Mobilization in Russia for Nov. 8-10, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has mandated that individuals who obtained Russian citizenship after Sept. 1, 2017, must take an oath of allegiance to the Russian Federation by Nov. 22, 2024, or face revocation of their citizenship. This requirement does not affect those who acquired citizenship before the regulation took effect or those exempt from taking the oath.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

In the Khabarovsk region, conscripts are facing pressure to enlist and fight in the war against Ukraine. The mother of one soldier reported that the deputy chief of staff has been urging conscripts joining his unit to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, promising they would not be participating in the "special military operation." While most refused, her son succumbed to the pressure after three months of service and concluded a contract. On Nov. 1, commanders transferred him and other soldiers to the Primorsky region, informing them that deployment to the front lines would soon follow. Moreover, the mother said another parent did not manage the stress and reportedly took their own life in an attempt to save their child, though she did not provide further details of the incident. Now, the parents are writing appeals to the Presidential Administration and the Prosecutor’s Office to stop the military from sending their children to war.

The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel is reporting that authorities in Moscow are detaining conscripts near their homes and in the metro. After taking them to a police station, officials are transferring them to military collection points and dispatching them to military units. The project has published multiple accounts detailing such incidents.

In Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at least 54 individuals under criminal investigation have avoided prosecution by leaving for the frontlines during their court proceedings, according to the Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet. Darya Lebedeva, head of the press service of Saint Petersburg courts, reported that 42 criminal cases in the city were suspended because the defendants signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense. Most of these cases involved charges related to drugs, theft, fraud, and failure to pay alimony. At least two of those who went to war have since gone missing.

The 20-year-old son of Igor Kirnos, a Voronezh regional district head, has been released from pre-trial detention to go to war. Kirill, who was arrested in October on drug trafficking charges, signed a contract with the MoD while in custody in November.

According to the Perm-based news outlet news59ru, the administration of Perm State Pedagogical University required students from the 2nd to 5th years to attend a meeting with representatives from the draft office. At the meeting, students will allegedly be informed about the tasks and specifics of military registration during their time at university.

In the city of Novosibirsk, an advertisement for the MoD's "African Corps" was spotted on a minibus. The ad included contact numbers for offices in the cities of Novosibirsk, Moscow, Krasnodar, and Nizhny Novgorod, with recruitment also taking place in Saint Petersburg.

Orthodox priests from the Vladimir, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and several other regions participated in a two-day military training session for "military chaplains," according to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

One of the two mobilized soldiers who previously complained about being sent to a combat zone despite serious health issues is still being deployed to forward positions. Following a post by the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel, a prosecutor from the Mulino military garrison contacted the soldier’s lawyer and promised that he would be brought back from the combat zone. However, no action was taken for a week—the lawyer's appeal was not even registered—and on the morning of Nov. 9, the soldier was informed that he was on the list for deployment to the frontline. He was transported later that day.

Relatives of a missing soldier from the 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade received his personal belongings, including his mobile phone. On the phone, they discovered an audio recording of torture. The recording featured the screams of an unidentified man and, according to the soldier's wife, the voice of Aleksey Korchagin (call sign "Cap"), the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 123rd Brigade. She indicated that the audio was recorded in May 2024. The identity of the man screaming and the reason for the beating remain unknown. The relatives also reported finding Telegram messages in which the man in the audio wrote that he was “with Cap and Zolotoy” and warned the recipient "not to dare write to him" because he was being tortured with electricity. A soldier who served under "Cap" told the ASTRA Telegram channel that the man was likely tortured with electricity using a military field phone and confirmed Korchagin’s voice on the recording. According to this soldier, Korchagin is "a true sadist" who commands assault units in the 123rd Brigade. Previously, the wives and mothers of soldiers assigned to the 123rd Brigade had reported that their loved ones were going missing en masse, sometimes even before reaching the frontline.

A soldier from the 19th Tank Regiment, who had fled the war, recorded a video in which he reported about the executions that were carried out and the establishment of barrier troops in his regiment. According to him, the regimental commander ordered the execution of six fellow soldiers for refusing to deploy on a combat mission. The Astra Telegram channel has identified the soldier as 39-year-old Vitaly Degtyarenko. After posting the video, he was detained by military police in Omsk and taken to a military unit in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. Two soldiers who had fled from the frontline and returned to Russia confirmed that executions took place. They claim that the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Ladnov, not only established barrier troops but also personally shot at the feet of those who refused to go on missions. Those who returned from the missions with injuries or shell shock were transported back in trucks. Those who refused were subjected to machine gun fire. The harshest treatment was given to refuseniks and those noticed consuming alcohol. Ladnov sent them to retrieve bodies from the battlefield without body armor, helmets or assault rifles. In winter, this category of soldiers was placed in a pit without any clothing and doused with cold water. The inspections conducted at the military unit did not identify any violations.

