Mobilization in Russia for Oct. 28-29, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia] has passed legislation designating foreign citizenship as an aggravating factor when undocumented migrants commit crimes in Russia. Lawmakers have also increased penalties for those "organizing illegal migration," raising the maximum prison sentence to 15 years.
Additionally, the State Duma has tightened penalties for denying employment to people with disabilities by increasing fines for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities to 100,000 rubles [$1,030].
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of the Belgorod region, announced that regional authorities will discontinue the 3 million rubles [$30,900] sign-up bonus they introduced in early October. It will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2024; afterwards, the bonus will decrease to 800,000 rubles [$8,230]. Gladkov promised that all other “forms of assistance for participants of the special military operation" will be maintained.
In the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject], authorities have doubled the sign-up bonus for enlisting, now offering contract soldiers 800,000 rubles [$8,230]. This increased incentive applies to individuals who sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense between Oct. 5 and Dec. 31, 2024.
In the city of Saratov, a raid targeted illegal migrants and men who had obtained Russian citizenship but had not registered for military service. Authorities screened 80 men, issued draft notices to 18 of them, and filed non-compliance reports for five. In another operation, law enforcement conducted a similar raid at a market in the city of Omsk, where 35 men were checked and nine were given summonses. In the city of Vladivostok, these raids extended to the airport and public areas across the city. According to official statements, these operations form part of the autumn conscription drive. The Vladivostok operation identified 140 naturalized citizens who had failed to register for military service, with officials noting that more than 1,200 men have been registered since the beginning of the year.
Former judge from Russia’s Krasnodar region, Yury Zakhachevsky, who was sentenced to six years in a penal colony for causing a fatal traffic accident, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and gone to war. This information was shared with reporters by the mother of the 29-year-old cyclist Danil Yukhanov, whom Zakhachevsky fatally struck in 2020.
With the start of the academic year, schools and colleges have begun sending students to military training exercises. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel explains who can be sent for training, who qualifies for exemptions, what the training consists of, how to opt out, and whether participation in such exercises affects eligibility for alternative civilian service.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
Another conscript soldier has reported receiving a payment of 305,000 rubles [$3,140] for a contract he allegedly signed with the Ministry of Defense. The conscript from the Samara region was serving in Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk region. Recently, his fellow soldiers informed him that he was listed as a contract soldier. Subsequently, he received 305,000 rubles [$3,140] from the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Services of the Republic of Tatarstan. A search through the Alushta centralized logistics system, which is used to process all payments, revealed that the conscript was assigned to the military service recruitment facility in Kazan, Tatarstan, as a contract soldier. He submitted a complaint regarding the incident but did not receive a satisfactory response. Previously, at least ten conscripts serving in Chebarkul and seven conscripts serving in the Kurgan region encountered a similar problem.
The Ministry of Health of the Arkhangelsk region has stated that Dmitry Shabunyaev, a member of the United Russia [Putin's ruling party] and the former chief doctor of a clinic, who went to the war after causing a fatal traffic accident, is currently on leave. Furthermore, the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee reported having no information regarding criminal or administrative cases against Shabunyaev.
The families of soldiers killed in the Kursk region are being denied payments, while active servicemen are having their salaries cut, receiving 40,000 rubles [$410] for one month of fighting. This was reported to the Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel by wounded contract soldiers and relatives of the deceased soldiers. The reason for the lack of payments is that Kursk is not included in the list of places where the "special military operation" is being conducted.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A soldier from Tyumen is accused of desertion and fraud. The 35-year-old Vladimir signed a contract in October 2022, but only a month after beginning service, he went AWOL and returned home to Tyumen. On April 26, 2024, police detained him on suspicion of fraud. The soldier's victims were two elderly women from whom he stole money.
A court in Moscow has sentenced IT specialist Firuz Dadoboev to 13 and a half years in a penal colony on charges of treason. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Dadoboev allegedly possessed information classified as a state secret and intended to pass it to US intelligence. The FSB released a video of his detention in October 2022, along with footage of the verdict being announced in court. The intelligence service claims that the accused allegedly pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his actions.
In Krasnodar, a regional court has sentenced Sergey Denisenko to 25 years of imprisonment for the murder of Stanislav Rzhitsky, a former commander of the Krasnodar submarine, who was shot while jogging on July 10, 2023. Denisenko was found guilty of murder, acquisition and possession of weapons and high treason. He was also ordered to pay 5 million rubles [$51,400] in moral damages to the victim’s father. 42-year-old Rzhitsky had previously commanded the Krasnodar submarine, which is equipped with 3M-54 Kalibr cruise missiles, and was considered one of those responsible for the strike on the city of Vinnytsia in 2022, which resulted in 27 deaths. He later became Deputy Head of the Mobilization Department at the Krasnodar city administration.
In the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject], a 38-year-old woman set fire to a local government office and three police cars. She first threw several Molotov cocktails at the window of the mayor’s office of the town of Megion. Fire started in one of the rooms, but was quickly extinguished. She went on to throw flammable liquid over several police vehicles in the parking lot, but only one of them took fire. The arsonist was detained and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. The local division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs alleged that the woman had followed the instructions of a scammer.
Assistance
In the Krasnodar region, young girls engaged in an after-school sewing course made pillow cases for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Last August, children involved in after-school programs were brought to the military training camp of the Cossacks "to meet a special military operation veteran" and to be taught the basics of "drone operation, firearm safety and military tactics."
A workshop where volunteers piece together camouflage netting will be organized at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Similarly, a few other Russian universities engage their students into weaving camouflage nets, the Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel points out.
Miscellaneous
Portable radio sets are being distributed to the population of Russia's Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, so that local residents can exchange drone alerts or request emergency assistance. Local authorities are struggling to ensure reliable emergency communication as cell towers have been destroyed and phone lines disabled in several villages.
The BARS-Kursk volunteer unit posted a promo leaflet with a plan to seize London, Paris, and Washington. The post, calling for people to sign a contract, appeared on the unit's Telegram channel on Oct. 29. One of the pages lists the past victories of Russian troops and includes the planned seizure of Paris, London, Berlin, and Washington at an unspecified date.
Longreads
The 7x7—Gorizontalnaya Rossiya [Horizontal Russia] news outlet explored the reasons behind the creation of the BARS unit and why officials and deputies want to join it.
Novaya Gazeta [independent Russian newspaper] published an article on the trial of Ibragim Orudzhev, a 23-year-old student who took a photo of a draft office schedule. This photo served as the basis for law enforcement officers to accuse him of terrorism.
The Vyorstka media outlet published an investigation exploring why, according to official data, the number of people with disabilities has significantly increased over the past year.