Mobilization in Russia for Oct. 12-14, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
Russians enrolled in the mobilization reserve could take part in peacetime missions, including those abroad, without a formal declaration of mobilization. The government’s legislative commission approved a Ministry of Defense bill to amend the Military Conscription and Military Service Act. It would allow reservists to be sent to "perform specific defense tasks" during armed conflicts, counter-terrorism operations, or when the armed forces are used abroad. A new provision would allow authorities to summon them to special training sessions. The President would order the gatherings, the duration of which would not exceed two months. These changes would only affect citizens who have signed contracts to be in the active reserve and would not apply to regular reservists. Under current law, officials can summon the former for training once a year but cannot involve them in combat tasks during peacetime. The bill's text has not yet been introduced to the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly], and its specific language and details remain unknown. Although a partial mobilization decree signed by Vladimir Putin in September 2022 remains in effect, mobilization activities are not underway. This means the law currently prohibits involving reservists in combat, limiting their deployment to military training. The new law, however, would allow their engagement in combat operations without mobilization measures, notes Alexey Tabalov, head of Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School, a human rights organization]. He also suggests that following these "special training sessions," authorities could pressure reservists to sign contracts to keep them at the front until the war’s end. Human rights defenders interviewed by the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet believe the bill could allow reservist involvement in combat for several reasons: to avoid a second mobilization wave, to prepare for an intensified confrontation with NATO, or to act as a safeguard should the current mobilization order be rescinded.
Army Recruitment
In Russia's constituent republics of Chuvashia and Mari El, following the example of Tatarstan, regional authorities have reduced payments for signing a contract with the MoD to 400,000 rubles [$4,940], down from the previous 2.1 million rubles [$25,900] and 2.6 million rubles [$32,100], respectively. About a week earlier, the authorities of Tatarstan had also lowered the payment almost sevenfold—from 2.7 million rubles [$33,300] to the minimum possible 400,000 rubles [$4,940]. The decision appears to have been coordinated among the regions, which had previously competed to attract contract soldiers with higher payments.
At the same time, in other regions, the bonuses have instead been increased. In addition to the regions previously reported (the Leningrad, Tambov and Tyumen regions), payments were raised as follows:
- In the Altai region (on Sept. 2) and the Tomsk region (on Aug. 29) by 1 million rubles [$12,300]—to 2.5 million rubles [$30,900] and 2.0 million rubles [$24,700] in regional payments, respectively;
- In the Krasnodar region (on Oct. 12) and the Adygea Republic (on Oct. 9) by 600,000 rubles [$7,410]—to 2.1 million rubles [$25,900] in regional payments, with municipalities providing an additional 400,000 rubles [$4,940];
- In the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic (on Aug. 12) by 300,000 rubles [$3,700]—to 1.9 million rubles [$23,500] in regional payments.
The Duma of the Kizel district in the Perm region established a payment of 70,000 rubles [$860] for recruiting new contract soldiers for the war. Volunteer fighters themselves are eligible for an additional payment of 100,000 rubles [$1,230].
In Tatarstan, about 10% of convicted prisoners have signed contracts with the MoD and gone to war, according to Ildar Allakhverdiyev, deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the republic. At present, around 5,700 people are held in the republic’s penitentiary institutions, including 2,100 defendants and suspects and 3,600 convicted prisoners. According to Allakhverdiyev, the Federal Penitentiary Service is actively working to "encourage convicts" to enlist for military service.
Fall Conscription Campaign
In Moscow, there have been numerous reports of draft notices summoning conscripts directly to sessions of the Unified Military Recruitment Center’s draft board without the required medical examination. Some of the notices have even been sent to individuals registered in other regions. By law, the draft process must proceed in stages—first the medical evaluation, then the draft board session. Exceptions are allowed only if the person has already undergone a medical evaluation or has applied for alternative civilian service. Human rights advocates advise against appearing at the Unified Recruitment Center without legal preparation, urging conscripts to record any violations and appeal such draft notices.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
A Volsk resident with multiple prior convictions Ilya Kanakhin, who had been accused of brutally murdering three people, was killed in the war. The former physical education teacher was buried on Oct. 13, though he reportedly died in April in the Donetsk region. In 2010, Kanakhin was sentenced to nine and a half years in a penal colony for murder. He was released on parole but committed another murder in 2020. For that crime, he received a 16-year sentence, but two years later he was recruited to fight with the Wagner Group and subsequently pardoned. After returning from the front, he fatally assaulted a 26-year-old woman during a drunken argument. Kanakhin was detained in the Ulyanovsk region and sentenced to nine and a half years in a maximum security penal colony, but was once again sent from custody to the front.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Barnaul Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Nikolay Karasov to nine years in a maximum security penal colony for murder. According to investigators, while drinking, Karasov got into an argument with his companion and, "in response to insulting remarks," stabbed him six times in the chest. The victim later died in the hospital from his injuries.
