Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin has signed into law the federal budget for the years 2025-2027, which includes record-high military expenditures in Russia's modern history. The 2025 budget allocates 13.5 trillion rubles [$125 billion] to "national defense," accounting for over 40% of the government's total spending. Additionally, law enforcement agencies will receive 3.5 trillion rubles [$33 billion] in 2025. For more details, see our previous summaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has confirmed that changes to mobilization exemption rules will soon take effect. The ministry wrote that existing exemptions for employees of IT companies will remain valid until March 21, 2025. After that date, "employers will be able to obtain exemptions under new rules," which will apply to companies across all sectors of the economy. Further details are expected to be announced in December. Previously, Echo [Russian-language online media outlet], citing unnamed sources, reported that the government had issued a classified decree reducing the list of organizations eligible for mobilization exemption certificates.

The Federation Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] has lifted restrictions on hiring individuals with criminal records for positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations or the Federal Penitentiary Service. This change applies only to criminal cases of private prosecution [those initiated by the victim, such as defamation or battery], which were discontinued due the "active repentance" of the defender. Additionally, the case must have been terminated at least three years before applying for service. Journalists link this relaxation with severe personnel shortages in law enforcement agencies.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

In Moscow, a student with a valid draft deferral has been detained for a second day at a military collection point. Artemy Krugovykh returned to Russia this year and enrolled in a university. In August, he registered with the military but was denied a deferral by the draft board, which claimed that his enrollment was not immediate after high school. He appealed the decision in court, and while the case is under review, he is not eligible for conscription. Despite this, police detained Krugovykh on the street, claiming he was "wanted," and brought him to the military collection point. Officials at the collection point are pressuring him to choose a military unit, ignoring documents proving his ongoing legal challenge regarding the deferral. Krugovykh is being held alongside another young man previously deemed unfit for service by a court. These incidents are not isolated, as reports of unlawful detention of conscription-age men continue to surface.

According to the PrizyvaNet [No Conscription] project, detentions of conscription-age men in Moscow have increased by 2.5 times compared to last year. In 2023, 87 men were detained and sent to collection points during the regular biannual conscription campaign, with 23 managing to leave and remain free. By 2024, the number of detentions had risen to 225, with only 66 successfully leaving the collection points. Sergey Krivenko, head of the Grazhdanin. Armiya. Pravo [Citizen. Army. Law] human rights society, confirmed the rising number of detentions. He attributes this trend partly to 2023 amendments to the Military Conscription and Military Service Act, which removed the right to suspend conscription during the appeal process. Krivenko also noted an increasing use of police violence against detainees.

During a raid by law enforcement on Moscow clubs under the pretext of "combating LGBT propaganda," a 19-year-old visitor to the Mono club, Aleksandr S., was issued a draft notice. Aleksandr plans to file a statement with the draft office. He currently holds service fitness category "G," which means he is temporarily unfit for military service. Aleksandr also disputes the legitimacy of the notice, which directs him to report to the local district draft office, as all conscription-related activities in Moscow are currently centralized at the Unified Military Recruitment Center on Yablochkova Street.

Viktor Ovcharov, former deputy chairman of the Krasnoselsky District Court of Saint Petersburg, who was the subject of a criminal case initiated against him for facilitating bribery, has now been deployed to the war.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

Another 18-year-old Russian conscript has been reported killed in the war against Ukraine. Ivan Bryansky from Russia's constituent Republic of Buryatia, born in 2005, was conscripted in July 2024 and transferred to the Belgorod region after taking the military oath. He was killed as a result of a drone attack on Nov. 7.

The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel has reported that the commanding officers of the 13th Tank Regiment of the 1st Tank Army have been detained on charges of extorting money from subordinates. According to the channel, under the patronage of Colonel Fail Shagiakhmetov, the regiment's commander, a group of commanders headed by Andrey Levin, an ex-convict and company commander, extorted an average of 50 percent of the payments and compensations received by soldiers. One commander amassed a sum of 40 million rubles [$371,700] in his account. Those soldiers who opposed this "policy" had regularly filed complaints about the extortion with the prosecutor's office and other authorities. However, the commanders went unpunished for a long time, while the complainants were sent to an illegal basement prison in the village of Zaitseve, located in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine. Although the group was eventually detained, several individuals, including Colonel Shagiakhmetov, were released as witnesses. Shagiakhmetov reportedly continues to lead the regiment. Meanwhile, Levin remains in pre-trial detention.

