Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 18-21, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has released a draft of an updated list of medical conditions that would bar individuals from military contract service during periods of mobilization, martial law, or wartime. The following were added:

new categories of eye diseases,
hearing and vestibular disorders,
maxillofacial anomalies,
the after-effects of internal organ resections,
specific bone and limb fractures and deformities,
the presence of foreign bodies in the brain.

The proposal also modifies existing language:

replaces “hepatitis B and C" with "chronic viral hepatitis,"
replaces "Type 1 diabetes" with "diabetes mellitus,"
refines the list of tuberculosis forms,
removes the "moderate severity" qualifier for colitis and enteritis,
specifies that diseases of the larynx and trachea will now be evaluated based on their impact on both breathing and voice formation,
adds deep burns covering 50 percent of the leg skin as a disqualifying condition.

The draft also removes clauses that disqualified individuals based on the absence of a limb up to the shoulder or thigh or the complete absence of a hand were removed. It is worth noting that service members who have conditions on the ministry's list cannot use them as a basis for discharge. Interestingly, the document mentions former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, rather than the current minister, Andrey Belousov.

Army Recruitment

A court in Omsk has suspended the trial of Oleg Semenko, a 58-year-old gastroenterologist accused of aiding draft evasion during mobilization. According to the court, Semenko signed a contract with the MoD, and therefore, the consideration of the case is suspended for the duration of his service. According to the court, Semenko inflicted damage to the stomach of patients for a fee, which gave them grounds for exemption from service. Semenko also instructed his clients on how to behave during medical evaluations.

Residents of Novosibirsk are being offered to sign a contract with the Central Military District's troops and deploy to war as part of "regional units," as reported by Aleksey Kirillov, head of the Novosibirsk region governor's administration department. Earlier, Valery Denichenko, the mayor of the town of Strezhevoi in the Tomsk region, had also assured that contract soldiers would be able to join units with their fellow local residents, instead of assault units. However, residents have noted in the comments that enlistment for contract military service at specific places does not guarantee the distribution to certain units.

Third Anniversary of Mobilization in Russia

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 133,117 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 15,077 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has grown by 2,967 soldiers, 280 of whom were mobilized. According to journalists, 6,264 mobilized soldiers (42% of all identified deceased) were killed in the first year after the announcement of "partial mobilization," with 1,092 killed in the first three months. Almost 1,200 mobilized soldiers were killed in the nine months of 2025. According to their tally, the regions with the highest absolute number of mobilized soldiers killed in the war are Russia's constituent Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. Meanwhile, Russia's constituent Republic of Buryatia has the highest mortality rate, with 23 mobilized soldiers killed per 10,000 male residents of the region. Russia's constituent Republic of Tyva and the Magadan region have the second and third highest mortality rates, respectively, with their numbers being twice as low.

Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet] published a study based on the complete list of mobilized individuals from the Tomsk region obtained from the regional social protection department documents. The study revealed that 2,153 residents of the region, representing 1.1 percent of the region’s mobilization base, were sent to war. Mobilization was uneven within the region: the regional center contributed fewer people (0.5 percent) than rural areas (2.1 percent). Over three years at least 251 draftees died, accounting for 11 percent of those mobilized, with almost a quarter of the deaths occurring in the first year after mobilization began. On average, 517 days elapsed between the draft and the killed-in-action notices. Information about the first six fatalities became available just 32 days after mobilization started. An additional 271 draftees were wounded, 113 were declared AWOL and received suspended sentences. Relatives searched for at least 27 people missing in the combat zone; twelve of them were confirmed dead, the fate of the others remains unknown. By early 2025 only 12 percent of Tomsk draftees (251 individuals) had been recognized as veterans, of whom fourteen had already died on the frontline. The outlet also released a movie showing how mobilization has changed people, using the Tomsk region as an example.

Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet prepared a similar study. Journalists counted the number of killed mobilized soldiers from the Irkutsk region and Buryatia. According to their data, of 7,002 individually identified dead from these regions, 1,178 had been mobilized. Of them, 567 were from the Irkutsk region and 611 from Buryatia. That means that over three years at least 13 percent of those drafted to the frontline in autumn 2022 died. Among the Irkutsk mobilized, one in nine died; among the Buryatia mobilized, one in seven. The average age of a mobilized soldier at the time of conscription was 34, and at the time of death 36. The oldest deceased was 54, the youngest 21. The first mobilized from these regions died two weeks after conscription on Oct. 4.

In Moscow, on the anniversary of the start of mobilization, police detained Lidiya Yegorova, the mother of a mobilized soldier, outside the MoD building. Her son had been drafted in Novosibirsk in 2022. According to her, he was seriously wounded at the front and is unable to return home. Yegorova planned to stage a one-person protest with a poster reading: "Freedom for the mobilized. 09/21/22–09/21/25." Before she could even raise the poster, police approached and warned her that she would be detained if she proceeded "because of the theme, because it concerns the mobilized." She ultimately stood outside the building with a poster showing only the dates, but she was nevertheless detained, placed in a police van, and taken to a police office, where she was held overnight until her court hearing. She was charged with "disobeying police."

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Relatives of 40-year-old serviceman Nikolay Belousov from Apatity—who previously reported that after being wounded he was denied treatment because of his HIV status and sent back to his unit in Luga, where he was kept handcuffed to a radiator—say he has once again been taken to the combat zone. Following media coverage of his case, Belousov was briefly released, and officials promised to send him for medical treatment. Instead, he was returned to the frontline and is now out of contact.

