomina. The incident occurred in the early hours of May 19. According to Dovod [independent Russian media outlet], a 22-year-old local resident, who had returned home on leave from the war, attacked the woman near her home. According to sources of Zebra TV [pro-Russian media outlet of the Vladimir region], the serviceman first assaulted the woman and then dragged her to an isolated area to die. The next day, he returned to check if she had passed away. After confirming the woman's death, the murderer transported her body to a forest and buried it. The man has been detained. According to unconfirmed reports, he had previously been suspected of committing violent acts against a minor.

In the Krasnodar region, Nikolay Aliyev (real name Rashid Murad ogly), a resident of Sochi, who was arrested on charges of beating his ex-girlfriend Ksenia Dushanova, resulting in her losing an eye, left for the war in Ukraine from pre-trial detention and returned home two months later. Dushanova informed the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel of recent videos of Aliyev partying that he had posted. According to reports, Aliyev signed a contract with the MoD from the pre-trial detention center no later than March 2025. In April, he was reported to have gone to war. He claims that during combat operations, he participated alone in a combat mission, after which he was given a "benefit," gifted a Bentley car, and paid 38 million rubles [$486,500]. However, Aliyev did not address whether he came to Sochi on leave or if he was dismissed from military service.

In Khanty-Mansiysk, a criminal case has been opened on charges of large-scale fraud and abuse of official authority involving an organized group, including a police officer accused of arranging sham marriages with single men and collecting death benefits after the men were killed in the war. According to investigators, Natalya B., Sergey K., and Vitaly P. worked with Senior Police Lieutenant Aleksandr Kiselev, who provided them with personal data on socially vulnerable men in exchange for 100,000-200,000 rubles [$2,560]. The woman would then contact the men, persuade them to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, and have them grant her power of attorney. After the marriage the men were deployed to the frontline, where they were later killed. Investigators report that at least four servicemen were defrauded in this way, with the suspects receiving no less than 3.5 million rubles [$44,800] per case. In March 2025, similar charges were filed against Warrant Officer Aleksandr Polishchuk of the 60th Motor Rifle Brigade, his wife Darya, Sergeant Kseniya Skryabina, and the brigade’s accountant Natalya Sudareva for organizing a similar scheme.

In the Novgorod, Leningrad, and Tyumen regions, the Federal Security Service (FSB) detained six individuals aged 14 to 23, accusing them of setting fire to transportation infrastructure and decorations for Victory Day (May 9) under the alleged influence of "Ukrainian intelligence services." According to investigators, the youths had previously fallen victim to phone scammers and transferred large sums of money. They were later contacted by individuals posing as intelligence agents, who accused them of financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine and demanded they "atone" by committing acts of arson. Criminal cases have been opened against the detainees on terrorism-related charges.

Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee reported that a 15-year-old resident of the Leningrad region has been formally charged with committing a terrorist act. According to investigators, on April 12, the teenager set fire to a piece of infrastructure at the Vyborg railway station, acting on instructions from an unidentified individual. Police had previously announced the arrest of a 14-year-old suspect in the case on April 15.

The Southern District Military Court found 51-year-old Aleksey Tushov from Mikhailovsk, Stavropol region, guilty of preparing an act of terror and attempted trafficking of explosives. His 49-year-old wife, Yelena Sen, was found guilty of acting as his accomplice. Both were also charged with treason. According to investigators, the couple was preparing an explosion on a railway at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence services. Tushov was sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony, and Sen received 13 years. According to investigators, in late 2022, the man "established contact with representatives of Ukrainian intelligence services," and in November 2023, he allegedly informed his wife about it. According to the prosecutor’s office, Tushov, "on the instructions of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)," obtained an improvised explosive device, which he and Sen were supposed to use to blow up railway fuel tankers.

