Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 16-18, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

The State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly] has denounced the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and two associated protocols, a move initiated by Vladimir Putin and endorsed by the government. The decision will take formal effect one year after the bill's passage.

The State Duma Defense Committee endorsed a bill to conduct key conscription activities, such as medical examinations and board meetings, on a year-round basis. We have previously reported on the details of the pending amendments to the conscription law.

The Mozhem Ob'yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel covered several additional bills concerning military personnel that the Russian parliament is considering. They include a measure that could prevent employers from dismissing war participants until they have fully recovered from their injuries. Another proposal would provide monthly supplements to military families with children, ranging from 10,000 rubles [$120] to 30,000 rubles [$360]. The state would also cover the travel costs for relatives to visit service members receiving treatment for severe illnesses.

Army Recruitment

The military commissar of Saint Petersburg Marat Urmansov confirmed that the city’s fall conscription campaign will be conducted using the Unified Military Register, an electronic draft database. He said that more than 14,000 residents will be "called in for procedures" as part of the campaign, with about 3,000 young men expected to be conscripted. During last year’s fall campaign, military authorities also planned to send 3,000 conscripts into service.

A court in Nizhny Novgorod suspended proceedings in the case of Andrey Molodchenkov, accused of murdering his wife, police major Olga Molodchenkova, after he was sent to the war. According to investigators, on Oct. 25, 2024, Molodchenkov stabbed his wife multiple times in the chest during an argument, took her body to the bank of the Oka River and buried it. Before her death, Molodchenkova had repeatedly reported beatings and threats to the Interior Ministry, but no action was taken.

Vladimir Lyaporov, former editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Playboy (2007-2009), was also sent to the war while under investigation, and his criminal case has now been suspended. He was charged with fraud in November 2024. According to victims, since 2020 he defrauded dozens of people by persuading them to invest in a London-based firm, promising returns of 30-50%. At first, he paid dividends, but later stopped. The damages are estimated at tens of millions of rubles. Before the case was suspended, Lyaporov had been released on his own recognizance.

According to the Astra Telegram channel, Vladimir Bikbaev, a 37-year-old resident of the Krasnoyarsk region, has been detained on suspicion of systematic rape of his stepdaughter, who is under the age of 14. The victim stated that her stepfather had been raping her since 2023, threatening to kill her. Bikbaev was detained in September 2025, and a criminal case for rape was initiated against him. However, immediately after his detention, he was offered to sign a contract with the MoD and go to war to avoid punishment. He agreed. According to current legislation, those accused of rape do not have a right to sign up for contract military service.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

The Samara Garrison Military Court has sentenced Dmitry Shamanayev, a Russian contract soldier, to 16 years in a high security colony for murder, two instances of going AWOL, theft of a mobile phone and theft of his victim's passport. The murder was committed in the town of Novokuybyshevsk, when Shamanayev went AWOL for the second time. The verdict stated that Shamanayev beat his acquaintance to death "for rude behavior." The soldier was detained in April 2025. According to the court, he has a history of convictions, including theft and causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death. In 2022, Shamanayev was also charged with robbery, suggesting that he may have enlisted for contract military service from a penal colony or a pre-trial detention center.

The Chelyabinsk Garrison Military Court has sentenced a 36-year-old contract soldier to 14 years in a high security penal colony for going AWOL, repeated assault and murder. Prosecutors said that in January, while absent without leave, the man fatally assaulted his partner. The violence began in a courtyard, where the intoxicated soldier struck the woman in front of her daughter. When the girl tried to intervene, he hit her twice in the head. He then dragged his partner into their apartment, where he continued the attack with his fists, a crutch and a hammer. She died the following day in hospital. The soldier had previously been convicted of a violent crime.

In Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic], on the night of Sept. 14, a serviceman threw an airsoft grenade at a group of teenagers. Authorities said the confrontation stemmed from personal animosity. All those involved were taken to the police station, though no further details were provided.

On the morning of Sept. 17, a military Ural truck collided with a passenger car on a bypass road near Belgorod. The driver of the car was killed, according to official reports.

