Mobilization in Russia for Oct. 13-14, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Social media users have discovered that the Russian-language domain of the previously blocked Discord messenger now redirects users to a website advertising contract military service. If you enter the .ru domain instead of .com, it opens a site where users can sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. According to the Groza media outlet, the domain discord.ru originally used to redirect to the official Discord site at discord.com, but later, this link started redirecting users to the website of a competing messenger service, Guilded.
In the city of Ufa, the sign-up bonus for signing a contract has been increased from the 300,000 rubles [$3,130] established in June to 400,000 rubles [$4,170]. The decree was signed by Ufa Mayor Ratmir Mavliev. Now, the total sign-up bonus for signing a contract at the city's draft office will amount to 1.3 million rubles [$13,600], with 505,000 rubles [$5,270] coming from regional funds and 400,000 rubles [$4,170] from federal sources. The new terms will take effect starting Oct. 15.
Migrants from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, convicted in Russia, are being forced to renounce their citizenship and go to the frontline through applying for Russian citizenship. This is reported by NastoyashŃheye Vremya [Current Time, an editorially independent US-funded Russian language media outlet], citing one of the convicts. Those who refuse face extremely harsh living conditions. The outlet also received a letter, reportedly from a group of imprisoned migrants. They say that around 400 convicts with Uzbek and Tajik citizenship are being held in the correctional facility. The prison staff tells them that they will be sent to war regardless, but if they do not go voluntarily, they will be sent directly to forward positions.
In Saint Petersburg, officials from the State Traffic Inspectorate and customs conducted a large-scale inspection of cars with foreign license plates. One driver received 1,453 traffic citations, accumulating fines totaling 363,000 rubles [$3,790]. His car was confiscated, and he was sent to the draft office to be registered for military service.
The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel reports that the Gosuslugi public services portal has added a new feature allowing users to appeal decisions made by draft offices. Although the right to appeal these decisions administratively through Gosuslugi and Multifunctional Public Services Senters was introduced in spring 2023, when the law on digital draft notices came into effect, the feature had not been made available until later. The delay is partly due to the late launch of the Unified Military Register [digital system to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices]. With the start of the fall 2024 regular conscription campaign, Gosuslugi users gained access to the feature, but only in Russia's constituent republic of Mari El, as well as the Ryazan and Sakhalin regions, where authorities are piloting the new register. Everywhere else, the only way to appeal draft office decisions remains through Multifunctional Public Services Centers.
In the Pskov region, a draft office representative held a lesson for students titled "On Courage, Duty, and Honor." During the lesson, he spoke about contract military service.
The Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly has approved an adjustment to the city budget, including an additional 5.1 billion rubles [$53.21 million] for payments to the war participants and their families. Svetlana Yenilina, head of the finance committee, stated that 4 billion rubles [$41.74 million] of the total sum will be allocated to payments for contract soldiers. Taking into account the regional payment of 1.7 million rubles [$17,700], this money will be enough to recruit 2,350 individuals.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Ruslan Selivanov from the Belgorod region, Pavel Romanov from the Sverdlovsk region and Dmitry Rezuto from the Moscow region.
In Russia's constituent Republic of Udmurtia, official obituaries no longer mention the surnames of those killed in the war. Residents were outraged by the new format of the obituaries. In response, officials have stated that the innovation was introduced to combat criminals and fraudsters.
Service members Vyacheslav Trutnev and Dmitry Ostrovsky of the 109th Regiment, 132nd Brigade, fled their positions after their company commander, reportedly intoxicated, ordered them to advance through minefields to a new location. Trutnev and Ostrovsky shared their story in a video call with a correspondent from the Astra Telegram channel. Later, they reappeared, this time in civilian clothes, and explained that they had abandoned their posts because they had "run out of patience" with the commanders' "outrageous orders." They also claimed that their commanders retaliated against fellow soldiers who refused to obey the order by attacking them with UAV-dropped munitions. Astra confirmed the identities of Trutnev and Ostrovsky. In a subsequent video, they revealed they had been on the run for two weeks. According to the men, they were recruited for the war in May 2024 from a penal colony, where they were serving sentences for drug-related offenses. They allege that prisoners who refused to sign contracts were threatened with being placed in solitary confinement for the remainder of their terms. While they had been promised full military status on the frontline, they say this promise was never fulfilled. Trutnev and Ostrovsky described being treated "like cattle" and kept under constant guard. They also complained that, apart from an initial enlistment bonus, they and their fellow soldiers had not received any additional payments during their four months of service.
