Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 6-8, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
In the Voronezh region, authorities have increased the reward for referring recruits willing to fight in the war to 75,000 rubles [$770], up from the previous amount of 50,000 rubles [$510].
A Chita resident faces conscription, even though he already fought in Ukraine and was wounded in action. He had been recruited from a penal colony and served in a "Storm" unit. In December 2023, the man returned home after sustaining injuries. Recently, draft office officials summoned him for a data check-up, where they served him a summons, referring him to a medical evaluation board to assess his fitness for duty. Chita’s military commissar Konstantin Seleznyov told the Chita.ru media outlet that "participation in the special military operation does not, under federal law, exempt anyone from statutory military service."
In Chelyabinsk, law enforcement officers conducted a raid at the airport, screening individuals arriving from abroad and those waiting for them. In total, they checked 250 people against criminal databases and served summonses to men who had obtained Russian citizenship but failed to register for military service. In Volzhsky, Volgograd region, officers carried out a similar raid, focusing on members of the Roma community and serving summonses to ten men during the operation.
The Baza Telegram channel reports that authorities in Nizhny Novgorod asked a woman named Ekaterina U.—who allegedly stole 29 packs of butter from a supermarket—to sign a contract to fight in the war during her interrogation. Two other women reportedly received similar proposals: Anna B., who spent 29,000 rubles [$300] using a stranger's bank card she found, and Yulia, detained for misappropriating someone else's wages. All three women are said to have refused the offers.
Anatoly Zakharchuk, former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Artyom in the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject], has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense before receiving a verdict on charges of abuse of authority. Zakharchuk was accused of appropriating subordinates’ bonuses totaling half a million rubles [$5,123]. Meanwhile, a court in Russia’s constituent Republic of Dagestan has granted permission for law enforcement officer Marat Babayev, accused of murdering local resident Kurban Dalgatov who died as a result of torture at a police station in January 2023, to go to the war.
Lawyer Aleksey Kalugin, who had repeatedly defended detainees at anti-war protests and collaborated with the independent human rights project OVD-Info until October 2022, announced his decision to go to war to avenge the death of a friend.
A resident of Perm complained about the long line at a Federal Bailiff Service office in one of the city’s districts. She noted that most in line were male debtors who had received notifications the day before, stating that their debt collection cases could be suspended if they signed a military contract and went to war. The Federal Bailiff Service reported that since the beginning of 2024, debt collection proceedings in the region have been paused for over 2,000 war participants, including mobilized men and contract soldiers.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract SoldiersÂ
Based on open sources, BBC News Russian, in collaboration with Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and a team of volunteers, has managed to identify the names of 77,143 Russian soldiers who have died during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including 9,465 mobilized men. In the past two weeks, the list was updated with 1,761 additional soldiers’ names, including 141 mobilized.
Soldiers from the assault unit of the 67th Division have appealed to the MoD, complaining about their command, which sends them into assaults without providing artillery or air support. As a result, only 32 members of the entire unit remain, half of whom are wounded or ill.
Former Akhmat mercenary Ochur-Suge Mongush, who became known after footage surfaced showing him torturing, castrating, and murdering a Ukrainian prisoner of war, has complained about officials in Russia's constituent Republic of Tyva. According to him, these officials are selling land—originally intended to be provided free of charge by the government to participants in the war with Ukraine—to local residents. He also claims that the officials "humiliate veterans," offering them social work positions. Previously, Mongush ran as a candidate for the regional legislative assembly but lost the election.
Svetlana Salem, a resident of Luhansk, recorded a video address in which she described the mistreatment her husband, an Egyptian citizen named Salem Mohamed Ali, endured from fellow soldiers in the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade. Her husband, who does not speak Russian, signed a one-year contract at the end of 2022. According to Svetlana, Salem was beaten and insulted due to his skin color, and a drunken fellow soldier attacked him, breaking his arm. Later, Salem was denied hospitalization and sent to the frontline. It took Svetlana two and a half months to arrange an operation for her husband, after which he decided not to return to his unit. Consequently, Salem was detained and later sent on an assault mission. In a second video that surfaced online a week ago, Svetlana mentions that Salem has been found and will soon testify against his commanders as part of an investigation.
In annexed Crimea, two police officers detained Sergey Zhukov, an orphan with a criminal record, on the street. They threatened to "find drugs" on him and coerced him into signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense. He was also fictitiously married so that money could be claimed in the event of his death. Later, he fled from the war, but most of the money owed to him for signing the contract was taken by the law enforcement officers. Zhukov is currently hiding in an attic in a village.
A mobilized man from occupied Mariupol with shrapnel wounds in his lung and leg, is set to be sent on an assault mission, despite a forensic expert’s determination that his injuries caused "grievous bodily harm." The man's mother told the Astra Telegram channel that her son was detained in Mariupol in August 2022. He underwent surgery in October 2023, but the surgeon informed him that his injuries rendered him unfit for service due to the risk of a lung rupture. She added that he is currently in the reserve of the 1st Slavyanskaya Brigade, from which commanders select soldiers for assaults daily. The mother is now demanding that her son be re-evaluated by the military medical board.
