Volunteer summary of mobilization in the Russian Federation for October 25–26

Russian MP Nina Ostanina announced that the Ministry of Defense exempted fathers of disabled children and fathers of two whose wives are in the 22nd week of pregnancy from partial mobilization. She reported this with reference to Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov. The Deputy Minister of Defense, in turn, denied the information about the conversation with Ostanina about the postponement for fathers. After that, Ostanina said that her announcement was premature.

A comment by human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov about this information.

On Wednesday, the State Duma adopted in the second parliamentary reading a change in the law, allowing the mobilization of citizens having prior convictions for serious crimes. Previously, they were exempted from mobilization.

Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the problems with the supplies for the mobilized soldiers. "Indeed, there have been problems with equipment, these problems, among other things, are still taking place, but vigorous measures taken to remedy the situation are already giving the first positive results," he stated.

Ukrainian servicemen made videos showing Russian POWs who were mobilized in the Belgorod region. According to the POWs, they fought as part of the 3rd Motorized Rifle Division of the 20th Combined Arms Army, in particular in the 237th Tank Regiment and the 752nd Motorized Rifle Regiment. ZAPISKI VETERANA [Veteran's Notes] telegram channel claims that at least 15 people mobilized from the Belgorod region were taken prisoner.

The mobilized from the 423rd Yampol Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 4th Guards Tank Division demonstrate the conditions of their deployment on the front line, and also complain about unfulfilled promises made by their commanders, problems with supplies, communications, and decision-making.

Mediazona outlet describes in detail the story of a platoon of the 2nd Taman Motorized Rifle Division. Earlier, the servicemen of this platoon posted several sensational videos in which they complained about the problems of supply and training and demonstrated how they communicate with an officer.

Verstka media outlet interviewed the wives of the mobilized from Bashkortostan, who had complained earlier about the lack of water, food, and medication. According to the women, their spouses’  were offered to repair cars in order to sell them and buy food and water.

There are new revelations regarding the incident with the General who threatened an officer with weapons demandingring to get the mobilized soldiers back to frontline. Sota news outlet claims that the Commander of the Group of Troops “Center” Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin appears to be that very general.

A mobilized resident of Volgograd was payed a bit more than two thousand roubles as salary for one month in service. Wives and mothers of the mobilized complained to the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan (Bashkir people national region in Russia) about the absence of regional support payments for their families. The mobilized Volgograd region residents also complain about the absence of payments. The Governor of the Volgograd region Andrey Bocharov claimed that every second of the mobilized had received the payments. The mobilized from Volgograd, who had been deployed in Donbas, openly commented on their supply in a conversation with a “war correspondent”, and their wives keep seeking for justice. Some of the mobilized from the Novosibirsk region haven't received the promised payouts of 100,000 roubles from the regional reserve fund, despite the promise of the Governor to solve the problem by October 24. The Novosibirsk city administration refused to discuss the issue. At the same time, the Governor stated that the Novosibirsk region may complete the task of the “partial” mobilization by October 30.

One of the mobilized residents of the Artyomovskiy district of the Sverdlovsk region felt sick during the sending out process. it turned out that this mobilized man had a disease because of which she shouldn`t had been recruited, but he had concealed it because of a strong intention to go to war. A man, who had never been on military duty and suffered from a mental disorder, was mobilized in Moscow. He was assigned as an assistant grenade launcher operator, regardless of the medical prescription not to allow him to handle weapons. In Saint Petersburg, a man was mobilized who had become disabled as a result of an injury he had suffered during his prior conscription service. The man is not always capable of moving around without a walking stick. There was no medical examination at the draft office, nor at the training center. A medical board recognised 46 y.o. Sergei Boriko as fit despite the diagnosis, which is arthrosis of the knee joint. He was sent for military exercises in Vladivostok, where the man had a femur edema developed. He couldn’t walk normally because of severe pains. But the military commissar [head of enlistment office] decided that not to be a sufficient reason not to take part in combat actions, and Sergei set off for Donetsk on October 20.

