Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 3-5, 2023 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
In Irkutsk, city administration employees will be holding so-called “information sessions for all interested” about the benefits of contract-based military service every Wednesday at 5 p.m. Local residents will have an opportunity to learn about benefits and financial compensation available to military personnel, including support measures for their families. Although we’ve known about contract soldier recruitment targets since June 2023, a resident of the town of Slyudyanka told the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet that the Irkutsk region had received targets for volunteer fighter recruitment as well. The Slyudyansky district only managed to recruit 50 people out of the planned 270, he added.
Following similar announcements from other Russian regions, the Wagner Group has reportedly resumed recruitment in the Krasnodar region, according to a 93.ru [local news portal] source close to the situation. At this time, it is unclear which branch of service the candidates would join, where they would be headed after medical examination, or what terms are offered in their contracts.
Journalists of pro-government media outlets in Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic] called draft offices pretending to volunteer to fight in the war. “Tatarstan draft offices effectively discourage any desire and eliminate the opportunity to sign a contract,” they concluded. Openly critical articles and video reports appeared simultaneously in several media outlets under the control of Tatarstan authorities. One explanation points to tensions between civilian and military authorities regarding contract soldier recruitment plans. Earlier, Rustam Safiullin, the deputy head of the contract service recruitment office in Kazan was quoted as saying that Tatarstan “sends off between 107 and 122 individuals” to the war every two days.
Mobilized Soldiers and Volunteer Fighters
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Aleksey Mikhailov from the Ulyanovsk region, Aleksandr Yezhkov from the Volgograd region, Amangeldy Menseitov from the Astrakhan region, Munir Minnigaliev from Tatarstan, Aleksandr Yaresko from the Voronezh region, Sergey Kozhevnikov from the Arkhangelsk region, Aleksey Sidorenko from the Stavropol region, Dmitry Molochkov from the Vladimir region, Aleksandr Gryaznov from the Yaroslavl region, Vyacheslav Kirichenko from the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject], as well as Nikolay Tokarev, Yevgeny Kopylov and Yevgeny Larionov from the Sverdlovsk region.
Mobilized soldier Maksim Khamrin from the Vladimir region has been missing for seven months, and his family has been unable to obtain any information from the authorities about him. Another mobilized soldier from the region, Aleksandr Kholev, who went missing in action a year ago, is presumed to be in captivity, according to his wife Elena.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Three children and two women lost their lives in a traffic accident involving a military KAMAZ truck. The accident occurred in Crimea on the Krasnoperekopsk-Simferopol highway when the military truck collided head-on with a passenger car. Previously, the Vyorstka media outlet reported on the increasing number of accidents involving Russian soldiers, often driving under the influence and without proper licenses.
Russian soldiers participating in the invasion of Ukraine have established an illegal ammunition cache at the military training ground in Troitskoye, Ingushetia [Russia’s constituent republic]. Employees of the training ground discovered and confiscated 242 rounds of various calibers, 5 grenades, their fuses, and 3 flashbang grenades.
Aleksandr Zakharov, an inmate at Correctional Colony No. 5 in the Vladimir region who had been convicted of rape and, while serving his sentence, participated in the torture of other convicts, joined the war in Ukraine. Authorities investigating instances of torture at the colony were thus unable to question him and closed the case. Dzhoshgun Safarov, a former inmate who complained of being tortured, told his story to the Dovod Russian independent media outlet.
A criminal case for repeated promotion of symbols of an extremist organization (Freedom of Russia Legion) has been brought against Semyon Kochkin, the author of the Syerditaya Chuvashia [Angry Chuvashia] Telegram channel, after he reported on numerous casualties among mobilized men serving at the 1251st Motorized Rifle Regiment during an artillery attack. According to the Baza Telegram channel, the posts featuring the white-blue-white flag adopted by Russians opposed to the war became the pretext for charging the activist, who currently resides outside of the Russian Federation.
The wife of Aleksandr Demidenko, a Belgorod activist who has been assisting Ukrainian refugees, announced that he was detained once again. On Oct. 31, Demidenko was released from a detention facility after he spent 10 days of administrative arrest there. The following day, he was summoned by the police for questioning and put under arrest again, this time for 30 days. Law enforcement officials have been frequently using such “carousel” arrests in preparation of criminal prosecution of anti-war activists.
Children
In the youth community center in Vladimir, a photo exhibition dedicated to the participants of the war in Ukraine, titled "Time of Heroes," has opened.
In the Khabarovsk Region, children wrote "words of support for the soldiers" on entrenching tools as part of preparation for National Unity Day. Members of the Young Army [pro-Kremlin youth organization] from Ruzaevka, Russia’s constituent republic of Mordovia, joined the Letter to a Soldier patriotic campaign. According to the Ministry of Defense, children wrote over 3 million letters during the campaign.
Assistance
The authorities of the Kostroma region have decided to grant free land plots ranging from 8 to 15 ares for the construction of houses for the war in Ukraine participants. These plots will be available to contract soldiers, mobilized soldiers, volunteer fighters, as well as employees of Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard]. Starting from Jan. 1, 2023, this support measure will also be available to participants of the "special military operation" who have become disabled, as well as widows or parents of fallen soldiers. From 2024 onward, it will be extended to all other participants of the "special military operation." Similar laws have been passed in several other regions. You can find more information on this practice in the Vyorstka article.
The Zabota o Svoikh [Caring for Our Own] initiative group from Sevastopol is engaged in weaving camouflage nets for Russian soldiers. Also, from Pyt-Yakh, Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, a 2-ton shipment of aid was sent to a combat zone. Initially, the collection took place in kindergartens and schools, with other residents of the city later joining the effort.
Miscellaneous
Mothers of convicts from the IK-4 penal colony in the Vladimir region who were killed in the war with Ukraine are searching for their sons' fellow soldiers to learn about the circumstances of their deaths. began being deployed to the war as part of the Wagner Group in September 2022. As of the end of December, more than 100 people had left the colony for the war. According to relatives, there has been no news from any of them for six months.
On Nov. 2, the Alley of Heroes was inaugurated on the premises of Yeysk College in the Krasnodar region. It features the names of former students of the college and other secondary educational institutions of Yeysk who were killed in the Great Patriotic War, Afghanistan, Chechnya [Russia's constituent republic], and Ukraine. Thirteen names on the list are of individuals who participated in the war in Ukraine. Authorities in Kovrov, Vladimir region, also announced plans to establish an Alley of Glory dedicated to the invasion of Ukraine.