Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 14-16, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The Russian government’s legislative commission endorsed a bill to toughen the penalties for desertion, going AWOL and evading service through malingering. The proposed changes specifically target convicts who were released after signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense, as well as suspects or defendants against whom criminal proceedings were suspended at the request of military command. While the bill has not yet been posted on the website of the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly], Russian media reports indicate that those convicted of going AWOL could face prison sentences of seven to 12 years. Currently, the maximum sentence for this offense for all military personnel is 10 years. For desertion with a weapon or in a group, the bill proposes sentences of 10 to 12 years. The current law stipulates up to 10 years or up to 15 years during a period of mobilization or martial law.
The government has also endorsed a bill to amend statutes concerning failure to obey orders and the loss of military property. The measure was drafted by Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee. The current version of the statute on failure to obey orders stipulates a penalty of two to three years of imprisonment for insubordination to a commander. The penalty increases to three to 10 years if the act leads to severe consequences. As current practice typically only penalizes refusal to enter a combat zone, Kartapolov proposed refining the language to also criminalize refusing to fire on the enemy and abandoning positions without orders. The existing article on the loss of military property carries a sentence of up to seven years in a penal colony for negligent storage and transport of weapons or military vehicles. Kartapolov’s draft amendments would additionally introduce liability for abandoning munitions and equipment to the enemy. Rossiyskaya Gazeta posits that if the amendments pass, a soldier who unilaterally leaves his position along with weapons and equipment could be charged with both crimes: abandoning positions and loss of military property.
Army Recruitment
A 36‑year‑old resident of the city of Khabarovsk received a draft notice for military training through the Draft Register. The man says he has never served in the army, but in 2017 he altered his fitness category from "B" (fit for military service with minor restrictions) to "A" (fully fit for military service) in order to obtain employment. Earlier he had already been issued draft notices: one for a data check-up and another for a data check-up together with the issuance of a mobilization order. When he applied for a job, a mobilization order was affixed to his military ID.
The Zaigraevsky district court in Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic] ordered, at the prosecutor’s request, three men who recently acquired Russian citizenship to register for military service within 14 days. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel notes that oversight of military registration is tightening; compliance is now monitored not only by draft offices, police and military investigators, but also by the prosecutor’s office.
Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts
Eighteen‑year‑old conscripts currently training in the city of Ulan‑Ude are slated to be deployed to the border zone of the Kursk region. Command officials say the soldiers will be tasked with digging trenches, but relatives fear the young men will be forced to work under lethal conditions and take part in combat.
The Vyorstka media outlet reported that relatives of missing‑in‑action soldiers who are searching for their loved ones are being forced to install the new Max messenger app to identify bodies and receive updates on DNA examination results. Specifically, at the end of July, the Sarmat search‑and‑rescue unit, which handles missing Russian soldiers and coordinates with the Center for Reception, Processing and Dispatch of the deceased, removed a bot that had allowed users to check the status of DNA tests. Now all requests for genomic information are accepted only through the "national messenger." Authorities said the decision follows the enactment of a law tightening liability for violations of personal data regulations.
Deputy Prime Minister of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] Ruslan Khabibov announced that 2,400 discharged participants in the war have returned to the republic. According to him, more than half of them are now employed, about 1,500 have undergone treatment at health resorts and over 1,200 have received psychological or psychotherapeutic assistance.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Authorities in the Digorsky district of North Ossetia [Russia's constituent republic] confirmed the death of serviceman Artur Fattakhov, who was killed in the early hours of Sept. 7 in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. He and another soldier, who had gone AWOL, attempted to break through a Russian checkpoint. The authorities’ statement said Fattakhov "died while taking part in the special military operation."
In Saint Petersburg, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained at least two people who, according to the agency, offered Russian servicemen—for 3.5 million rubles [$42,200]—to arrange hospitalization, a falsified diagnosis and subsequent discharge, allegedly "with the help of FSB officers." A criminal case has been opened against them on charges of acting as intermediaries in bribery.
The Second Western District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian soldier and boxer Andriy Prikhodko to 20 years in prison for attacking a GAZelle vehicle carrying FSB border guards in the Belgorod region in 2023. According to investigators, in June 2023 he took part in a Russian Volunteer Corps operation in the Shebekinsky district and fired a grenade launcher at the minibus. The crew managed to escape the vehicle and no one was killed. Prikhodko was captured by Russian forces near the town of Bakhmut in July 2023 and charged with terrorism, illegal trafficking and smuggling of weapons and illegal border crossing.
