Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 20-27, 2026 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment

In the Nefteyugansk district of the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject], authorities plan to extend the municipal payment of 150,000 rubles [$1,780] for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense to foreign nationals, as well as people holding a residence permit or a document granting permanent residence abroad.

In the city of Penza, unidentified men assaulted 63-year-old confectioner Aleksandr Glebov, then forced him to sign a contract and sent him to the war. According to the man’s relatives, on Sept. 19, unidentified men in civilian clothes stopped Glebov, who had never served in the military due to his health, while he was walking near the waterfront. They accused him of hiding drugs in dead drops, put him in a car, and then drove him home to collect his documents. The visit to the apartment, accompanied by two unidentified men, was captured by a CCTV camera. The men then assaulted him and gave him water to drink, after which he partially lost his memory of what had happened. However, he remembered being taken to the draft office on Skladskaya Street, where his documents, phone, and car keys were taken from him. He was assaulted there and forced to sign a document without his glasses. The next day, his relatives learned that he had allegedly signed a contract with the MoD and was already on his way to the Rostov region. Glebov managed to photograph a copy of the contract on the way and send it to his relatives. They claim that the signature in the photograph is not his. The last time he contacted them was on Sept. 22, when he said he had been assigned to the 15th Motor Rifle Brigade and was already in Ukraine. The draft office confirmed that Glebov had become a contract soldier.

The prosecutor of Nizhny Tagil’s Leninsky district, Grigory Bityukov, proposed abolishing payments for recruiting contract soldiers, saying that the system had led to the emergence of criminal groups profiting from recruitment, potentially involving police officers, draft office staff, and members of draft boards. The city currently pays 400,000 rubles [$4,750] for each recruited contract soldier, with 100 million rubles [$1.19 million] allocated in the budget for this purpose, calculated for 250 recruits. By the beginning of 2026, 580 people had been sent to the war through this system. First Deputy Mayor Vyacheslav Goryachkin called the payments one of the main ways of recruiting contract soldiers and said that the city administration had no intention of abandoning them.

The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost, you all] Telegram channel reports several cases of women liable for military service from different Russian regions being issued draft notices to update their military registration data and mobilization orders. Those who contacted the project include nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and graduates of medical colleges, including women who had never worked in their field. In one case, a full-time student in Yekaterinburg had a mobilization order inserted into her military ID, requiring her to report within four hours if mobilization was declared. In another case, temporary restrictions were imposed on a nurse after she failed to appear in response to a draft notice.

The project also reports that temporary restrictions for failing to appear in response to an electronic draft notice are indeed being imposed on conscripts and reservists, although so far this does not happen in every case or necessarily immediately after the appearance date specified in the document. In several cases known to the project, draft notices were closed without restrictions after the individuals updated their data remotely. In contrast, a 24-year-old reservist from Lipetsk had his driving privileges restricted, while a conscript from St. Petersburg was barred from registering as an individual entrepreneur, driving, and carrying out real estate registration transactions nearly four months after failing to appear. According to the project’s observations, restrictions may be imposed several months later or not at all.

The Mozhem Ob’yasnit [We Can Explain] Telegram channel found more than 1,000 listings on Avito [the largest Russian classified advertisements website] recruiting men for mobile fire teams to protect businesses and other facilities from drones. Applicants can sign contracts without prior experience, including people over 45, retirees, and people with health limitations. Recruiters promise service exclusively in rear areas near recruits’ homes and one-year contracts. Many listings do not explicitly state that the contract is with the MoD, but the terms listed—including sign-up bonuses starting at 2.8 million rubles [$33,200], monthly salaries ranging from 220,000 rubles [$2,610] to 480,000 rubles [$5,700], and benefits for "participants in the special military operation"—indicate that these are standard contracts with the MoD, which do not guarantee service in a specific region or a rear-area posting. At the same time, many companies do recruit people for mobile fire teams to protect facilities in rear areas, but they do not pay multimillion-ruble sign-up bonuses, and monthly salaries typically do not exceed 120,000 rubles [$1,420].

Through HeadHunter, Synergy University is recruiting coordinators to help foreigners sign contracts with the MoD. The university's recruiters call job seekers and, on behalf of the "Defenders of the Fatherland Synergy" program, offer them coordinator positions "for supporting foreign partners" that require knowledge of Spanish, English, or French. The job essentially involves accompanying foreigners as they sign contracts to go to war. Spanish-speaking staff members accompany citizens of countries in Latin America, while those who speak English or French work with citizens of African states. The duties include meeting "clients" at the airport, conducting an "introductory briefing on the way," translating questions from "staff members" and helping fill out documents in a foreign language. Candidates were offered a salary of 120,000 rubles [$1,420]. Such vacancies have been appearing on Synergy's page since at least April 2026, and back in February, the university was already looking for call center operators for the office of an unspecified "patriotic project."