Parents of conscripts serving in a unit in Chebarkul report that their sons are being forced into signing contracts. In their words, about 40 fresh conscripts were duped or threatened into signing certain "documents." Among other things, they were promised a possibility to cancel their contracts after a three month "trial period." Relatives complained to the Military Prosecutor’s Office but were told that it was practically impossible to terminate contracts that had already been signed.
Kirill Plankov, a convicted murderer sentenced in 2014 to 17.5 years in a penal colony for killing Lena Patrusheva, a 17-year-old school girl Plankov, 19 at the time, was in a relationship with, returned from the war to his native Chelyabinsk. Plankov served half of his sentence, volunteered for the war in Ukraine and ended up digging trenches in Zaporizhzhia. After six months, he returned to Chelyabinsk. Whether Plankov had been pardoned or still has to go back to the war is unknown.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
On Oct. 29, Igor Ivanov, an 18-years-old conscript, was shot to death by a fellow soldier at a military unit in Ryazan. According to the investigators, negligent handling of a weapon caused the death. However, the fact that the morgue informed Ivanov’s relatives of three bullets hitting him contradicts that version.
On Nov. 7, while entering a border town of Novoshakhtinsk in the Rostov region, a military KAMAZ truck rammed and overturned a civilian car. All three passengers in the car died from their injuries and the driver was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Novoshakhtinsk already saw a similar traffic accident in July. Other accidents involving military personnel have also been reported (1, 2, 3).
A court has sentenced serviceman Pavel Titarenko to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of brutal murder. The drunken soldier attacked a man he did not know at a cemetery after the man defended Titarenko's wife, with whom the soldier had a domestic conflict. Titarenko then set fire to a utility building where the man was trying to escape from the attacker.
The Southern District Military Court has sentenced servicemen Stanislav Rau and Anton Sopov to life imprisonment for the murder of nine people in occupied Volnovakha in October 2023. The Russian soldiers shot the sleeping Kapkanets family in their home in the early hours of Oct. 28. Among the victims were two small children, their father and mother, as well as several guests. It was reported that the murder was related to the soldiers' attempt to obtain alcohol. The court found Rau and Sopov guilty of illegal entry into a residence and murder in a publicly dangerous manner of more than two persons, including minors, motivated by hatred. The defendants did not plead guilty and plan to appeal the verdict.
According to the official statistics of the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in the first half of 2024, Russian courts convicted 6,087 conscripts and contract soldiers. Of these, 211 individuals were sentenced for crimes against life and health, including 54 for murder. For corruption, 112 military personnel were sentenced: 78 for giving bribes and 33 for receiving them. There were also 13 convictions for robbery, 23 for looting and 144 for theft. However, the vast majority of military personnel were convicted of military crimes, including going AWOL, disobeying orders, and hazing—a total of 4,122 convictions. It is known that 2,905 servicemen were sentenced to actual imprisonment, 1,997 received suspended sentences and 1,185 were given other forms of punishment not involving imprisonment. Earlier, Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] reported, citing the same source, that in the first half of 2024, the number of sentences involving actual imprisonment increased sharply to 48%.
Two residents of the Primorsky region—52-year-old Roman Lozovoy and 32-year-old Kirill Getman—were sentenced to 14 and 13 years in a maximum security penal colony, respectively, on charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist attack in a group by setting fire to the window frame of a draft office in the city of Artyom. According to court records, Lozovoy, an opponent of the war, was contacted last year by an unknown person who offered him a reward for setting fire to the draft office. Lozovoy involved his acquaintance, Kirill Getman, in the plan. According to investigators, the two tried to burn the draft office with two Molotov cocktails, but the fire quickly went out.
A court in Saint Petersburg has arrested a 14-year-old teenager named Sergey for two months for terrorism. According to the Fontanka media outlet, investigators allege that the teenager set fire to two cell towers in the town of Kolpino in late October and early November. The court claims that he acted in exchange for a reward.
In Russia’s constituent Republic of Mordovia, a man has been detained on suspicion of high treason for allegedly providing Ukraine with information about the republic’s defense enterprises. The detainee is an ex-convict who had enlisted to fight in the war with Ukraine. According to case materials, in December 2023, he deserted from a military hospital and hid in Mordovia. In October 2024, he allegedly took undercover photos of a checkpoint at a Russian Ministry of Defense facility and prepared incendiary mixtures for an intended terrorist attack. The court remanded the suspect in pre-trial detention.
A court in Crimea has sentenced a local resident to 13 years in prison on charges of treason. The man was accused of passing information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with authorities alleging that it could be used against the Russian army.
In the occupied city of Berdiansk, another local resident was detained, accused of attempting an act of terror. On Oct. 2, he allegedly detonated an explosive device in a former judge’s vehicle. Russia’s Investigative Committee claims that the man, a former Ukrainian prosecutor, was promised $10,000 by Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out the attack.
In Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained a resident of the city of Naberezhnye Chelny on suspicion of collaborating with what authorities called a Ukrainian terrorist organization. Officials allege that in November 2023, the suspect communicated with a member of a Ukrainian radical group using messaging apps, gathering information on the locations of local defense facilities and draft offices. According to authorities, he also set up a hidden cache in the forest, containing components for a homemade incendiary device. The suspect now faces charges of participating in a terrorist organization.
