Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 3-4, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and LegislationÂ
Vladimir Putin has appointed Yevgeny Pervyshov, former mayor of Krasnodar and a "participant" in the war against Ukraine, as acting governor of the Tambov region. Pervyshov served as Krasnodar's mayor from 2016 to 2021 before becoming a member of the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], where he has since represented the Krasnodar region. In November 2022, he volunteered to fight in the Kaskad military unit. Reports from the Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] and VChK-OGPU Telegram channels describe Kaskad as a special "court" unit where legislators and the children of officials enlist for symbolic involvement in the war without engaging in active combat. British intelligence noted that Kaskad is stationed far from the frontline, allowing elites to claim participation without significant risk. After his initial contract expired, Pervyshov stated in January 2023 that he intended to renew it. A couple of weeks later, however, he was photographed with the governor of Krasnodar, claiming that he was home "just for a few days." He reported returning to the frontline in early February, and since May 2024, he has been participating in the Time of Heroes program for war veterans. Pro-Kremlin media emphasize that Pervyshov is now "the first governor in Russia who is a veteran of the special military operation."
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
In the city of Krasnoyarsk, authorities are offering residents the opportunity to sign contracts for military service during the National Unity Day celebrations. A recruitment center for contract military service was set up on the city’s Theater Square, where the festivities are taking place. Similar recruitment efforts took place in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where officials set up a recruitment point during the city's central celebrations. In the city of Nizhny Novgorod, along with a recruitment tent, the National Unity Day event included a display featuring a mock-up of a dead Ukrainian soldier.
A female resident of the city of Voronezh, accused in a case involving the cremation of her husband’s body, has joined the war. In 2021, notary Elena Podobedova reportedly exhumed her husband’s corpse and burned it, claiming she was following "ancient Slavic customs" and fulfilling her late husband’s "last wish." On Nov. 4, a local publication reported, citing a source, that Podobedova had signed a military contract to avoid prosecution. Meanwhile, Sergey Polishchuk, who helped her transport the husband’s body, was sentenced to two and a half years in a penal colony on charges of desecrating a corpse.
In the Perm district of the Perm region, authorities plan to double the payment for signing a contract with the MoD—from 100,000 rubles [$1,020] to 200,000 rubles [$2,040]. With this increase, including the regional sign-up bonus of 1.5 million rubles [$15,300] and the federal component of 400,000 rubles [$4,090], volunteers will be able to receive a total of 2.2 million rubles [$22,500].
In 2024, Russian authorities granted citizenship to 3,344 individuals for participating in the war against Ukraine, according to Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk. In September 2022, Putin signed a decree to simplify citizenship applications for those who concluded contracts with the MoD, initially requiring six months of service at the front. Even this requirement was later dropped and the opportunity extended to foreigners enlisting during the "special military operation." Moreover, Russian authorities have begun to grant citizenship to all family members of military personnel.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
An officer of the 1430th Regiment shot and killed a subordinate—a mobilized father of multiple children from Moscow. This information was published by the Astra Telegram channel. Last spring, the channel received a video message from a fellow soldier of the killed man, Stanislav Raevsky from the Moscow region, who was also mobilized in the 1430th Regiment. In the video, Raevsky stated that the 2nd Battalion Commander Sergey Serditov shot Aleksey Serov, a father of multiple children, in the head following a conflict. The incident reportedly occurred after Serov and six other soldiers had been drinking homemade alcohol. According to Raevsky, witnesses to the killing were given a choice: face charges for allegedly attacking an officer or remain silent, allowing Serov to be buried with military honors and ensuring his widow would receive financial compensation. "We chose the second option," Raevsky said in the video. Following this, the command tried to remove the witnesses by transferring them to other units closer to the frontline; half of them have since been killed. Raevsky asked for the video to be released after his death. According to Astra, he was killed near Bakhmut in the summer of 2023, a few weeks after he recorded the video. Astra identified two other commanders in the 1430th Regiment who knew about the killing and helped cover it up: the regiment's assistant commander for political affairs, Aleksandr Dmitrievich Filippovykh, and Albert Vladimirovich Bezvisilny. Bezvisilny’s specific position is not mentioned, and he reportedly died no later than January this year.
The commander of the 150th Guards Motorized Rifle Division reassigned personnel from a special reconnaissance unit to infantry roles, resulting in "valuable specialists" being killed or injured. Division serviceman Ivan Poryadin reported that although the soldiers complied with the order, battalion commanders from the 102nd Regiment continued to threaten them with physical violence and even death.