Thai citizens have begun receiving offers to sign contracts to fight in the war. The ads are being circulated on social media by an agency called T2R — Promo. It offers volunteers aged 20 to 58 a 12-month contract with the Russian MoD. Recruits are promised service "not on the frontline" in units involved in "logistics, security systems, technical support, and drones." Signing a contract does not require learning Russian or having any military experience. Recruits are promised a "high and stable income" of 2.5 million baht [$74,800] a year. Of that, 1.3 million baht [$38,000] is guaranteed upon signing, followed by 100,000 baht [$2,970] a month. Those who sign are also promised a free flight to Russia, as well as paid meals and housing. After their contracts expire, the servicemembers will be able to apply for Russian citizenship.

Tomsk City Hall is seeking a contractor to train five municipal employees in mobilization preparedness and mobilization procedures. During a 72-hour in-person course, the employees are to study the relevant laws and regulations, learn to draw up mobilization documents and plans, and acquire practical skills in carrying out mobilization. The contract's starting price is 170,200 rubles [$2,020]. The city administration conducted similar procurement procedures in February 2025 and March 2026, and similar services are now also being sought by the authorities of the Tikhoretsk district in the Krasnodar region.

In one of the municipal districts of Kirov region, local organizations have been ordered to sign agreements with the administration within 30 days "on carrying out mobilization-related tasks." The nature of those tasks was not specified. The Vestnik buri [Storm Herald] Telegram channel published a photograph of the corresponding order, issued by the district head on Sept. 21. Companies that refuse to sign the agreements could lose the ability to secure mobilization deferments for their employees.

Artyom Klyga, the head of the legal department at the Movement of Conscientious Objectors [a human rights organization supporting those who refuse to perform military service], has reported that courts have begun citing grades in the Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland (formerly Fundamentals of Life Safety) school subject as grounds to reject potential conscripts seeking alternative civilian service. Klyga identified this trend after reviewing rulings from courts in the Khabarovsk, Perm, Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, and Altai regions. Judges have used high grades in the school subject, including on topics like Conscription for Military Service, as evidence that applicants lack pacifist convictions. Arguments for denying alternative civilian service have also included assembling and disassembling an AK-47 replica, laser shooting range drills, as well as post-10th-grade military training. According to Klyga, school and college reports now routinely include the standardized line "did not demonstrate firmly held pacifist beliefs," which he says effectively prevents applicants from obtaining alternative civilian service. He notes that students can opt out of basic military training within these courses, though schools rarely inform them of this option.

Mobilized Soldiers, Contract Soldiers and Conscripts

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 258,989 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 20,468 mobilized soldiers. Since the last update, the list has grown by 10,145 soldiers.

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 258,989 Russian servicemen killed since the full-scale invasion, including 20,468 mobilized soldiers. Since the last update, the list has grown by 10,145 soldiers.

On the fourth anniversary of mobilization, Mediazona used leaked data to trace the fates of 2,515 mobilized soldiers. The first leak covers 2023–2024, the second the summer of 2025. Of the 2,515 mobilized soldiers selected from the first leak who served in units covered by the second, 1,152 were no longer listed: 240 had been killed, while the fate of the remaining 912 is unknown, as they may have been transferred to other units not covered by the data or discharged on health grounds. The second leak still listed 1,363 of the soldiers, of whom 972 remained mobilized and 355 had signed contracts. Mediazona subsequently confirmed another 187 deaths among those included in the second leak, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in the original sample to 427, though only 173 appear in the outlet's public database.

The Insider reported that at least 16 current and former heads of regional and municipal executive authorities in Russia were killed after being sent to fight in the war against Ukraine. Ten of them, or 62.5%, had been convicted or were under investigation before signing their contracts, primarily on charges of bribery and abuse of authority.

Another conscript was coerced into signing a contract in Boguchar. Daniil Veremeychik, 19, from Saratov, conscripted in May 2026, was assigned on Aug. 21 to the 245th Motor Rifle Regiment in Boguchar. Commanders persuaded him to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, promising him a position at headquarters, enrollment in an FSB academy and the option to terminate the contract within three months. According to relatives, Veremeychik signed the contract immediately after being discharged from a hospital, but was not given a copy. He later filed a request to terminate it, and his family spent 12 days trying unsuccessfully to meet with commanders. They ultimately filed complaints with the military prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee. His relatives have had no contact with Veremeychik since Aug. 29, and on Sept. 21 he was sent to the Pogonovo training range outside Voronezh. Reports of conscripts being coerced into signing contracts at units in Boguchar continue to emerge regularly, even after a criminal case was opened there in November 2025.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

The Military Prosecutor’s Office of the Leningrad Military District ruled that it was lawful to refuse to appoint a servicemember who had signed a military contract while serving a sentence in a penal colony to a social rehabilitation position at a draft office. The servicemember had been wounded, was assigned fitness category "D" (unfit for military service), and had received a state award. He sought a position at a draft office because, under a program for the social rehabilitation and reintegration of wounded and injured servicemembers, they may continue their service in positions at draft offices. However, according to an instruction issued by the Chief of the General Staff on March 6, 2025, servicemembers who have served a criminal sentence are prohibited from being appointed to military positions at draft offices, regardless of whether they have been wounded or received state awards.

