Mobilization in Russia for Oct. 24–25, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Vladimir Putin has appointed Artyom Zhoga, a Donetsk separatist and former commander of the Sparta battalion, to the Security Council of the Russian Federation. His position on the Council is due to his new role as the presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District, a position that traditionally includes a seat on the Council. Other presidential envoys to federal districts are also members of the Security Council. Additionally, Zhoga will join the Security Council's commission responsible for recruiting contract soldiers for the Russian Armed Forces.

Citing sources within the Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation, the Vyorstka media outlet reports that Russia's largest state-owned companies will appoint veterans of the war against Ukraine to senior management positions. For instance, Rosatom will place veterans in advisory roles within each structural unit of the corporation, including all Russian nuclear power plants. Pavel Yakushev will be the first to assume such a position as an advisor to the head of Rosatom. Soon, war veterans may also appear in other state-owned companies, and possibly, in every regional and even municipal administration. Their responsibilities will include "supporting families" of fallen soldiers, "establishing councils for veterans of the special military operation," and engaging in "patriotic education." However, the sources do not expect them to gain any real influence.

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Ilyas Yakubov, a 31-year-old MMA fighter from Chechnya [Russia's constituent republic], left for the war against Ukraine. On Oct. 22, 2023, he was arrested in Moscow for publicly justifying terrorism in a video featuring statements by Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev responsible for a number of terrorist attacks, including the Beslan school siege. In June 2024, Yakubov expressed his intention to join the war. Authorities had first reclassified the charges against him from "justifying terrorism" to "inciting hatred and enmity," since those convicted of terrorism-related offenses cannot enlist. Now, they have suspended the criminal proceedings altogether.

Former deputy head of the Kovrov city administration in the Vladimir region, Amangeldy Kuandykov, accused of stealing funds intended for "humanitarian" aid for war participants, has decided to go to the frontline instead of a penal colony. His lawyer filed the corresponding petition during a court hearing. According to investigators, Kuandykov received a bribe in the form of a three-room apartment worth over 8 million rubles [$83,000] for facilitating decisions in favor of the construction company’s general director. Additionally, from August 2022 to June 2023, Kuandykov regularly received money from the same person under the pretext of providing "humanitarian" aid, totaling 860,000 rubles [$8,920].

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Ilshat Akhunov from the Sverdlovsk region, Yury Smirnov from the Moscow region, Yevgeny Ilyichyov from the Irkutsk region, Ilya Polozov from the Kemerovo region, Aleksey Petrov from the Tver region, Vladimir Vinokurov from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan, Sergey Poleshchuk from the Chelyabinsk region, Valery Glazko from the Khabarovsk region, Pavel Ulanov and Anatoly Kuznetsov from the Perm region, Sergey Tropman from the Vologda region, Ivan Fomenko from the Rostov region, as well as Rinat and Yerzhan Kurumbayev from the Volgograd region.

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 75,382 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 9,324 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 1,365 soldiers. The increase in the number of known casualties is not only related to the current events on the frontline. Over the past two weeks, journalists have added more than 500 Wagner Group mercenaries, whose deaths on the frontline were recorded in the Wagner Group's documents and now have been additionally confirmed.

The remains of fighters from the Alga volunteer battalion killed near Vuhledar on Feb. 6, 2023, have begun to be returned to Tatarstan, the Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reported, citing relatives of the fighters and surviving soldiers. As previously reported by journalists, only 27 out of the approximately 120 men sent on the mission returned that day. For over a year and a half, those left on the battlefield were considered missing in action, but likely following the capture of the town of Vuhledar, the situation may have changed, allowing the bodies to be transported back to Tatarstan. According to Idel.Realii, at least 150 fighters from the battalion are still officially listed as missing in action.

In the city of Donetsk, military police abducted a civilian in front of his wife. On Oct. 24, two military police officers reportedly approached Dmitry in a store and demanded his identification. Shortly after, a group of law enforcement officers arrived and placed him in a vehicle. According to his wife, Dmitry is allegedly facing charges of going AWOL, despite being a Ukrainian citizen with no military contract or service record. However, he did participate in the war, as he was unlawfully mobilized into the "DPR People's Militia" in February 2022, despite not being registered for military service. Dmitry was able to return home only in February 2023. His wife plans to file a complaint with the local Investigative Committee office.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Astrakhan, a man wearing camouflage brutally assaulted his wife. The man was detained and an administrative complaint filed against him for "minor hooliganism." In a video released by law enforcement, the man apologizes for the incident and claims he has "never participated in combat operations." However, according to the Baza Telegram channel, in 2023, the man joined the Akhmat battalion as a volunteer fighter and returned to Astrakhan to be with his family while on leave.

Vyacheslav D., a mobilized man, was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for going AWOL. He had returned home on leave to be with his pregnant wife, who was in poor physical and mental health, prompting him to decide not to return to service. A month later, he was detained by military police. Following his arrest, his wife attempted suicide, leading to the family being placed under supervision, including by the guardianship authorities. In court, the serviceman pleaded guilty and expressed his willingness to return to the frontline. The court considered this, as well as the presence of two young children as mitigating circumstances, but still imposed a prison sentence. According to the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel, the desire to return to the frontline alone is no longer enough to be granted probation; a petition from a commanding officer is required. Lawyers expect that the number of probation sentences on this charge will decrease, with cases being suspended instead.