Lieutenant Oleg Guivik of the 132nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade and Private Nikolay Poprukhin, both wounded, refused to participate in their designated combat mission and contacted Astra. They reported they are currently situated in a basement of a building in the town of Toretsk, which is currently under attack by Russian forces. The soldiers claim they were deployed on a "one-way meat assault" and want to reach an evacuation point and survive, rather than proceed with the mission they were assigned. In 2014, Guivik joined the Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics to fight for the idea of "reuniting Donbas with Russia." However, the events of 2022 prompted him to reconsider his position. At some point, Guivik refused to deploy his subordinates on an assault mission, which resulted in his demotion to platoon commander. After another refusal, the commander of the 3rd Motorized Rifle Battalion subjected Guivik to beating and placed him in a pit. After a week, Guivik managed to escape and return home, where he remained for five months. A criminal case was initiated against Guivik for going AWOL, and on Oct. 1 he was redeployed to the forward positions.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the Belgorod region, a soldier from the 138th Motorized Rifle Brigade has been detained on suspicion of committing acts of sexual violence against a person under the age of sixteen. Previously, the soldier had been convicted of lewd acts, theft, and robbery.

A court in Novorossiysk sentenced Denis Sergeev, a mobilized soldier, to six years in a maximum security penal colony for going AWOL. In February 2023, after completing treatment in a hospital, Sergeev did not return to his unit and instead stayed with his mother. He was placed on a national wanted list and detained in May of this year. In court, Sergeev claimed he intended to return to his duty station after a break, but this argument was rejected. Sergeev also expressed remorse and pledged to go to the frontline, but the court nonetheless imposed a prison sentence.

Over the past month, five more cases of soldiers going AWOL during mobilization have been submitted to the Pskov Garrison Military Court, bringing the total number of such cases in the region to 92. Pskov is notably home to the 76th Air Assault Division.

A court in Ingushetia [Russia’s constituent republic] has arrested a 28-year-old local resident, Ramazan Ekazhev, on charges of preparing an act of sabotage committed in a group. According to the prosecution, Ekazhev allegedly intended to blow up an oil depot and acquired, transported, and stored a homemade explosive device for this purpose.

A Moscow resident with anti-war views has been detained in a church following a report by a priest. This was reported by parishioner Aleksey Sevastyanenko to the OVD-Info independent human rights project. According to him, the report was filed by Andrey Tkachyov, the head priest of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khokhly. Sevastyanenko claims that in a conversation with Tkachyov, he quoted the Bible: "Thou shalt not kill, nor covet thy neighbor's house." The exact formal reason for the detention remains unknown.

A court in Chuvashia [Russia’s constituent republic] has sentenced local resident Liliya Minetullina to one year and five months of probation for attempting to set fire to a ballot box during the presidential election. She was found guilty of obstructing the exercise of electoral rights and of using violence against a representative of the authorities. The incident occurred during the elections on March 15 in the city of Cheboksary, where the woman poured liquid on the ballot box and attempted to set fire to it. Minetullina stated that she was coerced into committing arson by fraudsters posing as Federal Security Service (FSB) employees.

Assistance

Another batch of aid totaling 20 tons has been sent to servicemen from Surgut, with the cargo being blessed before dispatch. Tyumen bailiffs are sending vehicles confiscated from offenders to the frontline. The Social Fund, together with the All for Victory! Foundation, provided the military with an all-terrain vehicle and several sets of equipment.

Children

Dmitry Kuznetsov, a State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] member and one of the initiators of the children's Akhmat battalion, has published a video showing teenagers in camouflage singing the unofficial anthem of the Wagner Group mercenaries.

An alley featuring portraits of alumni who died in the war with Ukraine was opened on the campus of the Krasnokamensk Industrial and Technological College branch in Borzya, Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject].

Kursk Region

On Nov. 10, around 120 residents of the occupied town of Sudzha gathered for a spontaneous rally on the central square in Kursk. Anatoly Drogan, a representative of the Kursk regional administration responsible for internal policy, addressed the refugees, suggesting they leave the square and go to a public reception office to submit a collective statement, but they refused. In response, Drogan accused them of organizing an "illegal public rally." The crowd shouted back, that when Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russian territory, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were met at the border by conscripts with rifles and that "the generals" should be held accountable. They also demanded that the authorities admit that a war was going on.

Longreads

Novaya Gazeta [independent Russian newspaper] has published an overview detailing how children in Russia are being subjected to propaganda indoctrination. According to the report, journalists identified at least 51 initiatives targeting children.