Mobilization in Russia for Oct. 1-3, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Vladimir Putin has appointed Artyom Zhoga, the "DPR parliament speaker," as the presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District. Since 2014, Zhoga has fought alongside separatists, initially with his son. Following his son’s death, he became the commander of the Sparta Battalion. He joined the first cohort of the Time of Heroes personnel program, with Anton Vaino, the head of the presidential administration, acting as his mentor. In addition to Zhoga, nine other participants in the program received appointments to key positions. The program got underway in the spring and is expected to last two years. However, even before its completion, 15% of the program's participants (12 individuals) had already received appointments, according to an analysis by Agentstvo, an independent media outlet. Besides Zhoga, appointees to federal-level positions include tank commander Yury Nimchenko, one of the leaders of the Redut PMC Aleksey Kondratyev and 30-year-old Major Amyr Argamakov, who was awarded the title Hero of Russia. They are now senators in the Federal Council [upper house of the Federal Assembly]. Others, like Aleksandr Nelepin, Maria Apletalina (the widow of a participant in the war with Ukraine), Ivan Sychyov and Dmitry Aksyonov, were appointed to regional legislatures.
Putin endorsed the idea of extending the "Talking About Important Things" program [a compulsory lesson held every Monday in schools across the country] to kindergartens. He described the lessons as a "serious beginning of significant work."
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Putin has signed a bill into law, which allows the suspension of criminal proceedings against defendants who enlist to participate in the war and those who are mobilized. Authorities will drop all charges against these individuals if they receive a state award or are discharged from military service. Previously, only suspects, individuals awaiting trial and convicts could avoid criminal liability in this way. The new law, however, extends military service recruitment to defendants at any stage of the justice process—from the moment of arrest to those already serving time in penal colonies. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel points out that the changes undermine the protections for victims of the defendants’ crimes, particularly their right to compensation.
Sverdlovsk regional authorities have extended the sign-up bonus for concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense to conscripts from other regions who sign the contract while serving in military units within the region. Conscripts must sign contracts by Dec. 31, 2024, to receive the payment, which is set at 1.5 million rubles [$15,800].
In the city of Perm, reservist officers have reportedly been summoned en masse to draft offices under the pretext of "military data check-ups," according to lawyer Artyom Fayzulin. Fayzulin notes that the scale of these summonses is significant, and he associates them with an upcoming wave of calls for military training.
The Ministry of Territorial Security of the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject] has proposed offering a payment of 30,000 rubles [$320] to anyone who brings a friend or relative to a draft office to sign a contract with the MoD.
In the city of Kazan, bus stop displays have started running advertisements for contract military service. The text highlights the compensation of 2 million rubles [$21,100] and provides contact phone numbers. Previously, the Republic of Tatarstan increased the regional one-time payment to 1.3 million rubles [$13,700]. With additional payments from the MoD and local municipalities, the total amount reaches 2 million rubles.
The Samara region plans to conscript 1,500 men during this fall conscription campaign. Twenty people will be sent to alternative civilian service. Meanwhile, the Vladimir region will conscript 1,150 residents into the army.
Igor Kulakov, the disgraced former vice-governor of the Tambov region charged with embezzlement of 119 million rubles [$1.26 million] from a boiler room construction project, went to the frontline from a pre-trial detention center.
In Angarsk, two out of three policemen charged with torturing Ministry of Emergency Situations employees requested to be sent to the war. According to human rights activists, the November 2023 criminal case against them, one of the first of its kind in Russia, has not yet been suspended, and the officers themselves continue to work for the police. In September 2023, the policemen used a stun gun on a group of fire rescue unit drivers demanding that they confess to assaulting another policeman.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Artyom Petukhov from the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject], Andrey Vilkhovsky from the Rostov region, Pyotr Rodionov from the Primorsky region [Russia's federal subject] and Ilya Budin from the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject].
The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] project has reported about a conscripted soldier who was enlisted into service despite having health issues. After six months of service, the conscript was promised that he would not be sent to dangerous zones and forced to sign a contract. According to the soldier’s mother, he is now facing threats of deployment to an assault unit after requesting a transfer to a military unit closer to his home.
