Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 2-4, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin signed the bill on "year-round conscription" into law. Conscription activities, including medical commissions and data check-ups, will now run throughout the year. The law, effective Jan. 1, 2026, will not change the existing dispatch periods, which remain from April 1 to July 15 and from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. Furthermore, the appearance date on a draft notice posted in the Draft Register cannot exceed 30 days from its publication.

Putin also signed another bill allowing the Ministry of Defense to use individuals enrolled in the mobilization reserve to "perform specific defense tasks" during peacetime and without a formal declaration of mobilization, while also permitting their deployment outside of Russia.

Army Recruitment

Russia’s Central Bank recorded a record number of payment holidays granted to war participants and their family members in the third quarter of 2025, totaling more than 69,000. Creditors had to grant payment deferrals on nearly 55,900 loans in the first quarter of 2025 and 56,500 in the second. In total, since September 2022, they have granted almost 658,000 deferrals amounting to about 300 billion rubles [$4 billion]. The payment holiday scheme was much less popular before 2024, but applications soared after regional governments started increasing military service sign-up bonuses. The law, however, prohibits granting payment holidays for loans taken out after signing a contract with the MoD.

The Vyorstka media outlet reports that Russian regions have begun actively recruiting reservists to guard strategic facilities against drone attacks. In the Bryansk region, they are also required to "suppress the activities of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups," "ensure the counter-terrorism operation regime," and evacuate civilians. The region also offers the highest payments—from 40,500 rubles [$500] for lower military ranks (riflemen) to 99,300 rubles [$1,230] for squad commanders. Authorities also promise bonuses—35,000 rubles [$430] from the MoD, 150,000 rubles [$1,860] from the region for a six-month contract, and 300,000 rubles [$3,710] for a one-year term. In non-border regions, such as the Tula region and Russia's constituent republic of Bashkortostan, the payments are significantly lower—from 2,000 rubles [$25] to 10,000 rubles [$120]. In addition, representatives of enlistment offices have begun organizing in-person meetings with residents to promote reservist service.

In the city of Tyumen, employees of the Plastkonstruktsiya [Plastic construction] company were given leaflets offering them to enroll in the MoD reserve. Earlier, the region announced the formation of units to protect enterprises from drone attacks.

Private construction companies in the city of Irkutsk are introducing a new position—a recruiter, a specialist tasked with enlisting contract soldiers for participation in the war. Company management refers to a certain decision by the "operations control center." The NeMoskva media outlet also found similar job listings on the employment website hh.ru. For example, Gormoststroytrest [Moscow infrastructure company] is seeking recruiters who are promised 100,000 rubles [$1,240] for each person who signs a contract.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

Aleksey Kostrikin, a serviceman previously charged with the murder of a resident of the town of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Belgorod region, the rape of his wife, and the attack on a woman in the town of Shebekino, is now suspected of another murder that occurred in Novaya Tavolzhanka. The victim was a local resident who had come to check on his house. It is believed that Kostrikin, who had escaped from custody, may have been hiding there, since the car he stole was found abandoned nearby. The Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel has attributed Kostrikin's success in hiding in the Shebekino district to his experience as a guide for Russian soldiers in the Vovchansk direction. A criminal case has been opened against Kostrikin's escorts on charges of negligence, as the search for the escapee only started to be searched for an hour after the escape.

In the Kamchatka region, a court in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has sentenced 27-year-old sailor Ildar Berkaliev to 13 years in a penal colony on charges of murder and desertion. According to his mother, Berkaliev left his military unit because he was unwilling to participate in combat operations, and found a job. Later, a drunk man broke into his house and was fatally stabbed by Berkaliev during a subsequent quarrel. Berkaliev's mother believes that he was acting in self-defense.

In Tomsk, 37-year-old Aleksey Budarin, a former Wagner Group mercenary, received an eight-year suspended sentence for an armed robbery he committed back in 2017. Budarin was arrested seven years after the crime when his DNA matched material recovered from the scene. During the 2017 robbery of Sberbank [Russia's largest bank], he stole approximately 7.5 million rubles [$92,800], $3,200, and 3,100 euros. The court's leniency was directly attributed to mitigating factors, including an injury Budarin sustained while fighting in the war and his medal "For Courage."

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Oleg Gorobtsov, a former police officer from Kabardino-Balkaria [Russia’s constituent republic], to five years in a penal colony for fraud. Gorobtsov, who had two prior convictions for similar crimes, was released from prison eight months early in May 2024 to join the front line. While serving there as a company commander, he demanded money from subordinates, promising to speed up their medical discharge from active duty. He ultimately collected a total of 2.25 million rubles [$27,800]. In court, Gorobtsov claimed that the collected funds were used for purchasing military drones.

The Altai Regional Court sentenced 42-year-old local resident Natalya Malis to 16 years in prison on charges of treason. The court did not disclose details of the case, but stated that she pleaded guilty.

In Moscow, a court arrested 60-year-old Ukrainian citizen Andrey Pirogov on charges of espionage. Prior to this, Andrey had spent over four months under repeated administrative arrests for petty hooliganism and disobeying police. Details of the criminal case against Pirogov are unknown.

Assistance

Russian authorities have tripled their prosthetic procurement: the 2026 budget allocates 98.16 billion rubles [$1 billion] for "providing disabled people with technical rehabilitation equipment," compared to 33 billion rubles [$408 million] per year in 2020-2021, and 75.4 billion rubles [$933 million] in 2025, according to Janis Kluge, a researcher with the German Institute for International Security Studies.

In Chelyabinsk, utility companies will begin promoting the pro-government All-Russia People's Front movement fundraising to help war veterans pay utility bills.

Children and militarization

During the Kind Novorossiysk festival, which involved NGOs and "volunteer" movements, a model of a soldier's naked body with wounds and a severed leg was displayed in a park in Novorossiysk. According to local residents, children "cried and ran away" when they saw the model of the wounded body.