Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 10-12, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has requested data from draft offices on naturalized citizens who have not registered for military service. It is worth noting that, on Aug. 8, Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill which allows for the revocation of acquired Russian citizenship from those who fail to register at a draft office within two weeks of their residential registration. The Ministry also reported that, in the first eight months of the year, it had revoked the citizenship of 1,117 naturalized individuals due to their "unlawful actions." Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies continue to conduct raids targeting migrants and naturalized citizens in several regions across the country. These actions, combined with slow processing times, have resulted in long queues at some draft offices. For instance, men in Lyubertsy, a city in the Moscow region, have to reportedly start queueing as early as 5 a.m. According to the people in the queue, naturalized citizens, who must register for military service, are among them.

Since May 2024, Moscow’s 231st Military Prosecutor’s Office has appealed at least 16 decisions to exempt conscripts from statutory military service, reports the Movement of Conscientious Objectors [human rights organization supporting those who refuse to perform military service]. In contrast, there were only two such cases last year. The appeals are based on medical examinations, conducted in absentia by the Center for Forensic and Criminal Examinations of the Ministry of Defense. The movement’s human rights advocates point out that such medical examinations are not provided for under Russian law. The case files suggest that these appeals are related to a certain criminal investigation initiated in 2023, though its exact nature remains unknown. Most of them are still under consideration, but in at least two instances, the courts have already ruled in favor of the prosecutor's office.

Starting on Nov. 1, authorities will consider draft notices, delivered through the Gosuslugi public services portal, served as soon as they appear in the system. The 7x7—Gorizontalnaya Rossiya [Horizontal Russia] news outlet has published a guide on how to avoid being drafted after the change. Meanwhile, the Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel spoke with Alexey Tabalov, Head of the Shkola Prizyvnika [Conscript School] human rights organization, about the steps necessary to be removed from the military rolls and whether it can be done remotely.

The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has published a detailed article on the process of suspending criminal cases for military personnel if they sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, especially in cases related to going AWOL. Conscripts and mobilized soldiers are only required to sign a contract with the MoD, while contract soldiers must submit a report to their unit commander requesting deployment to a combat zone.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Rayan Garipov from Russia's constituent Republic of Bashkortostan, Dmitry Yezhov from the Sverdlovsk region and Maksim Martynovich from Russia's constituent Republic of Chuvashia.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Novosibirsk region, Elena Zernyaeva, has reported that since the beginning of the year, she has received 327 appeals from residents of the region requesting the establishment of the whereabouts and/or return of a serviceman from captivity, and one request for the declaration of a serviceman missing in action. An additional 71 requests were related to social and housing support, payments and military allowances. In comparison, throughout 2023, the regional Commissioner received a total of 348 requests from war participants and their families.

According to the Vyorstka media outlet, nearly 3,000 lawsuits have been filed since the start of the war seeking to have Russian soldiers declared dead or missing in action. Moreover, the number of lawsuits has surged in 2024, with August marking the highest number since the war began. In one in four lawsuits filed this year to declare a Russian citizen dead or missing, the individual is a serviceman. In half of these cases, it is not the families but the commanders of military units who are filing the lawsuits as they want to avoid "dead souls" in personnel rosters that could affect unit manning and combat readiness. Most of the lawsuits involve Unit No. 22179 from the city of Novocherkassk (the 150th Motorized Rifle Division), which includes a Storm-Z unit. Many claims have also been filed by two military units from the town of Klintsy in the Bryansk region — the 488th and 254th Motorized Rifle Regiments, the 27th Motorized Rifle Brigade from Moscow, and the 36th Motorized Rifle Brigade from the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject]. The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet shared several stories of relatives forced to go to court to have their loved ones officially declared dead in order to receive compensation.

The Ministry of Defense deployed an HIV-positive resident of the Sverdlovsk region to the frontline. The man had been mobilized in the fall of 2022, but after providing medical documentation of his condition, he was demobilized. However, this summer, he received a notice from the Ministry of Defense stating that his financial support would be discontinued for allegedly going AWOL. When he went to the draft office to clarify the situation, he was directed to a unit to await a medical examination. In September, without undergoing the promised examination, he was put on a plane and sent to the frontline.

Experts from the Unregulated Organization of Forensic Experts, approached by Anastasia, the mother of deceased conscript soldier Kirill Poluyanov, found that the forensic examination determining the cause of death was conducted in violation of legal standards. According to independent forensic experts, it was not possible to conclusively determine that Poluyanov had committed suicide, as claimed by the military.

The Mobilization Telegram channel published stories of wounded soldiers who were sent to the frontlines without receiving treatment or examination by a military medical board. In one instance, soldiers with fractures were transferred to an assault battalion of the 114th Regiment instead of the promised medical unit. They were ordered to prepare for an assault, and alongside them, other wounded soldiers, including some on crutches, were sent on the mission. In another case, servicemen from the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 42nd Division were sent back to the frontline directly from the hospital without being granted the leave they were entitled to. When a commission arrived to inspect the unit, the commanders hid the wounded soldiers in the forest.