The military court in Vladivostok has sentenced 18-year-old Bogdan Davidenko to five and a half years in a penal colony on charges of preparing to commit an act of terror and undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities for attempting to set fire to a draft office. Davidenko was arrested in September 2023 when he was still a minor. According to the court, he was trained to set fire to the draft office in Vladivostok. In court, Davidenko pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, but stated that he had not actually received any training.

In Moscow, Valery Perov, a 40-year-old electrician from Nizhny Novgorod, has been sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony for "cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state" and "public calls for terrorism." According to prosecutors, he corresponded with a representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion and attempted to join this unit.

The prosecution has requested 14 and 14.5 years in a penal colony for Belarusian citizens Kirill Basko and Artyom Bressky, respectively, on charges of sabotage. The men were detained in Moscow in December 2022, but the case only became public in April 2023. According to investigators, Basko and Bressky were allegedly paid to set fire to an electric locomotive at a depot in Orekhovo-Zuevo station. In court, the defendants retracted their earlier statements, claiming they were subjected to torture and threats during interrogation. They also requested that the charges be reclassified as property damage, arguing that they were unaware of any possible connection between the arson's organizer and Ukrainian intelligence and did not intend to disable the transportation infrastructure.

The Supreme Court of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania [Russia's constituent republic] sentenced Ukrainian citizen Yevgeny Konin to eight years in prison on espionage charges. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Konin provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with geographic coordinates of the locations of Russian military vehicles in Ukraine. The nature of the evidence presented remains undisclosed.

A Moscow court fined Oksana Denisova, a relative of a mobilized soldier from the Kostroma region, 20,000 rubles (about $210) for violating regulations on public demonstrations. She was detained during a protest near the Ministry of Defense on September 21. This date is the anniversary of the start of the "partial mobilization."

Assistance

In 2025, the Zabaykalsky region plans to allocate 3.7 billion rubles [$38.38 million] to support war participants and their families. The funds will cover various needs, including meals for soldiers' children, daycare education, and firewood for families during the winter.

In Nizhnevartovsk, people with disabilities have been enlisted to assist in the war effort in Ukraine. Blind individuals are weaving camouflage nets, with the first batch already sent to the frontline.

The Vladimir regional branch of Rosgvardia [Russia's National Guard] has called on residents to donate rifles to help war participants to fight drones.

Radiy Khabirov, the governor of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic], has declared 2025 the "year of the participants of the special military operation" in the republic. As Idel.Realii reports, the region leads in the number of war dead.

Children and Educational System

In Bashkortostan, Ruslan Latypov, a Wagner Group mercenary, visited 7th grade students. At the meeting, according to the photos, the students tried on bulletproof vests. Meanwhile, at the Saransk high school, an OMON [riot police] officer came to the eighth-graders for "Talking About Important Things" [a mandatory lesson held every Monday in schools across the country]. He talked about "how combat brotherhood is manifested and how the character of a real man, a citizen of his country, is formed."

In Kaliningrad schools, parents are encouraged to donate money to buy warm clothes and weapons for "the needs of the special military operation." Teachers are sending relevant messages in parent chats.

In the Sakhalin city of Okha, four willow trees were planted in honor of local residents who had enrolled their children in the Rodnichok kindergarten and were later killed in the war.

In the town of Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region [Russia's federal subject], a fourth-grade girl was awarded a medal for "Assistance in the Special Military Operation" for cutting off and selling 89 centimeters [35 inches] of her hair, donating the proceeds to support soldiers from the region.

Authorities in Chechnya have announced the launch of specialized drone management courses, which will be available in 17 schools across the republic.

At Novosibirsk State University, events have begun in support of Russian soldiers involved in "the special military operation" in Ukraine. Participants can learn how to weave camouflage nets, assemble tactical first-aid kits, and create dry army shower kits.

Miscellaneous

The Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet analyzed government procurement contracts, revealing that Russian state and private organizations are expected to spend at least 2 billion rubles [$20.74 million] on anti-drone equipment in 2024 — a 13% increase over the total spent in 2023.

Longreads

Mediazona has collected the most characteristic examples of video addresses of Russian soldiers, in which they complain about commanders who threaten them with execution by firing squad and sending them to their deaths.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] talked to those who fought in the Storm detachments and found out how commanders extorted money from them, tortured, beaten and threw them into murderous assaults. Many, fearing a long and painful death, shoot themselves even before they are sent to attack.

The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel tells the story of Artyom Dobrodumsky, a conscript soldier and a сadet corps graduate, who was killed during the AFU offensive in the Kursk region.

Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] has prepared an overview of the current services market in Russia. "Participant in a special military operation" is one of the most popular phrases on Russian online marketplaces for goods and services.