A resident of the Rostov region has been accused of evading military service and sent to fight despite having health issues. Oleg, along with his wife Ekaterina and their two children, moved to the region from the "DPR" in 2023, but continued traveling to the occupied territories. During one of these trips, his car was stopped by a traffic police patrol. It turned out that he was on the national wanted list due to a criminal case for going AWOL. He was detained and held in a military unit for four months, allegedly to undergo a medical examination. Oleg has had a back condition since the age of 14, and his military ID states that he is exempt from conscription during peacetime. The soldier's wife appealed to the prosecutorâs office. Although an investigator was willing to release Oleg on recognizance, the unit command refused to agree. During his service, Oleg almost completely lost his hearingâhe can only hear in one ear with a hearing aid. Doctors ordered additional tests, but Oleg was not discharged from the unit and was deployed to the town of Avdiivka in June. In August, the soldier went missing in action. He was later found through a photo posted on social media by military doctors. Although his wife identified him, Oleg is still officially listed as missing in action. After six months in this status, he can be declared dead, allowing his family to receive compensation. Oleg himself is afraid to make contact for fear of being sent to the frontline.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
In Barnaul, a garrison court sentenced serviceman Aleksey Vasilyev to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for stealing 16 hand grenades with detonators from an ammunition depot. Vasilyev transported the stolen grenades by car to the unitâs military vehicle park. Additionally, an acquaintance gave Vasilyev two more grenades with detonators, which he attempted to sell to an individual who turned out to be the Federal Security Service (FSB) agent.
In Arkhangelsk, 37-year-old Aleksey P. vandalized a passenger bus. According to reports on the Baza Telegram channel, the man had returned from the war in Ukraine a few weeks ago. One version of the incident suggests that he experienced hallucinations due to post-traumatic stress disorder.
In annexed Sevastopol, a Russia-appointed court sentenced local resident Dmytro Papenko to 21 years in a penal colony on charges of treason, preparing an act of terror, and undergoing terrorist training. According to the FSB, the 48-year-old allegedly collected information on the location of Russian military facilities in Sevastopol and passed it to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). He was also reportedly planning to set fire to one of the city's administrative buildings. The FSB arrested the man in December 2022, bringing his case to court in October 2023.
A resident of Murmansk has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for treason. The legal documents indicate that the 24-year-old defendant allegedly sent a voice message via one of the messaging apps to a representative of the SBU that contained compromising information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as provided photographs of documents, including those related to the operations of the draft office in the Murmansk region. The name of the convicted individual has not been disclosed.
The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow has sentenced French researcher Laurent Vinatier to three years in a penal colony for gathering information on Russia's military and technical activities without registering as a foreign agent. Vinatier was detained in June of this year and accused of meeting with three Russians to gather information about mobilization, combat training of troops, as well as about the political situationâdata that could potentially be used against Russiaâs security. Vinatier is a political scientist and an expert on Russia and Central Asia, fluent in Russian, who published a book on the Chechen diaspora in Moscow in the early 2000s. Shortly after his detention, Laurent Vinatier pleaded guilty  to the charges against him.
Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] found out that the Moscow city courts had stopped disclosing the reasons behind arrests and detention. A search on the official web portal of the Moscow city courts reveals that starting from Sept. 30, court records of pre-trial detentions and house arrests no longer indicate the charges on which the detention is based. It is no longer possible to retrieve records using the specific charge criteria. The record still states if an arrest was made or a house arrest was ordered, but the cause of the arrest is missing, leaving media reporters and human rights activists unable to track new politically motivated cases.
Assistance
In Saratov, a mental health clinic will be opened for veterans of the "special military operation" and their family members, the regional government reported.
Governor of the Leningrad region Aleksandr Drozdenko announced a plan to cut down on conferences, concerts and other cultural events, as well as business trips for municipal officers, in order to increase support for the war.
Children and Educational System
The Kazan-based student media outlet Groza, quoting a draft decree issued by Russiaâs Ministry of Education and Science, reports that an internal entrance examination procedure will be introduced in Russian universities to facilitate the admission of children of war veterans. In addition to the already existing special admission quota, this procedure will further increase the chances of securing admission for the "special military operation" veterans and their children. Moreover, according to the draft decree, if a university does not have enough applicants to fill the admission quota reserved for orphans and people with disabilities, the remaining places should also be repurposed for war veterans and their children. In August of this year, Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] estimated that over 14,900 applicants had been admitted to Russian universities under the "veterans" quota. About 70% of these students would not have otherwise qualified for admission due to inadequate Unified State Exam scores, while every third of such students was admitted without any exams.
Miscellaneous
Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights, reports that 398 people have been killed and another 1,157 injured in the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions since the invasion of Ukraine began. Most of the deaths have occurred in the Belgorod region. Moskalkova also says Russian authorities have evacuated more than 112,000 people from the Kursk region, while 40,000, according to her, have refused to evacuate or have returned to their places of residence. Another 1,000 people were allegedly removed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
War veteran Maksim Kovalyov has beenappointed vice governor of the Samara region. Kovalyov, 41, was born in Sevastopol and served in the Berkut unit of the Ukrainian police even before the annexation of Crimea. After the annexation, Berkut was transferred under the command of the Russian Interior Ministry and later the Rosgvardia [the Russian National Guard]. In 2023, Kovalyov already held the position of commander of the Sevastopol Berkut-S unit. The fighters of this unit participated in the war in Ukraine from the very beginning. It is not known when Kovalyov himself fought in Ukraine.
Russia's average time to find a job fell to a record lowin 2023 due to the population dip, Covid-19 and the war. In 2023, it took unemployed Russians 5.8 months on average to find a job, according to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), as highlighted by the Vyorstka media outlet. This is the lowest figure since at least 2013.