Russian mobilization news update by CIT volunteers, October 31– November 1

President Putin announced the completion of "partial" mobilization in Russia. At the same time, he noted that he was going to discuss with lawyers whether a special decree on this is required. Press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov stated that a "certain inertia of military registration and enlistment offices" takes place as mobilization ceases. He expects that "the signals have been sent" and there should be no further incidents in terms of mobilization. Later, Peskov announced there will be no decree on the mobilization completion.

“The president said that he would consult with lawyers. We inform you that the decree is not required. Period. Partial mobilization has been completed," stated Peskov.

An opinion of Pavel Chikov, human rights activist and lawyer, on the current situation and possible ways of its development from the point of view of the law.

Meanwhile, an Ivanovo resident was taken to a military unit after Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Minister of Defense, reported about the end of mobilization. 24-year-old Dmitry Kutsenko received a reservation from the “Shuyskiye Sittsy” factory. In addition, he was diagnosed with chronic diseases. A draft notice was handed to him right at work on October 28 - the day Shoigu reported to Putin on the end of mobilization. St. Petersburg residents continue to receive draft notices, according to the Bumaga newspaper. In Tatarstan, a representative of a military recruitment office said that: “Some single draft notices may be handed to citizens to adjust the internal work of military recruitment offices. Citizens can also come to military recruitment offices without draft notices to clarify their data.”

At the same time, regional authorities continue to report the end of mobilization measures. Today this was reported in the Yaroslavl, Tyumen, Volgograd, Orenburg, Rostov, Novogorod, Tver, and Krasnoyarsk regions, in Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, and in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District.

87,000 of 300,000 mobilized soldiers were sent to combat areas, Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense of Russia, said. He noted that conscripts who completed their service will be sent home. About 200 mistakenly mobilized people were identified in the Ulyanovsk region.

The income of mobilized soldiers will not be taken into account when assessing the need of their families to receive social support. The government decree on this was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The government has approved a pilot project to connect military recruitment offices to the databases of other government institutions. Now the military recruitment offices in the Moscow region will be connected to the databases of the Federal Tax Service, the Pension Fund and Civil Registration Offices. This was reported by Alexei Astakhov, the Head of the Recruitment Office, of the Moscow region.

Deputies and senators of Yedinaya Rossiya [“United Russia”, Russia’s ruling party] have drafted legislation on criminal sanctions for draft dodgers. They suggested introducing a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 rubles, or in the amount of one to three-year income, compulsory labor or up to 5 years’ imprisonment. Alexey Nechaev, the Chairman of the New People political party, criticized this initiative to criminalize dodging of mobilization. Senator Andrey Klishas said that the introduction of criminal sanctions for draft dodgers is currently irrelevant. At the same time, he pointed out that there is an "obvious gap" in the legislation. Later in the evening, Andrey Kartapolov, a deputy of the State Duma [the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], and Vasily Piskarev, the Head of the Committee on Safety and Anti-Corruption, issued a joint statement saying that "this initiative became obsolete".

Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, does not exclude an introduction of general mobilization if "the developments continue in a negative way".

Bailiffs received more than 46,000 applications from the mobilized to suspend the collection of debts from them, director of the Federal Bailiff ServiceDmitry Aristov said.

The governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov met with the families of prisoners of war who demanded to return their relatives home. He wrote about this in his Telegram channel. He also claimed that the relatives of the POWs “will be provided with maximum assistance”, and he will do his best to return the mobilized home. During a visit of the governor of the Zabaikalye Territory Alexander Osipov to the military unit near Chita, the mobilized were kicked out into the cold so that they would not ask too many questions. This happened in the 212th District Training Center in the village of Peschanka. It was not for the first time when the conscripts had to “hide” from Osipov. During the last visit of the governor, men from the military unit in the south of Chita were sent for a walk in the field. The governor got the reaction of the Russian Ministry of Defense to the fact that the mobilized were not allowed to meet with him. “There is a reaction. The situation will be fixed”, the governor wrote.

The families of the mobilized residents of Voronezh complained to the governor about the lack of payments. Seven women wrote comments under Alexander Gusev's post about “completing the assignment” for mobilization. They claimed that they didn’t receive the promised payments of 120,000 rubles.

A video of a mass brawl between contract soldiers and the mobilized in Kuzbass is circulating on social media. According to local social media groups, the fight took place within the 74th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade stationed in Yurga. According to Lyubov Sobol, the cause of the conflict was “heavy drinking practices among the mobilized”. Other Telegram channels claim that the contractors allegedly wanted to take money, phones and combat gear from the mobilized.