A court in the Vologda region has denied a man the right to death gratuity payments following the death of his mobilized son in the war, as he did not participate in his upbringing. The 24-year-old from Nikolsk had not lived with his biological father since the age of six and was raised by his mother and stepfather. The biological father had shown no interest in his son and did not pay child support. After the mobilized soldier's death, his mother filed a lawsuit, arguing that the biological father had not provided proper care for his son and had not even attended his memorial service, and therefore should not receive gratuity payments.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

According to Vyorstka, since the beginning of 2024, Russia has registered 403,537 grave and aggravated crimes which is a 13-year record high. The increase is most pronounced in some southern and western regions, especially those bordering Ukraine, as well as in the Moscow region.

In Kursk, an unidentified man fired shots into the ceiling with an assault rifle after being refused alcohol without payment. Children were present in the room at the time of the shooting. The shooter was detained, but it has not been reported whether he has any connection to the Russian Armed Forces or how he obtained the assault rifle.

A court in the Volgograd region has sentenced former Wagner Group mercenary Sergey Neverov to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death. After returning from the war, he got drunk and assaulted his partner. He then moved her body to another room and continued drinking. In the morning, he found her already dead. The court took into account Neverov's participation in combat operations, his awards and his apology to the victim's family and reduced the sentence. In 2017, Neverov was sentenced to four years in a penal colony for a series of thefts and robberies. He was also recruited to the war from the penal colony. After serving six months on the frontline, he was pardoned and returned home in March 2023.

The Krasnoyarsk Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Oleg Gorbachev to eight years in a maximum security penal colony for causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death. In April 2024, a drunken Gorbachev brutally assaulted his wife, hitting her 35 times, which eventually led to her death.

As reported by the Sota media outlet, on Aug. 20, a court in Ufa sentenced Kirill Chernov, a local resident and previously convicted war participant, to four years in a penal colony for a series of thefts and frauds. Chernov stole mobile phones and used them to access the owners' bank accounts. The court considered his participation in the war, the fact that he had been wounded, his awards and his apologies to the victims as mitigating factors. The court also noted that the defendant had "served in the special military operation for which he was pardoned."

Vitaly Prisukhin, a previously convicted war veteran from Sakhalin, has been arrested on suspicion of assault. The man stabbed two women and stole their gold jewelry in the village of Oktyabrskoe. He has been charged with aggravated assault and robbery. Based on the man's social media, he served in the war as part of the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade. According to the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel, last year he signed a contract, having been previously convicted several times.

In the city of Yekaterinburg, a 65-year-old contract soldier from the 117th Rifle Regiment has been detained. He left his unit in the "DNR" in March. A criminal case has been initiated against him for going AWOL.

In the city of Horlivka, unidentified individuals in military uniforms are conducting illegal searches. According to a local resident whose husband did not report for duty, the unit commander regularly sends searchers who threaten relatives and intimidate small children in their homes.

In Noyabrsk, two schoolboys aged 13 and 14 broke an airport fence and set fire to a Mi-8 helicopter of the UTair airline. The helicopter was almost completely destroyed and is beyond repair with damage estimated at 300 million rubles [$3.28 million]. The boys admitted to setting the fire in exchange for a promised reward of 5 million rubles [$54,700] via Telegram. They also confessed to setting fire to a cell tower a few days earlier, for which they received 30,000 rubles [$330]. According to the Baza Telegram channel, the father of one of the arsonists is fighting against Ukraine.

In Perm, student Kirill Zamaleev was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for attempting to set fire to a draft office. A criminal case for preparing to commit an act of terror has been initiated. According to the prosecution, the student intended to set fire to the draft office for a reward of $400. The motive for the arson was a summons to military service which Zamaleev had received the day before. On the Internet, the recruiter told Kirill that after the arson, the documents would be destroyed and he would not be conscripted and sent to war.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported the detention of a 35-year-old resident of the Murmansk region, suspected of treason. According to the FSB, he allegedly contacted a representative of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "on his own initiative" and passed information to him.

A locomotive and 11 empty freight cars derailed in the Novooskolsky urban district, on the stretch from the village of Volokonovka to Novy Oskol, a locomotive and 11 empty freight cars derailed. Telegram channels report that the freight train hit an explosive device planted under the tracks. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case on an act of terror. Traffic on this section is temporarily suspended.

Kursk Region

The government will pay 150,000 rubles [$1,640] to the residents of the Kursk region for the total loss of property, the acting governor of the Kursk region, Aleksey Smirnov, reported. For these purposes, the government has allocated more than 3 billion rubles [$32.82 million]. According to him, more than 150,000 residents of the region have been relocated due to the fighting with the AFU. In addition, Smirnov said, agricultural enterprises in the region lost 85 billion rubles [$930 million], 160,000 hectares remained unharvested, and 325,000 animals were killed as a result of the hostilities.

Assistance

Tyumen State University plans to organize the weaving of camouflage nets as part of its birthday celebration.

In the Tyumen region, war participants and family members of military personnel may receive a payment of up to 1.36 million rubles [$14,900] instead of receiving a land plot.