According to Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet], since the "referendums" on the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, the courts established in these territories have handed down at least 190 convictions for treason, espionage and confidential cooperation with a foreign state. Two-thirds of these convictions are for espionage, a charge typically applied to foreigners in Russia. In the annexed regions, this charge was applied to Ukrainian citizens. Those who have obtained a Russian passport, often involuntarily, face charges for treason. While the law states that foreigners cannot be charged with treason, there have been instances where Ukrainian citizens have been prosecuted under this article. There have also been instances where individuals holding both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship have been tried for both espionage and treason. Convictions are being handed down at a rate of one every three days, while before the war, there were 16 such convictions per year in Russia. The average prison sentence is 13.5 years, with at least two known life sentences. Among those convicted, eight are under the age of 18, and approximately 28 percent of the convicted are women. Vazhnyye Istorii has found that many of the accused were previously abducted, and charges were often based on minor financial transactions or personal correspondence. Five individuals convicted of espionage or treason have died in custody. At least 654 civilians are known to have been persecuted, but the actual scale is likely much larger.
According to a study by the Pervy Otdel [Department One] human rights project, Russian military courts handed down at least 597 terrorism verdicts in the first six months of 2025, involving 659 defendants. This represents a historic high—an average of five verdicts daily. The number of sentences exceeding 20 years matched the total number of such verdicts over the previous five years combined, while the proportion of lenient sentences continues to decline. Courts most frequently apply charges related to terrorist attacks and their justification, increasingly combining them with treason charges. A significant portion of cases involves arson attacks on draft offices, infrastructure targets or donations to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that Russia has designated as terrorist organizations. The average age of those convicted has dropped to 34, with a notable increase in teenage defendants. Since the invasion of Ukraine through June 2025, Russia has issued 2,590 terrorism-related verdicts against 2,901 individuals. Meanwhile, detained civilians are rarely included in prisoner exchange lists—for every 23 soldier exchanged, only one civilian is included.
Russian courts reviewed 55 criminal cases involving sabotage charges in the first nine months of 2025—a 37.5% increase over the same period last year, according to calculations by the Moscow Times. During January-September 2024, courts reviewed 40 sabotage cases, with 69 verdicts issued for the entire year. In 2025, the vast majority of cases—51 of 55—resulted in various prison sentences. In 78% of cases (43 cases), defendants faced multiple charges, including treason and organizing terrorist organization activities.
The FSB has announced the detention of three Russian citizens and one national from a Central Asian country in Moscow, accusing them of plotting, allegedly on behalf of Ukraine, to assassinate a "high-ranking MoD officer." Criminal cases have been opened on charges of attempted terrorism and illegal trafficking of explosives. According to the agency, the foreign national, described as an Islamic State supporter, was designated as the bomber, while the Russian suspects allegedly assisted in concealing evidence. Law enforcement officers claim the explosive components were delivered from Ukraine via drone, and the attack was planned as a public detonation in a densely populated area of Moscow.
Moscow resident Yury Belenky has been detained on charges of financing terrorism after allegedly transferring over 60,000 rubles [$740] in cryptocurrency between January 2023 and March 2024 to bank details reportedly shared by publicist Arkady Babchenko. Authorities claim the funds were used to support the Ukrainian army and an unnamed organization designated as terrorist by Russian officials. Babchenko has denied the allegations, stating that he received no such transfers and that his fundraising efforts were solely for humanitarian purposes.
In annexed Crimea, Ukrainian citizen Anatoliy Kobzar, who had been missing for a year and seven months, has been found alive. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center [non-governmental organization], he is currently in custody in Sevastopol and faces charges of treason. Investigators allege that Kobzar photographed air defense positions in Crimea and passed the information to Ukrainian intelligence services.
The Moscow Regional Court has sentenced 40-year-old Saitkhusen Archakov from Dagestan to 14 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason and attempted treason. Archakov was accused of "assisting a foreign state" and "defection to the enemy." Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he had lived in Dnipro for several years without proper registration, for which he was fined and ordered to leave the country. In 2019, Archakov was convicted of pimping and deported during the war, despite insisting that he faced danger there. In December 2023, he was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport. According to investigators, his messaging apps allegedly contained correspondence with servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and purported confirmation of his participation in a Chechen battalion fighting on the Ukrainian side.
Assistance
In Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia), authorities plan to increase employment quotas for participants in the invasion of Ukraine. Currently, employers with more than 35 employees are required to allocate 1% of positions to "veterans" and their family members. Under the proposed changes, the quota would rise to 2% for companies with 35-100 employees and to 3% for companies with more than 100 employees. Authorities expect this measure to help employ approximately 3,000 "veterans." Similar quotas are already in place in the Samara, Kursk, Moscow, Novgorod and Vologda regions, the Krasnodar and Altai regions, and in Karelia [Russia’s constituent republic].
In Russia, scammers posing as volunteer search groups are deceiving relatives of soldiers listed as missing in action. According to the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel, the fraudsters have launched a fake project called Your Soldier’s Life, charging families 18,000 rubles [$220] for an "expedited" search and 9,000 rubles [$110] for a "slow" one.
France’s Le Figaro reported that Russian authorities have confiscated nearly 25,000 apartments and houses belonging to Ukrainians in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The largest number of seizures occurred in Mariupol, where at least 13,000 residences, mostly apartments, have been taken.
Longreads
The Sistema project published the stories of travel agent Yelena Smirnova and hairdresser Olga Shilyaeva, who recruited foreigners to fight in the war against Ukraine and pocketed part of their promised payments. After complaints from those they had enlisted, both women were arrested and ultimately sent to the frontline themselves.
The Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reports on how Russian soldiers are brutalizing their own comrades.