War participants from Russia's constituent Republic of Dagestan appealed to the head of the republic, Sergey Melikov, requesting that Chechen soldiers be sent to the front, citing issues with Chechen interference in the distribution of land plots in the village of Leninaul.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in Saint Petersburg has arrested Ilya Pervashov on suspicion of sabotage following the explosion of three power line pylons. According to investigators, on Oct. 19, he placed explosives on power pylons in the Vyborgsky district. As a result of the detonation, the power supply to around 300 homes was disrupted. When detained on Nov. 2, Pervashov allegedly attempted to escape and resisted arrest. He has not admitted guilt.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has recorded the highest number of acts of terror in Russia since it began keeping statistics, with authorities categorizing, among other crimes, the arson of relay cabinets and draft offices as such. In the first nine months of 2024, law enforcement registered 601 acts of terror, a 7% increase from the previous record high in 2003, when the ministry reported 561 incidents. Following that year, the number of acts of terror in Russia declined for five years, then plateaued over the next 13 years, ranging from eight to 50 incidents annually. Statistics began to rise again in 2022 after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, with 127 acts of terror recorded that year. In 2023, this figure tripled to 410. By mid-2024, the previous year's total had already been reached in just over seven months. In addition to arson, this increase is also attributed to the frequent classification of actions by Ukrainian military personnel as "acts of terror."
Children and Educational System
As noted by the Vyorstka media outlet, kindergartens and schools across Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine celebrated National Unity Day with various activities, many of which had war-related themes. In a school in the village of Idritsa in the Pskov region, children made camouflage nets and trench candles for Russian soldiers and wrote letters to them. Schools in the Kursk region held lessons on "patriotic education" and tactical medicine. At a school in the village of Barsuki, Tula region, female students recorded video messages against the backdrop of the Russian Empire flag, bearing the words "We are Russians, God is with us."
Miscellaneous
Libraries in the Belgorod region have removed lists of local residents killed in the war from their websites following an anti-war campaign in Belgorod on Oct. 21. Unknown individuals identifying as "partisans of the Belgorod People’s Republic" distributed flyers advertising contract military service, with QR codes linking to a list of names of Russian soldiers killed in action on the Belgorod District Central Library’s website. The next day, according to the Pepel [Ashes] Telegram channel, similar lists were also removed from the websites of other regional district libraries. These lists had been maintained after the region’s lawmakers passed the 2022 law "On Perpetuating the Memory of Those Who Died Defending the Fatherland."
Novaya Gazeta [independent Russian newspaper] has calculated that Russia has spent 91 billion rubles [$930 million] on "patriotic" shows and events since the outset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2024 alone, around 46 billion rubles [$470 million] were allocated to the "Patriotic Education of Citizens in the Russian Federation" project, representing a 6 billion rubles [$61.3 million] increase over the 2023 budget and a tenfold increase over the 2022 budget. The subjects that spent the most funds on "patriotic education" were Saint Petersburg, the Moscow region, the Voronezh region, the Chelyabinsk region, the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region [Russia's federal subject] and the Stavropol region. Furthermore, government institutions in various regions have been actively conducting militarized events for adults, as evidenced by at least 904 such procurements totaling 1.3 billion rubles [$13.28 million] discovered by Novaya Gazeta. At least 700 million rubles [$7.15 million] was spent by organizations engaged in military-patriotic education of children and youth on food for their students, maintenance and the purchase of flags and other paraphernalia. The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel has estimated that the 91 billion rubles [$930 million] would have been enough to build 60 ultra-modern schools.
Residents of the Kursk region are appealing en masse to Putin for housing certificates. On Nov. 3, the administration of the Sheptukhovo village council released 24 video messages from residents of the Korenevo district addressed to Putin. In the videos, residents, including children, explain that they had to leave their homes because of fighting in the border areas, and most cannot return, as their homes have been destroyed. They ask Putin to help "all residents of the border areas" by providing housing certificates and compensation for the loss of property and equipment. The head of the village council, Yury Tkachev, also appealed to Putin on behalf of his village residents. Svetlana Lyakhova, a resident of the Sudzha district, traveled to Moscow on Nov. 1 to deliver a petition from local council leaders requesting housing certificates at Putin's reception office. In October, Minister of Construction Aleksandr Afonin stated in an official letter that issuing housing certificates to residents of the Sudzha district would be "inadvisable," claiming it would cause a "significant outflow of the working population."
In Udmurtia [Russia's constituent republic], an unmanned aerial vehicle center is set to be constructed by the end of 2025. Aleksandr Brechalov, the head of the Udmurt Republic, signed an order on Nov. 1 to build the center, which will be funded by the regional budget and national subsidies amounting to 858 million rubles [$8.77 million].
Longreads
The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet published a longread examining career prospects in Russia for soldiers returning from the war in Ukraine.