The 16-year-old student Arseny Turbin, sentenced to five years in a penal colony for alleged participation in the Freedom of Russia Legion, has had his term reduced by 24 days.
In a recent report titled "Wartime Prisoners," OVD-Info [an independent human rights monitoring group] reveals emerging patterns in the persecution of war opponents. The findings indicate an increasing number of adolescents facing charges of sabotage and terrorism, while adult political prisoners receive sentences exceeding their years lived. According to the report, at least 15 individuals have died in custody, with an additional five or more deaths occurring during arrests by law enforcement officers.
Assistance
Russia's Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov announced that over 15,000 state-funded university spots have been allocated for war participants and their family members in 2024. He noted that military service members are entitled to a 10% quota of state-funded spots.
Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov has proposed amendments to the city's 2025 budget to allocate an extra four billion rubles [$40.85 million] to support war participants in Ukraine and their families. Meanwhile, Roman Busargin, Governor of the Saratov region, announced plans to create new government positions reserved for war participants.
A company linked to Dmitry Karavaychik—a pardoned former war participant in Ukraine and convicted drug trafficker dubbed "Russia's Walter White"—has applied for a grant from the Leningrad Frontier Foundation, where Karavaychik currently serves as deputy director, according to the foundation's Telegram channel.
Children and Educational SystemÂ
During a class visit to School No. 15 in the village of Ivanovskoye, Stavropol region [Russia’s federal subject], military personnel and local Technical Creativity Center staff laid an American flag at the classroom entrance, suggesting students walk over it. The students were hesitant to step on the flag while being closely monitored by the adults present.
Teachers in the Irkutsk region have been unofficially informed that their year-end bonuses will be redirected to support military needs. These annual bonuses typically range from 10,000 to 40,000 rubles [$102 to $410] per person.
Students from the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] have reported being compelled to complete a survey about their views on the Ukraine war, school shootings, and banned organizations. While the questionnaire is supposedly anonymous, respondents could be identified through their faculty and study program details. Students note that many questions appear to be designed with bias, offering only response options that align with pro-government narratives.
Miscellaneous
Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] has calculated that in 2024, regional spending by the Russian Federation on the war in Ukraine reached a record 800 billion rubles [$8 billion]. This represents a 3.6-fold increase in comparison to the corresponding spending in 2021. By comparison, regional spending on non-war social payments has increased only 1.16 times since 2021. The proportion of expenditure allocated to military purposes varies considerably across regions. In the Russian-occupied Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson regions of Ukraine, one-third of the budget is allocated to military spending. In contrast, Chechnya and Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republics] spend about 0.5% of their budgets on the war.
In Novosibirsk, an anti-war rally was held with the approval of the local authorities. The event took place in the evening in Hyde Park in one of the city's districts. It was organized by local communist forces and timed to coincide with the anniversary of the October Revolution. The rally was attended by more than 30 people. The event's host, left-wing activist Sergey Krupenko, expressed his stance on the matter, and at the end of the rally, he declared that it was anti-war. Krupenko had previously been fined for discrediting the Armed Forces.
Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] has analyzed data from the FSB Border Service and reported on the record number of residents of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who entered Russia between July and September 2024, ostensibly for the purpose of studying. In the third quarter of 2024, 3,765 North Korean citizens arrived in the Russian Federation, citing study as the purpose of their visit. In April 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science reported that about 130 North Koreans were studying in Russia, with a similar number of applications received for the next academic year.
Kursk Region
Residents of the village of Kremyanoye in the Korenevsky district of the region, who left their homes in August, have appealed to Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of assistance from local authorities. They report being left with nothing. Initially, they were promised they could return home within two days; however, they have now been forced to stay with acquaintances and relatives for three months. Previously, other residents of the Korenevsky district had also recorded multiple video appeals to Putin for support. Residents of the Bolshesoldatsky district in the Kursk region, which are located within an active combat zone, gathered in the main square of Kursk, demanding that regional authorities provide them with housing certificates as compensation for the loss of their homes, which were destroyed in recent attacks. Following this protest, Aleksey Smirnov, Governor of the Kursk region, announced that displaced residents would be eligible for rental housing compensation. However, to qualify for compensation, displaced residents must meet several conditions: rental and utility expenses must exceed 22% of the household’s average total income, they must not have any housing outside the "affected areas," and they must have a regular income "from employment or other activities." Furthermore, it became known that 510 residents of the Glushkovsky district in the Kursk region, where fighting has been ongoing since August, have appealed to Putin with a request to include them in the resettlement program with the issuance of government housing certificates.
Longreads
Novaya Gazeta reports on the fate of a severely wounded mercenary from the Wagner Group, who, after his demobilization, is trying to get assistance from specialized funds.
The Okno [Window] project published the story of a conscript, whose contract was signed by commanders. The young man sued, lost the case, and was then sent to one of the tensest sections of the front.
The Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] outlet reported on how the key representatives of the new "middle class" in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan are supporting the war.