Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 11-12, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Moscow's draft offices are beginning to send notifications to potential conscripts that restrictions have been imposed on them for ignoring a draft notice. Lawyer Artyom Klyga, head of the legal department of the human rights organization Movement of Conscientious Objectors, confirmed several such cases to Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet]. The notifications inform the recipients that they are barred from leaving the country and face other restrictions, such as managing property, registering as self-employed, obtaining foreign passports, taking out loans or registering vehicles. Authorities enjoin to immediately report to the military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street, threatening to press criminal charges, which could result in up to two years of imprisonment, even though all cases until now have been treated as administrative offenses punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 rubles [$310]. Klyga indicated that conscripts began reporting these notifications last week, although similar reports from other cities have yet to emerge. On Nov. 5, Moscow’s military commissar Maksim Loktev had warned that authorities would soon impose travel bans and other restrictive measures on conscripts. However, the human rights organization Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School] described the notifications as "nothing more than intimidation," stating that, so far, there is no evidence that the authorities have actually enforced any of these restrictions.
The administration of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow has disabled campus access cards for male students of conscription age from other regions who haven't registered with a local Moscow draft office, effectively preventing them from entering the university. They promise to restore access within 24 hours to students who complete their military registration.
In Moscow, police detained a 19-year-old full-time student named Timofey using footage from a CCTV camera in the metro and forcibly took him to a military collection point on Ugreshskaya Street. Over the summer, Timofey had visited the draft office in response to a draft notice for a data check-up, where he was immediately sent to the medical evaluation board and was nearly conscripted into statutory service. Together with his lawyer, he appealed to the court, which, according to the law, should suspend the draft office’s decision until a final court ruling. The lawyer told journalists that although Timofey had transferred from one university to another, he had not yet used his draft deferral, making the decision to search for him unlawful.
The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel reported several other detentions of young men of conscription age in Moscow. One of them, also detained on the metro, allegedly during a raid, was issued a draft notice scheduled for late December. Another conscript, who has health issues and was detained in the metro, has not made contact since being sent to the draft office. A third young man, who has a medical condition that disqualified him from military service, was dispatched to a military unit without any medical evaluation or review of his health records.
The Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel reports another case of conscript soldiers being coerced into signing contracts. In the Chelyabinsk region, command officers of the 80th Tank Regiment of the 90th Tank Division in the town of Chebarkul forced conscripts to sign contracts, presenting them as "standard papers" necessary to continue serving with the unit. The officers reportedly threatened to send the conscripts to a combat zone where they would face certain death if they refused. After signing the documents, the officers explicitly informed the soldiers that they would indeed be deployed to a combat zone. Soldiers from the 6th Tank Regiment previously encountered similar deception—many only realized they had been enlisted as contract soldiers after receiving signing bonuses. Similar incidents have been reported by conscripts stationed in Khabarovsk.
Authorities continue to issue draft notices to members of the Roma community residing in Korkino, Chelyabinsk region.
In Tyumen, brochures offering contracts with the Ministry of Defense are being distributed through mailboxes. Volunteer fighters are promised payments exceeding 5.2 million rubles [$53,600] for their first year of service. The advertisements direct interested individuals to sign contracts at recruitment centers in Moscow. A total of 100,000 brochures have been printed. Meanwhile, in the Belgorod region, a "mobile enlistment office" is being used to recruit for the war—a bus converted into a mobile contract recruitment center travels to remote villages across the region.
In the auction documentation on the government procurement portal, the Main Directorate of Trade Organization of Samara Region posted an advertisement for contract-based military service. One tender offers a one-time sign-up payment of 2 million rubles [$20,600] and 4.5 million rubles [$36,300] for the first year of service, while the other offers 1.205 million rubles [$12,400].
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The Astra Telegram channel, citing a source, reported the removal of the commander of the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade. According to the source, the decision stemmed from the assault on the village of Bilohorivka in the Siversk direction, where approximately 200 infantry soldiers were reported missing. Additionally, about 100 tank crew members were killed or injured in the assault. On Nov. 2, according to pro-Russian channels, the brigade commander sent three motorized rifle battalions and one tank battalion into an unprepared frontal assault. The assault was reportedly led by the commander of the brigade’s 1st Battalion, Aleksey Korchagin. Previously, the brigade’s soldiers had complained of electric torture, heavy losses in "meat assaults," and a high number of missing in action.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reported on an investigation conducted within the 110th Motorized Rifle Brigade following a conflict between the brigade commanders and the Military Prosecutor's Office. During the investigation, 17 servicemen from the unit, aged 19 to 40, were found held in dog kennels in a torture mine in Donetsk’s Petrovskyi district, a site previously reported by Astra. According to the rescued servicemen, previous detainees held in the cages had been killed. Members of the 110th Brigade, alongside fighters from the 5th Brigade, allegedly beat and tortured the men and extorted their salaries. The criminal case has named as defendants a battalion commander, Vladimir Novikov, and an individual identified as A.A. Gvozdev. They reportedly took hostage those soldiers without families and extracted millions of rubles from their accounts over months.