On Sept. 17, a violent altercation occurred at the Peter the Great Hospital in Saint Petersburg, where two war veterans were sharing a room. After drinking together, an argument escalated, and a 26-year-old veteran from the Sverdlovsk region allegedly stabbed his 40-year-old roommate from the Amur region in the abdomen. The suspect reportedly has a prior criminal record, including convictions for grievous bodily harm and other offenses.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian artilleryman Ihor Kim to 27 years in a maximum security penal colony. He was convicted on charges of participating in a terrorist organization and undergoing training for the purpose of terrorism. According to Russian investigators, Kim joined the Azov Brigade in 2020 and, at the onset of the full-scale invasion, allegedly fired artillery at Russian forces and settlements within the "DPR."

The Federal Security Service reported the detention of three residents of Saint Petersburg: Fyodor Krasnov (born in 2006) and two women, Lyubov Osipova (born 1993) and Elena Shutova (born 1994), on suspicion of planting explosives under the vehicle of a defense plant director. All three were arrested on charges of preparing a terrorist act and possessing explosives. Investigators say that between Aug. 1 and Sept. 10 a representative of Ukrainian intelligence contacted Krasnov, Osipova and Shutova and "recruited them for illegal activity." The women allegedly conducted surveillance of the target. Later, a "handler" (in fact, a law enforcement collaborator) supplied them with what they believed were components of a homemade explosive device. That same individual subsequently replaced the explosive with a dummy. Using a hidden compartment set up at a cemetery in Saint Petersburg, the women passed the device to Krasnov. Disguised in women’s clothing and carrying a cane to pose as an elderly woman, Krasnov attached the dummy to the underside of a black SUV before being apprehended. The FSB describes the trio as an "agent network of Ukrainian intelligence services" operating under the direction of a handler linked to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian MoD. Surveillance footage from hidden cameras and CCTV recordings, dated from mid‑August to Sept. 11, was included in the FSB video and VGTRK [state TV and radio broadcasting company] report. On Sept. 12, the court imposed pre-trial detention for all three suspects.

Moscow punk musician Vladimir Bobolov, 37, faces criminal charges for possessing explosives, relatives told Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet]. Bobolov went missing on the morning of Aug. 27 after leaving a coffee shop. According to his own account, several men attacked him on the street and forced him into a vehicle. They put a bag over his head, shocked him with stun guns, ran electrical current through his body and strangled him. Vazhnyye Istorii obtained photographs showing electrical torture marks on his body. He was then taken, still hooded, to an unknown location, where he was handcuffed to a radiator and subjected to further beatings and torture. On Aug. 28, Bobolov was brought to his apartment where a search was conducted without a warrant. FSB agents showed him a homemade explosive device disguised as a power bank, which they claimed to have found in his home. Bobolov said he had never seen the object before the search. He spent the night of Aug. 28-29 under "interrogation" and torture, handcuffed to a radiator with a bag over his head. On Aug. 29, he regained consciousness at a police station, where he was forced to sign an administrative citation for petty hooliganism and was released that evening. On Aug. 31, Bobolov was detained again outside a hospital where he had gone to document his torture injuries after filing a kidnapping complaint. He was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention and immediately arrested again after serving the sentence.

A resident of Perm Tatyana Vlasova has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony on charges of state treason. Vlasova was arrested on Dec. 21 of last year. According to investigators, she worked at a defense factory and, "pursuing her personal motives, passed on a layout of the workshops as well as other additional information" to Ukrainian intelligence services.

In Astrakhan, a man originally from Africa was detained on charges of espionage. According to the FSB, he was collecting and transmitting information about military facilities and critical infrastructure in Astrakhan "on assignment" from an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s MoD. His name and country of origin have not been disclosed.

The Supreme Court has upheld the 12-year penal colony sentence of Nina Slobodchikova, convicted of treason. Investigators argued that her transfer of 5,000 rubles [$60] for charitable purposes constituted financing the activities of a foreign state threatening Russia’s security.

Assistance

According to Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, in 2025, 28,700 students were admitted to universities in state-funded places under the quota for "participants of the special military operation" and their family members. In total, the quota provided for more than 50,000 state-funded places.

Longreads

The Vyorstka media outlet reports on how Russians pay bribes to alter records in the Draft Register.

The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet documents how Russian authorities pressure migrants seeking citizenship to be sent to the war in Ukraine.

BBC News Russian published an investigation into the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Penal Colony No. 10 in Mordovia.

The Cherta [Boundary] and the Novaya Vkladka [New Tab] independent media outlets released a joint report from a forum of Russian drone operators.

Mediazona published a guide, based on interviews with Russian deserters, on how to escape from the frontline into Russian territory.