Russian mobilization news update by CIT volunteers, October 30–31
As he commented on the completion of the mobilization, President Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov informed that “the decree on completion of the partial mobilization will be announced separately.”
Under the directive by the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces issued guidance addressed to the commanders of military districts and the commander of the Northern Fleet asking them to report the completion of activities related to the “partial” mobilization. Afterwards, the draft commissions are to concentrate on recruiting volunteers and contract personnel.
Nevertheless, the question whether the Russian citizens will continue to receive military summons remains open. The Ministry of Defence hotline’s answer was: “Until there is a presidential decree [to that effect], the mobilization won’t stop in Tyumen Region, nor other regions.” A correspondent of the publication Inkazan received the same information after calling the 122 hotline: “Until there is a decree about stopping the activities, the military summons keep being served. The Tatarstan residents must react to them as before, i.e. report to their draft office.” At the same time, the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov announced that the republic fulfilled the task assigned to it by the Russian Ministry of Defence for the “partial” mobilization. Some of the mobilized soldiers are still in Kazan and the regional head requested that they are provided with everything they need and to contact him personally if difficulties arise. He also stated that the families of the fallen servicemen need special attention. This morning, another group of conscripts from Nizhnekamsk—50 men in total—will head to the assembly point in Kazan.
Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, also claimed that the region “has completed its quota for partial mobilization”. The same thing was reported by Vadim Shumkov, the governor of the Kurgan region, and by the military commissariat of the Arkhangelsk region. Meanwhile, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic, called upon his countrymen to join the units that are based within Chechnya before receiving any draft notices in order to avoid being sent to other regions.
As we all know, the autumn army draft starts in Russia on November 1st. More than 2,5 thousand draft boards, created by the heads of Russian regions, will get to work. That said, the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces reassures that the conscripts won’t be sent to serve in the newly occupied regions.
As part of the autumn draft, citizens of Nizhny Novgorod will receive draft notices with a distinguishing mark – this was reported by the regional military commissariat. This is done so that they don’t think that they fall under “partial” mobilization. Citizens of the Kursk region will continue getting notices for personal data clarification. The governor Roman Starovoyt asked the citizens to voluntarily come to the military commissariat or the military registration office of their company and update their data. Citizens of Saint Petersburg also keep receiving draft notices. The mobilization is still continuing in the Vyborgsky district of the city.
Taron Grigoryan, a deputy in Khabarovsk, received two draft notices after the conclusion of the mobilization. This occurred after the disruption of the meeting to elect the chairman of the City Council on the 25th of October. Allegedly, members of the jailed ex-governor Sergey Furgal’s team could have won the vote. Earlier, six other Khabarovsk deputies who remained to vote for Furgal’s team member Denis Kuratov were also given draft notices.
Following the rest of the Russian regions, Kursk's students are getting ready to fill vacancies left by conscripts. The biggest labor shortages are observed in the farming industry. Also, 75% of the regional admin staff have been drafted.
The Russian Ministry of Defense continues to release video recordings, featuring conscripts in training. Thus, at training grounds of the Southern Military District in Stavropol region, new draftees have been coached in first aid and battlefield evacuation techniques. On the training grounds of the Tyumen Engineering Corps Officers College, new draftees have been through specialty training. On training grounds of the Eastern Military District (Zabaykalsky region), new conscripts were trained to engage an enemy in an urban environment as well as flying UAVs. In the Primorsky region, they learned to use BTR-82A wheeled armored carriers. In the Amur region, tank crews practiced shooting while moving. New draftees from Ryazan and Leningrad regions were sent off to combined arms training. Vladimir's conscripts sat through an entertainment show. First, they had a talk with war veterans and after that a music show by the rock band "Pilgrim". The Defense Ministry says this is meant to raise the draftees' spirits.
More information is coming back about conscripts being killed on the battlefield. Bryansk's recently drafted resident Aleksandr Vladimirovich Mironov was killed in the fighting. He left behind his wife and daughter. 22-year-old Pavel Pavlovich Belousov from the town of Uvelski (Chelyabinsk region) was conscripted on the 22nd of September and was killed in the fighting exactly a month later. There is also news about Volgograd residents, 30-year-old Aleksei Kopanev, 34-year-old Aleksandr Kuzmin and 46-year-old Evgenij Makarovski, all KIA. In the Bryansk region, local media reported the death of a locally conscripted Bryansk resident Sergei Vlasov, killed in the fighting related to the "special operation". He was survived by his wife and their two children. Buryats will say goodbye to a 42-year-old local conscript Aleksei Usynin who was killed in Ukraine. He'll be mourned by his parents, wife, and their 3 children.