A military court in Tula sentenced Warrant Officer Dzhovid Bozorov and servicemember Viktor Kurbatov, whose rank is unknown, to 10 and 12 years, respectively, in a maximum security penal colony in a case involving seven counts of accepting bribes, including bribes on an especially large scale. They were also stripped of their military ranks and state awards. According to investigators, Kurbatov, an employee at a military service recruitment center, and Bozorov, a non-staff assistant, along with two other unidentified individuals, helped volunteers sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, while those who signed the documents were not sent to the war. One of the two unidentified individuals was likely Niyaz Kashapov, an employee of Military Unit No. 33842 (the 51st Parachute Regiment), who was sentenced by the same court in July in a case involving four counts of accepting bribes on an especially large scale. The text of his sentence has not yet been published.

Natalya Zemlyankina, a former employee of the draft office in Saint Petersburg's Moskovsky district, complained about sexual harassment by Aleksandr Kucherov, a colleague who had taken part in the war. She said Kucherov "constantly made advances and acted aggressively" and, together with a friend he brought to the draft office, threatened to "brutally rape" her. After the complaint, the draft office leadership told her she was "a nobody," while Kucherov was "in charge" and "he can be neither dismissed nor held criminally liable." Superiors ultimately transferred Zemlyankina from the Moskovsky to the Krasnoselsky draft office, demoted her to the post of security guard, and denied her bonuses for six months. Her appeals to the Military Prosecutor's Office came to nothing. Kucherov denied the harassment allegations and told the Astra Telegram channel that Zemlyankina has the "wrong" attitude toward those who returned from the war, adding that "other measures" could be taken against her. Kucherov himself, who lost a leg and has a service fitness category of "D" (unfit for military service), says he is preparing to return to the war.

Assistance

Udmurtia [Russia's constituent republic] will increase war-related spending by an additional 1.6 billion rubles [$18.99 million]. After the adjustment, overall spending in the 2026 regional budget will rise by three billion rubles [$35.60 million], and the deficit will grow to 11.7 billion rubles [$139 million].

The Tula regional government reallocated 54.2 million rubles [$643,200] from social spending to one-time payments for service members, Rosgvardia personnel, and their families. The funds had previously been intended for monthly payments to guardians, custodians, and foster parents for the care of children; housing repairs for orphans; support for families raising children with disabilities; support for adoptive parents and orphans; assistance to low-income families, single people, and pensioners; and support for labor veterans.

In Surgut, families of war participants killed in the war have been exempted from repaying local tax debts. The debts will be deemed uncollectible and written off without an application from relatives. At the same time, a payment of 200,000 rubles [$2,370] for the families of those killed has been extended to families whose deceased relatives did not hold Russian citizenship, provided the deceased was registered in Surgut.

Authorities in Chukotka have established rules for returning business grants awarded to entrepreneurs who have participated in the war in Ukraine. Under the new rules, if a recipient of a grant to start a business is killed, money already spent on the business and supported by documentation does not have to be returned. Any unused portion of the grant, however, must be returned to Chukotka's regional budget. The document does not specify who is responsible for returning the money after the entrepreneur’s death.

Children and Militarization

St. Tikhon's Orthodox University for the Humanities in Moscow has begun using 3D printing to produce equipment for Russian forces, including drone munition drop mechanisms. The initiative is overseen by Priest Filipp Ilyashenko, vice-rector and confessor of the university’s Volunteer Corps, who also organizes student donation drives, camouflage net weaving, and trench candle production. Participation by students and faculty in these initiatives remains voluntary.

Longreads

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet and the Idel.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet reported on cases of coercion into signing contracts with the MoD through detentions, threats of criminal prosecution, physical violence, and deception, while Mediazona collected the stories of several Russians from various regions of the country who were sent to war in this manner.

The Vyorstka media outlet reported on how things stand with alternative civilian service in 2026. A record 3,387 people are currently performing alternative civilian service—the highest number in at least 14 years. However, although the number of applications for alternative civilian service is growing, the share of approved applications is declining, and draft boards and courts are using various pretexts to argue that applicants lack long-standing and consistent pacifist convictions.