The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has reported additional grounds for early dismissal of mobilized and contract soldiers from military service during the period of the mobilization decree. All these grounds are regulated by non-public legal acts marked "for official use only." In particular, Putin’s Decree No. 580 allows military personnel to resign in exceptional cases based on the conclusion of an attestation commission.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in Novosibirsk has sentenced servicemen Dmitry Ratovanov and Dmitry Pomortsev to four years in a maximum security penal colony for causing grievous bodily harm committed in a group. According to prosecutors, the men were drinking alcohol with friends on the evening of May 30. Ratovanov suspected one of them of stealing money from his girlfriend. The servicemen assaulted the drinking companion, continuing to beat him even after he lost consciousness. The servicemen pleaded guilty.
In Saint Petersburg, a 34-year-old serviceman jumped out of a second-floor window while fleeing from the military police, as he did not want to return to the frontline after receiving treatment for an injury sustained in the war. He is currently in intensive care.
In Chita, Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], a military court has sentenced soldier Igor Konishchev to six years and one month in a penal colony for going AWOL. The court determined that Konishchev had failed to report back to his unit after the conclusion of his leave on April 5. On May 8, he turned himself in at the commandant's office.
The Southern District Military Court has upheld the sentence of six years in a penal colony for contract soldier Manuchehr Beknazarov from Russia's constituent Republic of North Ossetia–Alania. He was tried for self-harm and going AWOL. According to the verdict, while stationed at a temporary deployment point in the occupied territories of Ukraine, Beknazarov struck himself on the head with an ax and was subsequently hospitalized. Furthermore, the accused was absent from his military duties from December 2023 to February 2024.
Two residents of the Rostov region have been detained on suspicion of setting fire to a relay cabinet on the railway section between Glubokaya and Pogorelovo stations in the Kamensky district. A criminal case has been initiated for an act of terror. The detainees were instructed by their "handlers" to carry out the arson for a reward of 40,000 rubles [$410]. The identities of the suspects have not been disclosed.
A resident of Sevastopol was detained for allegedly planning to carry out the explosion of railway tracks near the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the man reportedly contacted Ukrainian intelligence services and was tasked with photographing equipment near the railway. His "handler" then sent detailed instructions on how to make an incendiary mixture, along with money for purchasing components. FSB operatives were waiting for him at the location where he was supposed to carry out the sabotage. Criminal cases have been opened against him on charges of attempted terrorist attack and collaboration with foreign intelligence.
Tower crane operator Sergey Andreev is set to stand trial for allegedly setting fire to a draft office in Moscow. He was detained on Nov. 3, 2023, and faces charges of illegal possession and trafficking of explosives, manufacturing weapons, participation in a terrorist group, committing an act of terror, and high treason. Investigators claim that he allegedly joined the Ukrainian Hochu Zhit [I Want to Live] project and was in contact with one of its handlers. He allegedly received instructions on creating an improvised incendiary device. He was reportedly arrested on Nov. 10 during a second arson attempt. The SOTAvision Telegram channel provided further details on Andreev’s case.
The Southern District Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Ukrainian national Sergey Kuris to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of espionage, training for terrorist activity, and involvement in a terrorist organization. Kuris was detained in Donetsk in September 2019. He reported that he was subjected to torture in the pre-trial detention center and was only given drinking water once a day.
Kursk and Belgorod Regions
Following local protests, Aleksey Smirnov, Governor of the Kursk region, held a meeting with residents of the Sudzhansky district. During the meeting, he dismissed the district head, who, according to residents, had not addressed their concerns since Aug. 6. Smirnov also promised to provide housing certificates to refugees from the town of Sudzha and the village of Glushkovo.
Andrey Gerasimenko, a resident of the village of Malaya Loknya, currently controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was fined 20,000 rubles [$210] for organizing a protest in Kursk on Nov.10. The protest was held by refugees from Sudzhansky district.
Assistance
Moscow region authorities plan to open a new rehabilitation and support center for participants of the "special military operation" in Sergiev Posad in 2025. It is planned to receive more than 2,000 military personnel annually free of charge. More than 220 million rubles [$2.27 million] will be allocated from the budget for this center in 2025.
The city of Yekaterinburg is to spend 185 million rubles [$1.91 million] in 2025 to support war veterans.
Children and Educational System
At least 70 events were held in Russian schools over the past week to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the creator of the AK-47 assault rifle, according to the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet. At many of these events, adults brought dummies of Kalashnikov assault rifles, and children were allowed to assemble and disassemble them.