Sending out of the mobilized from Kostroma, Nizhnekamsk, the Kovernino district of the Nizhniy Novgorod region, the Vladimir region, Borza, Ust'-Kut, and from Sakhalin is ongoing. The Governor of the Tula region Alexey Dyumin visited the mobilized at the training ground of the VDV (Airborne) training center in Slobodka, and the Governor of the Leningrad region Aleksandr Drozdenko visited the base of the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy in Luga.

Yevgeny from the Ural Federal District was drafted on September 29. For almost a month, the mobilized man managed to visit five regions. He stated that mobilized soldiers did not undergo training in any of the military units. The situation in a training unit in the Sverdlovsk region is shown in a published video.

Mobilized men solve problems with logistics themselves, organizing deliveries of supplies from their relatives. In the Chelyabinsk region, following a number of other regions, children of mobilized men will be provided with free lunches at schools. In the Novosibirsk region, citizens continue to prepare drafted soldiers for the war; there are welding machines, self-tapping screws, and nails on the list, among other things. The Union of Journalists of Tatarstan organized a collection of aid for mobilized soldiers. The organization has launched the action "Warm insoles for a soldier" for the reservists of Tatarstan, who will have to fight in winter. Mobilized men from the Astrakhan region addressed Igor Babushkin, the governor of the region, with a request to provide them with sleeping bags. The governor responded promptly, acknowledged the problem, complained about the lack of many necessary items in the warehouses, but promised to send the first batch of equipment soon.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic, proposed an ingenious solution to the supply problem. He called on mobilized soldiers complaining about the lack of equipment to take away weapons and vehicles from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the calculations of Mozhem Obyasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel, 42 mobilized men were killed in hostilities in one month since the announcement of “partial mobilization”. Almost half of them are from the Ural Federal District. A resident of the Talitsky district of the Sverdlovsk region was killed in Ukraine.

In Ivanovo, the police hand out draft notices right on the streets and in shopping centers. Residents of Yaroslavl and Kineshma complained about the handing out of draft notices by the traffic police. Tyumen residents are called by a bot on behalf of a military recruitment office which asks to come to a collecting point with belongings. Information about this began to spread in local groups on the VKontakte social network.

Draft commissions in Udmurtia will be rewarded for completing their mobilization-related assignments. The military commissar of Udmurtia Yuri Belyaev stated: “For their good work, employees of the draft boards and other organizations participating in the mobilization will be rewarded by the head of the republic and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.”

Almost half of the families of the mobilized in Khakassia live below the poverty threshold. The regional ministry of labor’s analysis showed 46% of the conscripts’ families earn less than a living wage.

While on air at the Spas (The Savior) TV channel, a clergyman at the Russian Orthodox Church expressed an original view on draft evaders and mothers trying to preserve their children when he called their attitude a “sacrilege”.

A student at the Tomsk State Control System and Electronics University told the Ulitsa Barkhatnaya (Velvet Street) Telegram channel that the deputy dean at the university demanded that they go door to door to serve military summons. According to the student, the deputy dean allegedly threatened young men from several classes with expulsion if they refused.

Russian scammers are taking advantage of the mobilization. In one instance of fraud, a Moscow woman complained about a pay-for-use chat on mobilization after she sent a payment to a private channel claiming to have information from the military commissar but haven’t received the content.

The human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov informs of the first criminal case brought in Russia against a newly mobilized soldier who went AWOL. The military prosecutor in Ulan-Ude charged the soldier, a Yakutia resident, with a violation of Article 337, Part 3.1 of the RF Criminal Code. St. Petersburg saw the first fine handed down for a failure to appear before the draft commission after being issued summons. In response, the defendant filed a complaint stating that he did in fact pay the draft office a visit.

According to the Tuva office of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a fire erupted at the city draft office on Rabochaya Street in Kyzyl. Arson is suspected as fragments of a glass bottle, a medical mask, and a fuel-soaked rag were found near the wooden building.

Ekaterinburg held its first mass wedding ceremony for mobilized soldiers. The grooms were delivered to the marriage registrations directly from their training camp.

A woman from Belgorod came out to a single-person protest demanding that the mobilized soldiers be provided with timber. In response, the deputy governor Yulia Schedrina invited the woman for a chat. On a prior occasion, as she was addressing complaints on the shortage of timber for building shelters, Schedrina claimed that the wood stock is being used appropriately and in a manner that won’t allow the enemy to get its hands on it.