A 17-year-old Dagestani received eight years in a juvenile correctional facility on charges of a terrorist attack for an attempted arson of a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet at the Shagol airbase in early January 2024. According to case materials, in December 2023, he received instructions from unknown individuals via Telegram as well as an advance payment of 25,000 rubles [$320] to buy equipment and a ticket. He infiltrated the base on Jan. 4, set fire to the aircraft, and recorded a video. The fire was extinguished, and the damage was estimated at 62 million rubles [$793,700]. The next day, the young man was detained on a train and added to the list of terrorists and extremists.

A court in Arkhangelsk has sentenced a technical school student to nine years of imprisonment on charges of sabotage and cooperation with a foreign state. According to law enforcement officers, he communicated via messenger with representatives of "an organization supervised by the intelligence services of another state." On Feb. 20, following their instructions, the man born in 2004 poured flammable liquid on equipment near a railway, but it did not ignite. In March, while searching for more flammable liquid to attempt arson again, he was detained by the FSB.

A resident of the Chornomorske district of Crimea will be tried on charges of cooperating with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. The 53-year-old man allegedly sent an intelligence services officer photos of maps marked with the locations of fortifications, personnel, military vehicles and positions of Russian military units, along with explanatory voice messages. His name has not been disclosed.

A resident of Krasnodar has been sentenced to eight and a half years in a maximum security penal colony for attempting to join the AFU. According to the court, the man, "holding a negative attitude toward the special military operation," decided to join the AFU. On Sept. 17, 2024, the man arrived in the Bryansk region and attempted to illegally cross the border but was detained by border guards.

Russian law enforcement officials in Moscow have detained and arrested a local resident accused of planning a terrorist attack, reportedly under the direction of Ukrainian intelligence services, according to the Investigative Committee. Authorities say investigators found messages between the suspect and a handler on his phone, along with coordinates to a stash of explosives in a forest park on the city’s west side. Officers seized an improvised explosive device at the site. The suspect allegedly intended to detonate the device in a public place. He faces charges of preparing an act of terror and publicly justifying terrorism.

A 40-year-old entrepreneur from Vidnoye, Moscow region, Vadim A., was arrested on charges of participating in a terrorist organization. According to the news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti, Vadim was initially detained on April 30 at Vnukovo Airport. The following day, he was charged with petty hooliganism after reportedly shouting and waving his arms at the airport. He was sentenced to 13 days in detention. On May 30, Vadim was detained again and subsequently charged with a criminal offense. The exact nature of the charges remains unclear, though he had previously expressed critical views of the Russian government and law enforcement on social media.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] reported that in May, Russian courts and tribunals in occupied territories issued 73 politically motivated sentences, convicting 96 people. Among them, 40 were sentenced on charges related to terrorism, sabotage, treason and espionage. Of these, 37 were Ukrainian prisoners of war, including 35 members of the AFU captured in the Kursk region. Additionally, 19 individuals received real prison terms for social media comments, participating in protests, or involvement with groups banned in Russia.

Children

Head of Dagestan [Russia’s constituent republic] Sergey Melikov awarded the honorary title of "Honored Teacher" to the director of a kindergarten where 200 children staged a military parade.

In the Zabaykalsky region, school notebooks featuring Ukrainian war participants have been released by the regional branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland patriotic fund. The notebooks feature combatants' photos on the covers, with biographies and exploits inside, to be used in "Talking About Important Things" lessons [a compulsory lesson held every Monday in schools across the country] and "lessons of courage" in school.

In Khabarovsk, a Warrior's Trail military-tactical game was held for teenagers aged 14-17. Participants searched for enemies, weapon caches, and captured territory, culminating in storming an enemy village with simulated gunfire and explosions. Drones were used for reconnaissance, evacuating casualties, and targeting from the air. The event was organized by the Voin [Warrior] center.

In the Samara region, Wagner Group mercenaries attended a kindergarten graduation, distributing their shoulder patches to children and presenting one child with a group badge for a video address wishing luck to the military.

Longreads

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet recounted the story of Anton Shirshin, a 34-year-old contract soldier from Ufa who deserted after his commander ordered him to storm following six months of evacuation duty. After Shirshin refused to follow orders, he was tortured in the village of Zaitseve, then went AWOL and fled to Germany.