The wives of soldiers from the 25th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who served under the command of Colonel Aleksey Ksenofontov, have recorded a new video address to Russia’s Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov. Previously, they accused Ksenofontov of sending dozens of soldiers on a deadly assault mission while he was under the influence of alcohol. These allegations were addressed by Vladimir Solovyev [Russian propagandist], who claimed they were false and accused journalists from the ASTRA media outlet of collaborating with CIPsO [Center for Information and Psychological Operations of Ukraine]. Following this, dozens of soldiers' relatives have contacted Astra, confirming that Ksenofontov did indeed deploy his subordinates on lethal missions, while underreporting the brigade’s losses by a factor of several dozen and receiving state awards. In a recent statement, Alina Bolvinova, the wife of a missing soldier, asserted that Solovyev never contacted the brigade’s soldiers or interviewed the relatives of Ksenofontov's victims, despite the women's requests. Bolvinova also learned that Ksenofontov had previously been convicted of beating a soldier. According to her, many wives and relatives of soldiers under Ksenofontov’s command had reached out to her. One recounted that in July, recruited convicts were deployed on an assault "as cannon fodder," without assault rifles and bulletproof vests. As a result, they were "ground down" within a few days.
The family of a deceased soldier from the Irkutsk region is unable to receive compensation for his death. Sixty-two-year-old Sergey Savenok went to the frontline as a volunteer fighter in September 2022 and died on July 29, 2023, from a wound sustained "as a result of a shot fired with unclear intent." His death has not been investigated for over eighteen months; during this time, no medical examination has been conducted, nor has a criminal case been opened.
Soldiers from the 1st Motorized Rifle Brigade escaped from an illegal torture facility located on the grounds of a former factory in the city of Makiivka. One of the escaped soldiers told ASTRA that he and other men had been forcibly confined there for several months. They could only go to the bathroom with a heavy weight tied to their leg. The soldiers were also warned that if they attempted to escape, they would be shot in the legs. The mother of another escapee, who had been recruited from a penal colony with the promise of Russian citizenship, claims her son was beaten and tortured at the factory. All three escapees are now hiding from the military police. Previously, mobilized soldiers from the Irkutsk region complained that they were being used as "cannon fodder" for assaults in the 1st Slavyanskaya Brigade. For complaining about beatings, soldiers were handcuffed to railings for several days.
Valentina Avilova from Novovoronezh told the reporter of ASTRA that her husband Aleksey, who had volunteered for contract service in the war zone, eventually decided to flee from his unit and return home. A few days later he was caught by police and unlawfully placed into a basement in the village of Zaitseve in the Luhansk region. According to his fellow servicemen, up to 100 soldiers can be held captive in this basement in terrible conditions.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In the Tomsk region, 42-year-old ex-mercenary Aleksandr Protsky, recruited into the Wagner Group from a penal colony, was found guilty of premeditated murder, attempted murder and willful damage of property. The case record on the court website does not state the term of imprisonment imposed for these crimes. Having received pardon, Protsky returned to the village of Asino, where, according to investigators, he beat his 29-year-old friend to death during an argument at his home on Jan. 15. He then tried to dispose of the body by taking it to the river and hiding it in the snow. Protsky turned out to be a prolific repeat offender with a number of prior convictions.
A court in Saint Petersburg refused to arrest 31-year-old Klaud Rommel, an Orthodox blogger and participant in the war with Ukraine, who is accused of rape of a minor and sexual violence. According to investigators, Rommel systematically raped a girl from September 2022 to February 2024. However, he denies his guilt. Instead of being taken into custody, Rommel was placed under the supervision of the command of his military unit in Luga, Leningrad region, until the end of his contract.
A 62-year-old elderly woman from the village of Nikolsky in the Kursk region filed a police report about theft. She stated that between August and September, unknown soldiers broke into her house and stole a refrigerator, two chainsaws and other personal belongings. Nikolsky is located 33 km from the territory held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Residents of the Kursk region have previously repeatedly accused Russian soldiers of looting.
The Southern District Military Court has upheld the denial of a contract termination for a serviceman Sergey Belousov. He signed a six-month contract in October 2022. He sought its termination due to serious violations during the contract's signing. According to Belousov, he was deployed to the frontline without undergoing a medical examination or taking an oath. The court deemed these violations insignificant.
In Rostov, four captured Ukrainian soldiers are on trial: 39-year-old Kyiv native Viktor Karas, 38-year-old Viktor Tkhor, 26-year-old Mark Lishchynskyi and Artyom Lyashchuk, who were detained in the occupied territories of the Donetsk region. They are accused of participating in a terrorist organization. Lyashchuk also faces charges of receiving training to carry out terrorist activities. According to pro-Russian sources, all four were servicemen of the 12th Operational Brigade of Ukraine's National Guard, which included the Azov Regiment.