The Echo outlet published an investigation into widespread complaints from Russian soldiers about extortion and corruption in the army, based on thousands of documents from law enforcement and security agencies. The report did not specify which documents were reviewed. Bribes reportedly range from 5,000 rubles [$60] for "minor favors" to millions for being "kept in the rear" or "released from captivity." One of the most common schemes involves paying for a "way out" of the frontline, with amounts reaching 200,000–500,000 rubles [$6,000]. Medical care is also affected by corruption: surgeries and medical certificates cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of rubles, and wounded soldiers who refuse to pay are sent back into combat. Bribes are also demanded for discharges, leave, and even phone calls home, while troops are forced to purchase equipment and furniture for their units.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In the occupied village of Kozachi Laheri, Kherson region, Russian soldiers shot and killed three elderly civilians: 62-year-old Viktor Hladkyi, his 64-year-old wife Olha, and their neighbor Viktor Nadeyev. According to relatives who spoke with the Astra Telegram channel, the incident began on the evening of Sept. 17, when Russian troops arrived at Nadeyev’s home with unspecified complaints and shot him in the leg. The Hladkyis took the wounded man into their home to provide aid. Shortly afterward, the soldiers returned, accused Nadeyev of having ties to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and labeled the Hladkyis as "traitor sympathizers." They then opened fire, killing all three. Yulia, the Hladkyi family's daughter-in-law, claims the soldiers were intoxicated at the time of the shooting. She reports that the victims’ bodies remained in the house for over a day, while neighbors—though they heard the gunfire—were too frightened to intervene. Relatives have since lost contact with the village, and it remains unclear whether the perpetrators have been detained. The killings were also mentioned in local pro-Russian online chats.

The Borzya Garrison Military Court has sentenced serviceman Andrey Panaseiko to two and a half years in a penal settlement for failing to obey an order. According to the court ruling, Panaseiko refused to participate in the war—an act described as "his refusal to depart on an assignment intended for combat and special operations, as ordered by his unit commander."

In the Novosibirsk region, officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have detained an 18-year-old man from the village of Krasnoobsk. A criminal case on charges of sabotage was initiated against him, and he was placed under arrest. According to law enforcement officers, the detainee responded to an offer in a Telegram channel where he was promised 35,000 rubles [$420] for setting fire to a cell tower. He intended to earn money to buy a car this way. He involved two minors in the arson. It was not specified how the suspect was identified and detained.

The Central District Military Court has sentenced 63-year-old Roman Sabadash, a native of the Lviv region, to 24 years of imprisonment on charges of treason, attempted act of terror, undergoing training for terrorism, and document forgery. Sabadash was detained on March 11, 2024. According to investigators, before 2024 he was in Ukraine, where he underwent training. On assignment from the SBU, he was supposed to derail a train in Russia. In March 2024, he was detained in the Sverdlovsk region near the village of Tugulym. According to law enforcement officers, he had a special device that could be used for sabotage. Sabadash insists that he did not undergo any training and only wanted to photograph the device on the rails. A few days before his detention, the man presented a forged passport to buy a SIM card at a Megafon mobile store in Tyumen.

Russia’s Judicial Department has released new data showing a steep rise in politically motivated prosecutions in 2024, the third year of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Courts issued 706 sentences under six articles of the Criminal Code. Convictions under Article 275 on "treason" surged to 145—nine times higher than in 2022 — with nearly half of those convicted handed prison terms of 10 to 15 years. Prosecutions under the article on spreading "false information" about the military increased sixfold, from 14 cases in 2022 to 82 in 2024. Thirty-four defendants were sentenced to five to eight years in a penal colony, 14 received three to five years, and 11 were given eight to 10 years. The use of Article 205.2 on "justifying terrorism" rose by one-third, reaching 410 convictions. Another 63 people were convicted under Article 280.3 for "defamation of the Russian army"; 13 were sent to prison, while the rest were fined. Other provisions were used rarely: Article 284.1 on "participation in the activities of an undesirable organization" led to six convictions, while Article 284.2 on "calls for sanctions" was not applied at all.

Children and Militarization

The Ne Norma [Not a norm] Telegram channel] reported that Russian schools are widely creating displays and entire halls to honor graduates who have died in or are taking part in the war in Ukraine. Portraits cover the walls, students place flowers and light candles, and in some schools, graduates serve as armed honor guards.

Miscellaneous

Participants in the war in Ukraine secured at least 8 percent of seats in regional legislatures, according to the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet. Full elections to 11 regional parliaments were held on Russia’s single voting day, along with additional contests in 23 more regions. Out of 479 seats up for election, at least 41 went to veterans of the war [8.5 percent]. Another 17 winners were connected in various ways to the military—including relatives of combatants, leaders of pro-war charities, figures from the defense industry, or veterans of the wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Longreads

The outlet Novaya Europa: Stories published an investigation into how demand for prosthetics in Russia has surged under the impact of the war. Until 2022, the number of people in need had been declining, but in 2024 the number of arm prostheses issued nearly doubled—from 8,200 to 14,500—while devices for people with lower-limb amputations rose from 91,000 to 138,000. The distribution of wheelchairs also grew by 18 percent.

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reported on Russian soldiers who had first fought in Ukraine in 2014. Years later, many found themselves back on the frontline and killed there.