Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 19-20, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
According to Ghanaian media, 14 citizens of Ghana were lured to Russia in early August 2024 with promises of well-paid jobs but were instead forced to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense. The men were transported to Donetsk and are being held there, awaiting orders to be sent to the frontlines. Journalists have spoken to three of them, the fate of the others is unknown.
The Downdetector service has been recording disruptions in the operation of the Draft Register website, launched on Sept. 18. Connection issues were first observed on Sept. 20 at around 1:45 a.m. Moscow time. 85% of them affected users connecting from Thailand, and another 14% from Moscow and the Moscow region. Since the website’s launch, Downdetector users have been leaving messages stating that the Draft Register "won’t open," "won’t load," or displays a "404 error."
Oleg G., a resident of Novomoskovsk, Tula region, suspected of murdering his ex-wife, avoided trial by departing to fight in the war against Ukraine. Investigators had charged the man with murder committed with particular cruelty, but before the prosecutor’s office had a chance to review the indictment, the suspect left for war and criminal proceedings had to be suspended.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
Another 18-year-old soldier has been killed in the war. Amanat Utaraliyev was born in September 2005 in the Astrakhan region, and in January 2024, just a few months after his 18th birthday, he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense, reportedly "for patriotic reasons." He died two months later, in early March.
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Radik Baikenov from the Altai region [Russia’s federal subject] and Kirill Ivanov from Russia’s constituent Republic of Chuvashia.
Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 70,122 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 9,023 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 1,063 soldiers, 225 of whom were mobilized. One in five of the killed had enlisted in contract-based military service after the outset of the war. The obituaries demonstrate the evolving portrayal of the average Russian soldier throughout the course of the invasion. In 2022, the typical serviceman was about 21 years old and a contract soldier serving in elite units. Today, the frontline is increasingly populated by men aged 40, 50, and even 60, who often lack both combat experience and special training.
The Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel has published a report from a soldier of the 147th Reconnaissance Battalion, stationed near the village of Heorhiivka on the Donetsk axis. He states that the unit was formed with a combination of former Wagner Group mercenaries and untrained contract soldiers. According to the soldier, while the commanders "sit in the headquarters playing PlayStation" and report to their superiors about settlements that they have supposedly captured, but which are, in fact, still under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, some soldiers abuse alcohol and prohibited substances. The majority of servicemen are being killed in assault missions, and according to the soldier, commanders deliberately eliminate scouts who can provide up-to-date information to higher command. He believes the purpose of the assaults is to create drone footage showing the entry into settlements, which can be used to provide reports to higher command.
Vladimir, a mobilized soldier from Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], could not return home after being discharged due to an error in his documents. In December 2023, at the maximum service age of 50, he and another mobilized soldier of the same age received discharge orders and "special military operation" combat veteran certificates. They went home in early 2024, but Vladimir was later ordered back to his military unit. According to the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet, this was because "the order was issued in only one copy, and by mistake only one soldier was discharged, while no discharge order was issued for the other."
Alfit Nigamatyanov, a deputy in the State Assembly of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic], recounted the case of a soldier from the republic who has been unable to be declared unfit for military service for two years. In April, after being wounded, his leg was amputated below the knee, yet he still cannot obtain a serious injury certificate to process insurance claims.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Investigative Committee reported progress in solving the murder of Russell Bentley. Military personnel Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin, and Andrey Iordanov have been charged with the crime. According to the charges, on April 8 in Donetsk, Vansyatsky, Agaltsev, and Iordanov subjected Bentley to physical violence and torture that led to his death. Later, they blew up a car with Bentley's body with a TNT charge, and the next day, on Vansyatsky's orders, another soldier from the same unit, Bazhin, hid the victim's remains. The soldiers are charged with using physical violence and torture that inadvertently caused the victim's death, as well as covering up a grave crime by moving the deceased's remains to another location. Earlier, the Astra Telegram channel released an investigation detailing how soldiers from the 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade tortured Bentley in the abandoned Petrovskaya mine in Donetsk.
The Southern District Military Court has upheld the sentence of contract soldier Aslan Salamov from Vladikavkaz, who was previously sentenced to one and a half years in a penal settlement for murder during a domestic conflict, which the court considered an excessive use of self-defense. Initially, Salamov was charged with murder, but the prosecution decided that the victim had attacked the soldier, and the charge was reclassified to a lesser offense.
