Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 13-16, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The government introduced a bill to the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] that would require employers to provide 35 days of extra unpaid leave to employees who are combat veterans.
Army Recruitment
Recruiters allegedly tricked Bulat Shayakhmetov, an 18-year-old college student from Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic], into signing a contract and sent him to the frontline, according to his mother. She stated that unknown individuals offered him and other adult students a "gig" taking medical tests for people who supposedly wanted to join the war but had failed health checks. Bulat left with the recruiters on Nov. 2 and subsequently lost contact. A man later called the family, declaring the young man "had signed a contract." His mother insists they forced her son to sign papers "for the tests." After he signed, the scammers used his passport to issue a bank card, linking the personal account to a stranger's phone number. On Nov. 5, he managed to call from an airport, reporting that they were forcibly transporting him to Rostov. There, authorities assigned him to the 137th brigade and dispatched him to the Donetsk region. His parents are now attempting to annul the contract. They have appealed to the prosecutor's office and recorded an appeal to Russia’s Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov.
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 147,252 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 15,847 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 1,994 soldiers, 80 of whom were mobilized. Over the past month, more than 11,000 names have been added to the list of verified losses. Journalists have used the National Probate Registry to confirm deaths of several thousand of those were previously listed as missing in action.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Astrakhan region, the Akhtubinsky District Court has sentenced 54-year-old Sergey Gadalin, a former Wagner Group mercenary, to three years in a penal colony on charges of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm with a weapon. According to the court, on New Year's Eve 2025, two men, with whom he had a conflict, came to Gadalin's house in the village of Batayevka. During the argument, the former mercenary stabbed one of the visitors twice in the stomach with a knife. The victim was identified as a fellow soldier of Gadalin. In 2020, Gadalin was convicted of attempting to shoot an acquaintance with a homemade modified shotgun and was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony, but he did not serve his full term, as he enlisted in the Wagner Group from the colony.
In the Saratov region, a court in Volsk has sentenced 41-year-old Aleksandr Ryazantsev, a former Wagner Group mercenary, to 10 months of imprisonment. On the evening of March 14, during a drunken quarrel with his neighbor, Ryazantsev stole a gold chain worth 312,000 rubles [$3,860], which he later sold to an acquaintance. The next day, during another gathering with alcohol, he took a knife and threatened to kill his former romantic partner. In court, Ryazantsev fully admitted his guilt. He has a previous criminal record and enlisted in the Wagner Group from a penal colony, where he later received a pardon.
An escaped serviceman, Yevgeny Sitnikov, is being sought in the Belgorod region. The published alert states that he "may be dangerous." 18-year-old Sitnikov has been sought in the Shebekinsky district and neighboring municipalities since Nov. 15. The serviceman had likely already left his duty station earlier—his relatives posted a missing person notice in July 2025.
A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced 53-year-old serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vitalyi Zaluzhnyi to six years in a penal colony for participation in a terrorist community. According to investigators, he voluntarily joined the Azov Brigade and then participated in battles as part of the unit. According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, Zaluzhnyi has been listed as missing in action since May 2022.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported the detention in Moscow of three people who allegedly planned an act of terror at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery against one of Russia’s unnamed high-ranking office holders. One of the individuals in the case is Shamsov Dzhaloliddin, an illegal migrant from Central Asia who lived in Kyiv, and the other two are a married couple with drug addiction and prior convictions. According to law enforcement officers, the official was supposed to be blown up near the graves of his close relatives using a bomb disguised as a flower vase that could be detonated remotely.
The Second District Military Court in Russia’s Far East sentenced Artyom Konstantinov, a resident of the Altai region, to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of attempting to commit a terrorist attack, treason, participation in a terrorist organization, and undergoing terrorist training. According to the court, Konstantinov sought to join the Freedom of Russia Legion. To do so, he allegedly sent handlers a questionnaire and a video pledging allegiance, and later painted anti-government slogans in Barnaul. Investigators say he also shared photographs of Russian military personnel, draft offices, a train station, the Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant and "administrative facilities." The prosecution claims that his handlers then promised him money and assistance in leaving for Ukraine in exchange for setting fire to a draft office. After receiving instructions, Konstantinov built an improvised incendiary device. On December 16, 2024, he arrived at the draft office in Barnaul, where he was arrested before carrying out the arson.
The First Western Military Court sentenced Sergey Boronenkov, from the Kaluga region, to 16 years, and Kirill Zverev, originally from the Leningrad region, to 15 years in a maximum security colony on charges of treason, sabotage and calls for terrorism. According to the court, in 2023 Boronenkov posted an online message collecting funds to buy an optical sight for the Azov Regiment. In 2024, investigators claim, Boronenkov and Zverev set fire to relay cabinets at the Padozero station in Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic], expecting to receive 100,000 rubles [$1,240] for the act.
The "Supreme Court of Crimea" sentenced a 22-year-old Kerch resident to 14 years and one month in a penal colony on treason charges. Prosecutors say that in January 2024, the man whose name has not been disclosed, gathered information on the locations of Russian Ministry of Defense units, including screenshots with precise geographic coordinates, in exchange for payment. He reportedly sent the data to a chat run by Ukraine’s Security Service and Main Intelligence Directorate. News of the treason case surfaced in June 2025, when the FSB said the suspect had also taken photographs of air-defense systems.
A 26-year-old Ukrainian citizen, Marko Fisun, who moved from Melitopol to Simferopol in 2018 and obtained a Russian residence permit, disappeared after being detained at the Verkhny Lars checkpoint. According to relatives, on Sept. 24 Fisun and his wife were stopped at the Verkhny Lars; his wife was later released, while Marko was taken to Vladikavkaz and detained for 15 days, allegedly for using profanity. His detention ended on Oct. 9, but he did not emerge from the detention facility, and there has been no contact with him since. The FSB told the family that its officers had not detained Marko, while the prosecutor’s office said he is "alive and well," has asked that the search for him be halted, and refuses to disclose his whereabouts to relatives. Law enforcement officers have previously used administrative arrests to pave the way for criminal cases (1, 2, 3).
Assistance
Police in Krasnoyarsk have been ordered to "voluntarily" contribute funds for the needs of participants in the war, transferring an amount equal to one day of their pay.
Children and Militarization
MIREA University hosted a conference titled "Military training of students: opportunities and prospects for development based on the experience of the special military operation."
Over the past week, thousands of events were held in Russian schools, kindergartens, vocational schools, colleges and libraries to mark Conscription Day on Nov. 15. These included "festive" concerts, weapons exhibitions, assault rifle assembly activities, meetings with participants in the war against Ukraine and military commissars, writing letters to the frontline, and numerous army-themed quizzes and competitions.