The Moscow City Court has closed the hearing in the case of 72-year-old American Stephen Hubbard, accused of mercenary activity on the side of Ukraine. According to prosecutors, the elderly man allegedly signed a contract with the territorial defense forces of Izium in March 2022 in exchange for financial compensation. He is said to have served and participated in the armed conflict until April 2022, and later that year, according to his sister, was "abducted by Chechen terrorists."
The Second Eastern District Military Court in Chita has sentenced 13 people to prison terms ranging from 4 to 23 years for sabotage and preparation for a terrorist attack. The youngest defendant was 17 when detained. According to investigators, two years ago, they committed 13 acts of sabotage targeting railway and energy infrastructure in Moscow and the Krasnoyarsk region. They were also allegedly planning to set fire to fighter jets at a military base in Primorye. The group was reportedly organized by an unidentified individual known to the defendants as "Artur." One of the convicted, Artyom Begoyan, was arrested in December 2022. He initially made a deal with investigators and rejected legal assistance under pressure from law enforcement. According to his wife, Begoyan eventually withdrew from the agreement. She also noted that none of the men knew each other before the case. The SOTAvision independent media outlet reported that most of the accused admitted to committing the sabotage for financial gain.
A Moscow court has sentenced paramedic Ivan Kolosov to nine years in a penal colony for preparing to join the enemy's side. Kolosov was arrested on March 30, 2023. He had previously been convicted of using violence against a government official and discrediting the Armed Forces. According to investigators, he planned to join the "Freedom of Russia Legion" to fight for Ukraine. Law enforcement started inquiries after discovering that he was a member of chats discussing the legion.
According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), a 19-year-old resident of Shadrinsk, who allegedly worked for Ukrainian intelligence, has been arrested in the Kurgan region. According to investigators, he shared the location of a local military unit's headquarters on Telegram. He is currently in a pre-trial detention center and faces a potential life sentence.
Memorial [an international human rights organization] reports that in September, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don received five new criminal cases against a total of 11 Ukrainian citizens accused of terrorism. According to human rights activists, the Southern District Military Court has received at least 75 criminal cases against Ukrainians since the beginning of the year.
In the Kaliningrad region, the FSB arrested several "Ukrainian military intelligence agents" who attempted to enter Russia from Lithuania. According to Russian intelligence services, the detainees’ mission included collecting data on the protection of the Russian border, as well as kidnapping the child of a Ukrainian intelligence officer before leaving Russia. The FSB did not disclose the identities of those arrested, who are being charged with espionage.
In St. Petersburg, a local resident has been detained for flying a drone over a Severstal warehouse. Photos of the warehouse were found on the drone's memory card. According to Fontanka [pro-Russian media outlet of the Leningrad region], the 23-year-old detainee admitted that he took the photos at the request of someone named Artemy, with whom he had been texting on Telegram. He allegedly took the pictures for money.
A resident of Saint Petersburg has been sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security penal colony for participating in the "Freedom of Russia Legion." According to the court, Yaroslav Rechkalov contacted representatives of the armed group via a messaging app in the winter of 2024 and agreed to join it. In May, Rechkalov allegedly took the oath by recording a video on his phone. He was charged with participation in a terrorist organization.
Roman Bereda, a 34-year-old resident of Kaliningrad, has been sentenced to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony for treason. He was also accused of preparing an act of terror and making an explosive device. Bereda's friend believes that the explosive device was planted and that the confession was obtained after torture. Bereda was detained in December 2023. According to the Kremlin-aligned news outlet Mash, he has prior convictions for robbery, minor bodily harm, theft and fraud.
Nikita Zhuravel, sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony for burning a Quran, has now been named in a case involving treason. According to investigators, Zhuravel allegedly "volunteered to collaborate" with a member of Ukraine's Security Service via a messaging platform. In March 2023, he sent them video footage of a train carrying military vehicles and aircraft, along with information on the movements of a military vehicle from a Russian unit. Zhuravel was detained in Volgograd in May 2023, and despite legal provisions for determining the jurisdiction of criminal cases, his trial was moved to Chechnya [Russia's constituent republic]. During an interrogation, Zhuravel stated that he burned the Quran at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence, for a payment of 10,000 rubles [$110]. Following his arrest, he was transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Grozny, where he was beaten by Adam Kadyrov, the 15-year-old son of Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov. According to Agentstvo, news of this latest case emerged when Zhuravel had just 1.5 to 2 years left on his initial sentence, making him eligible for parole.