New cases of illegal mobilization of men exempted from military service continue to appear. On October 9, an employee of Tinkoff Bank exempted from mobilization was called up to service in Moscow. His father was told at the military commissariat: "If he returns alive, he will continue working in the bank." A resident of the Rostov region was handed a draft notice the day before the mobilization was declared complete. The man was eventually signed in as a volunteer without his consent. An individual with spinal and nervous system diseases has been mobilized in Moscow. Relatives of the mobilized man appealed to a court seeking to overturn the draft board's decision. And in Buryatia, a man with strabismus and poor eyesight was mobilized. A military commissariat decided that he is fit to serve as a gunner. The mobilized man underwent a medical examination, where he was diagnosed with high myopia, which may lead to blindness. His relatives turned to the All-Russia People's Front [the political movement headed by Vladimir Putin] for help. A resident of Altai was mobilized, despite having three children. A military commissariat refused to recognize one of the children because the man is not his biological father.
Meduza, an independent media outlet, published an article about three men whose military professions were illegally changed in the Tsaritsyn military commissariat. According to forged documents, a mechanic, a cableman and a musician have become riflemen and can go to the front line. The mobilized men filed a collective complaint with the military prosecutor's office about the illegal actions of the military commissar. We would like to remind you that this situation is not unique and we have already included similar stories in our reports.
The Rotonda outlet based in St. Petersburg published a story of a couple who registered their marriage right after the man was mobilized. Now the young wife is trying to get her husband back from the war zone, where his unit was “abandoned” by the command. “For me, the army is our boys. And I hate everything else,” says the wife of the mobilized.
The BazaTelegram channel published a story of a mobilized soldier named Dmitry, who was sent to Svatove in the Luhansk region in early October after a one-week training. The mobilized was assigned to the 27th brigade. The officers of this brigade spoke of it as follows: “You were assigned to the most fucked-up brigade – complete disarray is taking place here. All its command should be at least court martialed, and better be executed. Wolf won't eat wolf, the commanders are in bed with each other and don’t give a shit about soldiers. They order you to attack tanks with assault rifles.” As a result, Dmitry was wounded and ended up in the hospital.
The Agency media talked with the wives of those mobilized from the Yampolsky Motor Rifle Regiment, who had been sent without preparation to the war zone near Svatove, and after their retreat were forced to return to the front line under the threat of trial and execution. Earlier, a number of media outlets have already told the story of those mobilized from the Yamposky regiment, including an episode with a threat to use weapons against a mobilized officer by the former commander of the Center group of Russian troops General Lapin.
The 1st Tank Army mobilized soldiers continue publishing videos. Another video was filmed by the mobilized of the famous 423rd Yampolsky Regiment, this time from the hangar where they were placed. This video, part of which was already published a few days ago, shows the uniforms of the soldiers of the 27th brigade preparing to be sent to the front.
The Military Prosecutor’s office of the Volgograd Garrison recognized the illegality of the mobilization of a 24-year-old full-time student. They demanded to bring Evgeny Osipov home. He was already sent to the “special operation”.
Three natsbols (members of the banned Russian National Bolshevik party) were detained in Perm. They arranged an action with a requirement to make payments to mobilized soldiers and the families near the Krasnoyarsk Region Administration building. The office of the Saint Petersburg Ombudsman Svetlana Agapitova received around 300 complaints related to the mobilization. Most of all they are about payments.
Mobilized residents of Tomsk region are training to be sent “out of Russia”. They informed about it in their Telegram channel “Mobilized Tomsk”. The soldiers are in the Omsk army camp now. Also, they opened a fundraiser for coats, which are sold via the Avito online advertisement board, to bring them to other servicemen at the frontline. Meanwhile, money for mobilized residents of Tomsk is collected into a currant jar in their native region.
School students of 6-10th grades of the School #3 of Yamal sew uniforms for Russian soldiers after lessons. An Omsk company which produced schoolbags was adapted for the army needs and now sews military uniforms. The Chernigov Icon of Mother God Church of Sanino village, Vladimir region, sent three UAZ vans to the war in Ukraine. Mobilized soldiers of Irkutsk region now can be receive donations via a QR-code. The campaign is held under the slogan: “There are no strangers on the front, there are our Siberians”.
The mystery of the cage with mobilized soldiers at the “Kazan Expo” has been solved. It turned out that there were drunks in it. The deputy of the Tatarstan State Council Almir Mikheev, answering residents’ outrage, declared: “ It’s the army, things are done not humanely but by the book.”