More than 5000 new beds have appeared in the military unit in Mulino, where the mobilized are stationed. This was announced by the governor Gleb Nikitin. The mobilized from Yurga (Kuzbass) shared their everyday life in the video: “No nails, no tools... make [beds] however you can!” The mobilized from Yelan told about a problem of pediculosis. “Everyone is constantly itching. There are not enough washing places. Sometimes it is possible to negotiate with locals who rent out their bathrooms by the hour,” complained one of the conscripts. State Duma deputy Maxim Ivanov confirmed the outbreak of pediculosis, but later retracted his words.

Mobilized residents of the Zabaikalye Territory have not yet received winter boots. Relatives of the mobilized complained to the governor of the region about this fact. At the same time, by order of the government of the Zabaikalye Territory, the Adrenaline store procured a whole mountain of sleeping bags and rugs for the mobilized. Deputy of the State Duma from the Zabaikalye Territory, General Alexei Gurulev returned to the issue of the disappeared uniforms. According to him, in 2010, only in the Siberian Military District, the warehouses stored equipment for 500,000 people. Although, “where it is now, and where it disappeared, is a secondary issue, and currently it interests me no longer for the simple reason that today law enforcement agencies are dealing with this,” the deputy said at a meeting with students of the journalism department of the Transbaikal State University.

The Russian Ministry of Defense continues to release proof of their new conscripts receiving training. This time they published images from the Russian Northern Fleet training grounds and videos from the ranges of their Baltic Fleet and Voronezh region.

Bryansk's authorities reported the death of a newly conscripted Termotron plant employee, Yurii Garaev. He was gravely wounded on the 14th of October. A Volgograd conscript, Aleksandr Gusev, was buried at a local cemetery. He was killed in the fighting in Ukraine on the 24th of October. A day earlier, a conscript from Irbit (Sverdlov region), Sergei Lezhnin was killed in the fighting during the "special operation". Another Sverdlovsk region resident, 35-year-old Andrei Morozov from the town of Sysert, who was drafted in September, was killed in Ukraine on the 24th of October. Also, the news came of the death of a Bobrov resident, Dmitrii Udilov. Yurii Sikunko from Berezniki (Perm region) was killed in the Kherson region (of Ukraine) on the 23rd of October. Head of Buddhistkaya Sangha, Damba Ayushev, announced that one of the best Buryat minting (chekanka) masters was killed in Ukraine. Tsyren Dordzhi Naidanov was killed on the 21st of October. Altogether the number of Russian conscripts killed in the war with Ukraine is now at least 100. One in five died before they reached the battlefield, as per data uncovered by the Novaya Gazeta (New Gazette) Europe.

Russian conscripts from Tyumen said they were threatened and forced to change their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). One of them has already filed a complaint with the Office of Public Prosecutions and the Defense Ministry. An orphaned man, conscripted in St Petersburg, escaped from the military base near Belgorod. The Russian Investigative Committee is checking the facts of the AWOL and alleged threats from the man's CO.

A unit of conscripts from Tomsk, who had gone through a 3-day basic training and then were shipped off to the front, was ambushed in the annexed area of the so-called LPR (Luhansk region of Ukraine). As of now, their relatives have lost all communication with them. They are looking for any chance to pass on medical supplies and clothing to their family members, lost in Ukraine, and are also imploring the authorities to return the conscripts back to the Russian territory to improve their military training.

In the middle of October, Colonel General of the Russian Army, Aleksandr Lapin, put a gun to the head of a conscripted army lieutenant, Dmitrii Vodnev, who rescued his company from an ambush in the Luhansk region, and demanded the soldiers go back to the frontline. As of now, lieutenant Vodnev is being locked up in a military jail, in the town of Valuiki, despite the fact he was not charged with any criminal offense. Mediazona (news outlet) has spoken with an eyewitness and Vodnev's father.

Local authorities from Chuvashia are planning to spend 600 thousand rubles of their region's budget to create a program, designed to improve 20 of their staff's qualification, relating to the "mobilization education in a constituency of the Russian Federation".

Krasnogorsk's textile manufacturer began production of balaclavas and socks for the military, instead of their usual children's leggings and tights. Students from Primorie were required to join UAV assembly lines, for eventual transfer to the war with Ukraine. "By the end of the month, they'll build a hundred of them, which will be a great bolster to our troops", said the region's governor.

Pensioners from the town of Korsakov (Sakhalin island) are sewing army camouflage suits and balaclavas to supply the troops. Krasnotur'ensk's school students collected paper waste and made 8 000 rubles to send to conscripts.