In the city of Yekaterinburg, two weeks after his escape from Detention Center No. 1, law enforcement officers detained Ivan Koryukov—the second of two convicted fugitives in a case related to an attempt on a terrorist attack stemming from an attempted arson of a draft office. The first of the two escapees, Aleksandr Cherepanov, was detained near the village of Medny on the night of Sept. 8. A court had previously sentenced Cherepanov to seven years in a penal colony, while Koryukov received nine and a half years.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the detention of executives and employees of several microfinance organizations who, according to the intelligence services, illegally transferred more than 2.5 billion rubles abroad [$30.18 million] from Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Samara between 2022 and 2024, and also financed the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Company executives and employees have been detained on suspicion of organizing the scheme.
The Prosecutor General's Office has demanded the seizure of the Tambov telecommunications operator Lanta for state revenue, which belongs to businessmen Aleksandr Zaitsev and Aleksandr Vasilyev. The agency claims that the Zaitsev couple supported Ukraine's new authorities after Euromaidan, backed sanctions against Russia and activities of Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, and that after moving to Bulgaria in 2017 and founding the association For a Free Russia, they "discredited" Russian authorities. Investigators believe that Zaitsev continues to receive income from Lanta through his partner Vasilyev, and that the funds obtained go toward financing the AFU, including the Aidar Battalion, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps. The Prosecutor General's Office is asking to declare their organization extremist and nationalize their assets.
In the Sverdlovsk region, the District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced Vadim Tomilov, a 19-year-old sambo wrestler from the town of Irbit, to seven years of imprisonment for attempting to commit treason and preparing to participate in the activities of a terrorist organization. The judge described this sentence as "minimal." According to investigators, in April 2024, Tomilov secretly obtained a foreign passport and, through a Telegram bot, joined the Russian Volunteer Corps. He was subsequently invited to Tbilisi, Georgia. The young man was detained on May 9, 2024, in a Yekaterinburg hostel after his parents informed the police of his location. Tomilov did not plead guilty and claimed to have been subjected to beatings and threats of torture by the FSB.
In Novosibirsk, law enforcement officers detained a woman born in 1974 in connection with an explosion on a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject]. According to the FSB, in August, she manufactured an improvised explosive device at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence, placed it on the tracks and detonated it. She recorded the moment of the explosion on video, which she then sent to her handler in exchange for a reward of $8,000. The woman has been placed in a pre-trial detention center. She is suspected of committing sabotage and is being investigated under articles related to treason and illegal possession of explosives and explosive devices.
A Russian court has sentenced 19-year-old Danila Bagrov from Saint Petersburg to nine years in prison on charges of high treason and preparing to participate in a terrorist organization. According to investigators, in August 2024, Bagrov began corresponding with a representative of the Russian Volunteer Corps with the alleged intention of joining its ranks. He was detained at an undisclosed airport while reportedly attempting to travel to Georgia, with plans to continue onward to Ukraine.
A court in Chita has sentenced 59-year-old Yury Sologub from Krasnoyarsk to 23 years in a penal colony on charges of high treason, participation in a terrorist organization and justifying terrorism. Investigators allege that Sologub corresponded with a representative of the Freedom of Russia Legion and distributed leaflets in support of the unit. Sologub reportedly does not deny accusations. However, according to a source familiar with the case, the individual Sologub was communicating with may not have been a genuine member of the Ukrainian unit, but rather an operative of the FSB.
Children and Militarization
Since the start of the full-scale war in 2022, Russia has transferred Ukrainian children to at least 210 locations across Russian regions and occupied territories, according to Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab [HRL]. In Russia, Ukrainian children have undergone re-education and military training. At the All-Russian children’s center Smena in the Krasnodar region, for example, children were involved in assembling drones and other military vehicles. Since 2022, more than 300 children from Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have passed through Smena. Alongside UAVs, children also assembled mine detectors, robots and rapid-charging devices for assault rifles.
Assistance
Authorities in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] plan to cut budget spending by 13.8 billion rubles [$167 million]. However, in addition to savings on non-priority projects, increased financial support is expected for families of war participants.
Miscellaneous
Following Russia’s Sept. 14 "single voting day," results showed that:
- 17 veterans of the war in Ukraine secured seats in at least nine regional parliaments;
- A total of 837 veterans running as candidates from United Russia, Putin’s ruling party, won elections at various levels, up from 312 last year;
- In the republic of Bashkortostan, 13 veterans secured seats among 239 newly elected municipal deputies;
- Out of 60 veterans seeking seats in regional legislatures, only 25 succeeded. In total, 464 seats were at stake at this level.
Longreads
The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet published stories of victims who suffered from violence committed by criminals who later managed to avoid punishment by going to the war.
The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet released a film about Aleksandr Levchishin, a programmer from Bratsk who had previously been sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security penal colony for treason for transferring 1,400 rubles [$17] to an ambulance in Ukraine.