A former Wagner Group mercenary, Ben Ahmed Sherif, a native of Tunisia who fought in Ukraine, attacked an ambulance in Saint Petersburg while intoxicated in early September, throwing several bottles at it. A few days later, on Sept. 4, Sherif climbed on top of a police car, smashed its window and tried to escape, after which he was detained. He was charged with hooliganism and placed in a pre-trial detention center. In 2021, Sherif was convicted of attempted robbery and sent to a penal colony. From there, he was recruited to fight as part of the Wagner Group. After returning from the war, he was repeatedly prosecuted for theft and drug possession.
The Dos’ye Shpiona [Spy Dossier] Telegram channel published a collective letter from residents of the village of Korenevo in the Kursk region addressed to the Minister of Defense, the head of the Investigative Committee, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Prosecutor General, in which they report widespread looting by Russian soldiers. The residents are aware of more than 20 shops and 10 residential houses that were looted by the military. They also draw attention to the lack of response from the military police to these crimes. A total of 124 people have signed the letter. Previously, several videos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) were published showing instances of looting by Russian soldiers in the Kursk region.
A court in Tomsk has sentenced two corporals—mobilized soldier Yegor Belousov to six years and contract soldier Danila Zashikhin to six and a half years in prison—for going AWOL.
The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers Telegram channel] reported on the termination of criminal prosecution against a mobilized man in the "DPR" on charges of going AWOL. Serhii, who had not undergone a medical examination during mobilization, refused to sign a contract with the Russian MoD in the winter of 2023 and left to be with his family. Ten months later, he was detained in Moscow. However, the military medical commission deemed him unfit for military service due to his overweight status. As a result, the criminal charges were dropped for lack of a criminal offense.
In Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region, on Sept. 19, two soldiers who had fled their units were detained: a 46-year-old native of the Astrakhan region and a 43-year-old contract soldier originally from Belarus, residing in the Vyborg district of the Leningrad region. Both men left their units in March 2024. Criminal cases have been opened against them on charges of going AWOL.
A court in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject] sentenced the defendants in the case of a fight with two participants in the war with Ukraine to up to seven years in a penal colony. There are five defendants in the case; three of them—Vladislav Aleksandrov, Ivan Zyryanov and Sergey Piskarev —the prosecutor's office calls "the main defendants." They received sentences ranging from five and a half to seven years in penal colonies. On Aug. 5, 2023, two of the defendants got into conflict with two war participants on the central square of the Nerchinsk plant.
A court in Penza sentenced a 36-year-old employee of a restricted access facility named Stanislav to three years and four months in a penal colony on charges of attempting to cooperate confidentially with representatives of a foreign state. According to the law enforcement officers, the employee of the plant "tried to establish contact with Polish intelligence at the end of November 2023 and planned to transfer secret data about a classified facility in exchange for political asylum." The man himself stated that he wanted to leave for Poland as he feared being conscripted. The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported about his detention in January 2024.
Assistance
Governor of the Pskov region Mikhail Vedernikov, following appeals from relatives of soldiers fighting in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, ordered that these soldiers be granted the benefits due to the participants of the "special military operation."
Miscellaneous
Participants of the war with Ukraine, Rasim Baksikov from the United Russia party [Putin’s ruling party] and Eduard Sharafiev [member of the State Council of Russia's constituent Republic of Tatarstan] who was also a member of the State Council previously, have joined the State Council of Tatarstan.
In Saint Petersburg, on Dumskaya Street, in theplace of a bar sealed by the police, a "special military operation" museum will be opened. In Kaliningrad, a museum dedicated to the war in Ukraine was opened. In Krasnoyarsk school No. 65, an AFU soldier's uniform is exhibited.
According to the data of the Khroniki [Chronicles] sociological project, 49% of Russians are ready to support the withdrawal of troops and peace negotiations with Ukraine without achieving the goals of the "special military operation." Researchers note that the number of supporters of troop withdrawal without achieving the goal is at its maximum since the start of these measurements in 2023. Given the choice between a new mobilization and making peace, 49% of respondents would choose peace, and only 29% would choose another mobilization.
Longreads
Since the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, southern courts of general jurisdiction have considered over 40 criminal cases on treason, espionage, and "confidential" cooperation with foreign states. The majority of these cases are sent to the same judges in Rostov and Krasnodar. The detained are often subjected to torture.
Mediazona reports how Russian servicemen, returning from the frontline, harass conductresses and female passengers on trains and planes.
The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] Telegram channel released a report on how military schools, which were shut down, are being restored in Saratov, with plans to send students there in five years.
The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] spoke with relatives of Russian soldiers and found out how wounded mobilized soldiers and contract soldiers are being returned to service. On the anniversary of the mobilization announcement in Russia, the publication also tried to understand why Russia is not initiating its new wave. According to experts, Russia could mobilize another 300,000 people, but there is nothing to equip and supply them with, and the mobilization itself carries a huge political cost.