Summary of mobilization in Russia for October 27–28
Measures for "partial" mobilization have been completed, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported today to President Vladimir Putin. He says that the goal of drafting 300,000 people has been achieved and that there are no plans for new 'partial' mobilization measures. Shoigu also reported that 82,000 mobilized people have been sent to the area of "Specially Military Operation" and 218,000 are undergoing training. However, there is no order from the President about the end of mobilization in Russia. The Federation Council said that there is no need for a decree on ending "partial" mobilization.
Up until Shoigu's statement, contradictory information continued to pour in from the regions on the topic of the end of mobilization. Even though today, the press service of the administration of the governor of St. Petersburg stated that "the main mobilization activities in St. Petersburg are completed," mobilization in the city continues. "Partial mobilization continues as before. The governor has no power to stop it. It is declared by presidential decree and only by presidential decree can it be stopped," the press service of the Western Military District said. Against this background, the police in the center of St. Petersburg today checked men on a database with subpoenas. A citizen who refused to provide data was taken to the department "on orientation." However, later the press service of the draft board had to announce that "the main measures for partial mobilization in St. Petersburg have been suspended". On a regional TV channel ("78"), Governor Beglov laid the blame for the mobilization problems on the citizens themselves, since they are required by law to inform the military commissariats within two weeks of any important changes in their lives.
Governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, announced the end of mobilization in his region a few hours before the Defense Minister Shoigu did. He said: "As of tomorrow all mobilization related activities will stop. From this Saturday onwards draft letters will no longer be sent out". The governor of Kamchatka, Vladimir Solodov, also said today that his region has met all "partial" mobilization quotas. Bryansk's governor, Bogomaz, has also announced the end of conscription in his region: "According to the data from the Bryansk's conscription office, all "partial" mobilization goals, outlined for us by the Western Military District of the Russian Ministry of Defense, have been fully achieved. All conscription related activities were conducted in line with the current legislation and completed before the officially stated completion date". Authorities from Volgograd and Volgograd region announced the end of their conscription campaign right after the Defense Minister Shoigu's announcement.
Another bunch of residents, conscripted from the town of Kuybyshev (Novosibirsk region) was meant to ship off to war, but all of them were sent back home, authorities citing some sort of directive. "Today we were all sent home. Nobody is going anywhere", they posted in the "News of the day Kainsk Barabinsk", the town's biggest social network group.
In the Sverdlovsk conscription office, authorities explained how the mobilization ends. First the governor will make an announcement, followed by the draft office’s statement.
In the town of Polevskoy (Sverdlovsk region), whose draftees we talked about yesterday, a funeral ceremony was held for the town's resident Il'ya Korolyov, who was killed in the Kherson region of Ukraine, on the 12th of October (2022). Novouralsk's residents said their goodbyes to one of their own, Sergei Gorbushin, a conscript who was assigned to the 74th motorized rifle brigade and was killed on the 17th of October (2022) near Svatove (Ukraine). A local from Satka, Andrej Shibaev, who was conscripted on the 27th of September and killed within a few days, was buried at the town's cemetery. A draftee from the town of Gubkin in Belgorod region was killed in the Luhansk region (Ukraine). On the 16th of October he was seriously wounded and was admitted to hospital. He died from his wounds on the next day, 17th of October (2022). A TV news report from Il'ya Korolyov's funeral and a few of the other KIA draftees was released on the Nastoyaschee Vremya (CurrentTime.tv) channel.
The Mobilizatsia (Mobilization) Telegram channel analyzed obituaries of killed mobilized soldiers from the Sverdlovsk Region and found that after they received draft notices, they stayed alive for 7 to 20 days. Recall that the publication It’s My City maintains a full list of the region's natives killed in the war that currently contains 15 names. According to It’s My City’s sources, at least 86 mobilized soldiers from Sverdlovsk Region were dispatched to the “special military operation” zone without any training.
It’s My City also published an account by Aleksandr Shorikov from Irbit who was sent with no training to the territory of the so-called LPR. His detachment came under fire with many dead and many wounded, Aleksandr among them. Despite their wounds, the commanders demanded that the mobilized soldiers return to the front; however, the servicemen refused to go back until they received appropriate training. Currently, they are detained incommunicado at the prosecutor’s office under the threat of court-martial.
The mobilized from Emva, Ukhta, and Inta from the Komi Republic recorded a video addressed to the region’s head Vladimir Uyba demanding to issue them the promised equipment including body armor, helmets, etc. According to them, they are to be sent to the front in a week but haven’t yet received any equipment. Currently, the men are training at a military base in Kamenka near St. Petersburg. Mobilized men from Yugra are complaining about extortion and asking the governor Natalia Komarova for help. They allege that their commanders withhold diesel fuel necessary for heating and for military vehicles training and request instead that the men contribute their own money to buy the fuel.
Vladislav Polenov, a 32-year-old employee at the Tretyakov Gallery (a major art museum in Moscow), has disappeared. He was mobilized at the Tsaritsyn district draft office of the South Administrative District of Moscow on September 22, then he was sent to training, but on September 29 his family lost contact and hasn’t heard any news of him since. Vladislav’s parents reported their son’s disappearance to the draft office and to the Ministry of Defense but neither authority could provide any information. The story of the mobilized muscovites whose navy military specialty was overridden to “rifleman” by the Tsaritsyn draft board continues. The draft officials keep pressuring the mobilized in order to dispatch them into the combat zone. In response, they signed a group letter to the military prosecutor petitioning to investigate possible wrongdoing by the district’s military commissar Victor Kuznetsov.