Nikolay Rudykh, a 42-year-old soldier from the 123rd Motor Rifle Brigade in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], complained that he was declared AWOL after attempting to leave the military due to two injuries and the amputation of his fingers. Rudykh recorded a video, requesting that it be made public if he were detained. In the video, he stated that upon arriving at their unit in Luhansk, all soldiers had their passports and military IDs confiscated. Rudykh was wounded twice but never received any compensation. When he tried to leave the military, his commander declared him AWOL. According to Rudykh, there are constant cases of torture and extortion in the unit. Rudykh is currently out of contact.

Soldiers from the 110th Motor Rifle Brigade, who were released from dog kennels where their commanders had confined them, have not been in contact with their relatives. The Astra Telegram channel has identified the location of the torture chamber as the unit’s base on Kuybyshev Street in Donetsk. Those released have not been in contact for over a month.

The Telegram channel Russia No Context has published a video taken by soldiers who are being held in a cage at a unit in Naro-Fominsk. According to the soldiers, they are currently under investigation, and the cage was installed on the orders of their command.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Chelyabinsk, a 31-year-old serviceman stabbed his wife to death and then committed suicide by jumping out of a window. According to local residents, the man had participated in the war with Ukraine. At the time of the murder, three children were also present in the apartment.

In Volgograd, a search is underway for an 18-year-old conscript, Maksim Saakyants, who went AWOL. Alerts for Saakyants, drafted on Oct. 30, 2024, were issued on Dec. 1. His mother claims that her son urgently needed medical assistance. However, the unit's command alleges that Saakyants attempted to feign illness and that his mother was involved in his disappearance.

A court in Barnaul has found soldiers Innokenty Mogzoev and Viktor Pozdeev guilty of group theft causing significant damage and going AWOL during mobilization. Pozdeev was sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony, while Mogzoev received a sentence of 7.5 years.

Mobilized soldier Aleksandr Pavlenko has been sentenced to five years in a penal colony for going AWOL. In January 2024, Pavlenko failed to return to his unit after being on leave and stayed home in Volgograd instead. He only returned to service in May.

A court in Rostov denied former Storm-Z unit fighter Ilya Mezhidov compensation for a combat injury, citing that Storm-Z fighters are not covered by injury insurance. Open data suggests that Mezhidov may be a former district administration employee from the Astrakhan region, previously convicted and sentenced to four years for fraud. Mezhidov was pardoned in May 2023 following his recruitment. A month later, he triggered a mine in Ukraine. Despite undergoing a partial leg amputation, he was "mistakenly" sent back to the frontline. It was not until November, nearly five months after his injury, that he was formally removed from the assault company.

In Saint Petersburg, a man attempted to set fire to an electrical substation on a railway. The incident occurred in the early hours of Dec. 1 in the village of Petro-Slavyanka. The suspect allegedly entered the substation premises but failed to start a fire. He fled the scene but was later detained. A criminal case has been initiated against him under charges of committing an act of terror.

In the Vsevolozhsky district of Saint Petersburg, a 20-year-old student from Kudrovo was detained on Nov. 30 for filming a gas pipeline. According to reports, the student allegedly sent the footage to an unidentified recipient via a messaging app in exchange for financial compensation and has been charged with a misdemeanor.

Children and Educational System

In the Rostov region, Nikita Matveyev, a soldier on leave wearing an insignia of the Wagner Group, attended a tea party at the Ulybka [Smile] Cossack kindergarten.

In Komi [Russia's constituent republic] , members of the Storm-Z unit and the Wagner Group, accompanied by an aide to United Russia deputy Vladimir Zharikov, organized a ceremony for preschoolers, inducting them into the "Eaglet Preschooler" group.

According to regional senator Aleksey Kondratyev, out of 160,000 refugees from the Kursk region, 50,000 have returned to their homes over the past four months. He stated that the returnees have resettled in areas reclaimed by Russia, where the frontline has been pushed back.