Mother and fiance of a 23 y.o. mobilized soldier from the Bryansk region claimed that he had been deployed at the frontline in the area of Kreminna, whilst officially he is supposed to be receiving combat training in the Voronezh region: "He said, Kreminna is encircled. No way for a retreat. There are 10 of them left alive. We haven’t been able to contact him since".
The Commander of the Group of Troops "Center" Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin, mentioned several times in news reports recently, decided this time to personally instruct the mobilized how to handle a large-caliber machine gun.
PJSC "VTB Bank" (a Russian majority state-owned bank) offers "mobilization kits" to its employees. Inter alia, these kits include a 24-hour meal set. And Sota news outlet managed to take a look at the PJSC Sberbank (a Russian majority state-owned bank) papers, according to which the bank promised a 100 thousand roubles payout to the families of the bank employees provided these employees had been mobilized.
The mobilized keep receiving salaries from the Ministry of Defense. Kazan resident Timur shared information regarding the first payments in his Telegram channel. He pointed out that he hadn't received any payments personally, but his brother in arms had been paid their first allowances. "We were paid 759.88 roubles. But I haven't received anything at all. 195 thousand, they were talking about, I don't know, when it will happen. But we've asked, actually, it should be paid before we set off, what we strongly doubt», — wrote the mobilized man.
Authorities in the town of Rybinsk explained the cordon around the JSC UEC - Gas Turbines plant by the police and handing out draft notices en masse, citing the refusal of the management of the enterprise to "conduct it on their own". Rybinsk «hasn't delivered half of the required numbers for the mobilization", and a set of enterprises "took a stand, which is opposite to the objectives of the mobilization". "The management of the JSC UEC - Gas Turbines plant holds the most unwavering position," said the head of Rybinsk Dmitry Rudakov. The situation around the plant drew the attention of the State Corporation "Rostec", which has expressed "its concern" caused by the massive draft notices handing out at the checkpoint of the plant in Rybinsk. Apart from Gas Turbines, employees of the JSC "Saturn" in Rybinsk suffered a raid as well. In Kazan, the employees of the JSC Transneft — Prikam'ye were given summons, even though all of them had exemptions.
A cage was seen at a collecting point of mobilized residents of Tatarstan at the Kazan Expo exhibition center. A photo shows soldiers with sleeping bags behind the bars. The purpose of the cage is unknown. Inkazan Telegram channel sent a request to the regional military commissariat.
From the town of Strezhevoye, Tomsk region, the second group of mobilized residents was sent to the war. Another group of reservists from Mari El went to the Ulyanovsk region for training. A second echelon of the mobilized left Kovrov. A tenth group of mobilized soldiers has been sent from Novokuznetsk. The latest dispatch turned out to be the most massive, the conscripts left on six buses, although before four had been enough. The mobilized from Vologda left the training ground in Kostroma for the frontline. Singer Elvin Grey performed for the soldiers from Bashkiria who were trained in Kazan. After the farewell rally, the first echelon of the 428th Motorized Rifle Regiment headed to the combat zone.
The Russian Ministry of Defense posted a video showing the training of mobilized soldiers at the training grounds of the Baltic Fleet and the Central Military District in the Saratov region.
An actor convicted under a politically motivated charge after the 2019 protests in Moscow and later released on parole, Pavel Ustinov, was mobilized. The New Theater where he works posted the actor's words in support of the "special operation". In Mordovia, a draft notice was sent to a person who died seven years ago. And in Buryatia, a person accused of attempted murder and robbery was mobilized.
A mobilized soldier from the Moscow region escaped from a military base after he was beaten. According to him, from the moment of arrival at the Military Academy of Air and Space Defense in Tver, the relationship with his commander started off on the wrong foot. On October 26, the soldier was beaten by three masked men, after which he escaped and went to the Volokolamsk hospital. Doctors documented that the soldier had a head contusion and abrasions on his face and body.
According to unconfirmed reports, there was a fight “one barrack against another” on ethnic grounds in a Volgograd military unit. The presented video was actually filmed in this military unit showing mobilized people and a bus of the Investigative Committee, which indirectly confirms this information.
Following other regions of Russia, which we talked about in yesterday's report, Tatarstan joined the "labor mobilization" of students. According to Kommersant-Kazan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the region asked Kazan universities – the Agrarian University and the Veterinary Academy – to submit the lists of students who will sow in spring instead of the workers who left for the “special operation”. The Sverdlovsk region also joins the “labor mobilization” of students. In November, 60 students studying turnery will be employed at the Verkhneturinsky Machine Building Plant.
The Governor of the Oryol region Andrey Klychkov recommended that citizens who take their safety seriously prepare "emergency suitcases". The order of actions during the evacuation and the list of things to put in an emergency suitcase was published by the Oryol mayor's office. It should be noted that in the comments to the governor's message, many locals complain about the unsatisfactory condition of the basements in apartment buildings.
The Governor of the Saratov region Roman Busargin conducted a survey on his Telegram channel on the topic, “Should we cancel New Year’s events?” 17.8 thousand people took part in the survey (the population of the region is almost 2.5 million). The answer that it was necessary to cancel the fireworks and concerts prevailed. Thus, the decision was made.
In the Zavodskoy city district of Kemerovo, an unknown person threw a Molotov cocktail at a building housing a draft office. The thrower was detained, and the building was cordoned off.