Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 25-28, 2025 CIT Volunteer Summary

Authorities and Legislation

Fines for failing to report a change of address to a draft office may soon apply year-round. Several members of the State Duma [lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly], led by its Defense Committee Chairman Andrey Kartapolov, have introduced a bill to remove the phrase "during the conscription period" from Article 21.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Titled "failure by citizens to fulfill their military registration duties," the article currently specifies a fine ranging from 500 to 3,000 rubles [$5-$36]. Authorities previously enforced it only during the spring and fall draft campaigns. However, the State Duma approved a bill in the first reading last week to transition to year-round conscription activities.

The Ministry of Defense has published a revised list of medical conditions that disqualify citizens from enlisting for military service during mobilization. It is now in the public discussion phase on the state's legal acts portal. The Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel analyzed the changes, which would expand the number of disqualifying illnesses to 35 from the current 26. The proposed list includes conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes, mental disorders, epilepsy and bronchial asthma.

Army Recruitment

Former Ministry of Internal Affairs Vityaz special forces veteran Aleksey Chebotaryov and former police officer Andrey Yakhnyev—both sentenced in 2025 for contract killings as members of a gang—have signed contracts with the MoD to fight in the war against Ukraine. In February 2025, a court sentenced Yakhnyev to 11 years in a maximum security penal colony for two murders and illegal possession of a large quantity of narcotics. In July the ex‑security officer signed a contract for deployment to the front. Chebotaryov was sentenced at the end of June to 15 years in a maximum security penal colony for ten murders and two attempted murders. He was dispatched to the war from a pre‑trial detention center in August.

One of two 18‑year‑olds detained for raping a ninth‑grade girl in the Kemerovo region went to war three days after the crime, thereby avoiding punishment.

Kenyan authorities placed a suspect in custody after police linked him to a scheme organizing the recruitment and shipment of people to Russia to fight in the war against Ukraine. Edward Kamao Gituku was arrested during a raid near Nairobi, where police said they rescued 22 individuals preparing to be sent to Russia. The investigation into such networks was launched after Ukrainians last week released a video showing the interrogation of former Kenyan runner Evans Chebet, who had been captured.

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 132,615 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 15,100 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, for undisclosed reasons, the total list has decreased by 502 soldiers, while the number of mobilized soldiers has increased by 23.

Mutalib Saidov, a 25-year-old citizen of Tajikistan, has been deployed on a combat mission instead of being discharged at the end of his contract. As the regulation regarding automatic extension of military service contracts during mobilization does not apply to foreign citizens, Saidov was supposed to be discharged on May 25, 2025. However, due to errors during the transfer process from one unit to another, he remained in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces. Saidov stated that all his fellow soldiers from foreign countries had already been discharged after a year of service and received Russian citizenship. He also obtained a Russian passport. His military unit has since ruled that, given Saidov’s new status as a Russian citizen, his service cannot end and his contract is automatically extended. At the same time, a document obtained by the Astra Telegram channel confirms that Saidov is to be discharged upon the expiration of his original contract. He has submitted two formal reports requesting discharge.

A soldier, Vladimir Oskolkov, who had spoken out about corruption in his unit, has gone missing and is no longer in contact with his family. In June, while being held in a pre-trial detention center on fraud charges, Oskolkov signed a contract with the MoD and was assigned to the 36th Motorized Rifle Brigade. His passport was confiscated before deployment. On Aug. 7, he was sent on a combat mission in the Donetsk region. On Aug. 26, he phoned his sister for the first time, saying he was still on the mission and that all 22 of his fellow soldiers had been killed. According to her, he later reached the city of Berdiansk and gave testimony at a commandant’s office. He told her that commanders had been extorting money from soldiers for body armor and radios, and demanding bribes for transfers to other units. In response, his commanders declared him wanted for desertion. On Sept. 23, Oskolkov told his sister he was being taken to an undisclosed location and has not been heard from since.

Aleksandr Pruglov, a native of the town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region who had fought on Russia’s side since at least 2015 as part of the Vostok Battalion and was remobilized in February 2022, was sent by commanders to a "pit" (makeshift detention site) in the Zaporizhzhia region instead of being given medical treatment. Ukrainian law enforcement has listed Pruglov as wanted for treason, participation in illegal armed groups and attacks.

Relatives of soldiers from the 371st Recovery Regiment, based in Naro-Fominsk, reported that the regiment’s chief medical officer is refusing to send soldiers with medical fitness categories "B" (fit with minor restrictions), "V" (partially fit) and "D" (unfit) for proper review by the military medical board or for discharge, instead deploying them to combat zones. Among those affected are servicemen with spinal implants and non-functioning limbs. According to families, one soldier with cirrhosis of the liver and a fitness category "D" designation was reassigned to another unit for continued service. The medical officer claimed that documents confirming his unfitness had been lost.

On the third anniversary of the start of mobilization in Russia, relatives of mobilized soldiers are preparing a collective complaint, with electronic signatures being collected until Sept. 28. After the collection ends, the complaint will be submitted to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. In their appeal, relatives describe the open-ended service of their loved ones as "signs of slavery and serfdom." They note that mobilized soldiers have remained at the front for three years without rotation, despite government promises to transition to a voluntary army. Appeals to government authorities, as well as to Putin, have resulted in what the families call "formulaic dismissive replies." According to the authors, "partial mobilization" violates the principle of equality among citizens: while one part of society is compelled open-ended service, the other is exempt from this obligation.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

In Ulyanovsk, 20-year-old student Andrey Shakh was arrested on suspicion of participating in a terrorist attack committed in a group. Investigators say Shakh, together with a friend, responded to an online offer to earn money and agreed, for $600, to "cut a cable" and "set fire to some kind of communications box." His family believes debt drove him to accept the job. After his arrest, Shakh pleaded guilty, and a court-appointed lawyer informed the family that he had been assaulted.

A 32-year-old Moscow resident was detained on charges of sabotage carried out in the Novosibirsk region. According to the FSB, in the fall of 2024, while living in Novosibirsk, he set fire to two relay cabinets on the rail section between Inya-Vostochnaya and Mochishche, as well as a telecommunications cabinet of a cell tower in one village. He allegedly received assignments from an anonymous user on Telegram and sent back videos of the burning objects as proof of completion. The FSB claims the man pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators.

In the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, the FSB said it detained a man accused of plotting to plant a bomb under the service vehicle of a senior Rosgvardia [the National Guard] officer and detonate it remotely at the direction of Ukrainian intelligence.

The suspect, 65-year-old retiree Andrey Fogel from Nizhny Tagil, has been charged with attempting to form a terrorist group. Prosecutors are seeking compulsory psychiatric treatment, alleging that over the past three years Fogel tried to establish a terrorist cell to set fire to the car of Uralvagonzavod’s head of personnel Irina Artamonova to carry out attacks on other top managers of the state-owned defense manufacturer and to "eliminate the country’s leadership." The case relies on secret audio recordings of conversations between Fogel and a longtime acquaintance Pavel Sergienya, a Uralvagonzavod worker and member of the independent Solidarity trade union. Sergienya, who has three prior convictions, acted as an FSB provocateur. Mediazona has reported extensively on what it describes as an FSB provocation against Fogel, as well as on Sergienya’s alleged role in the case against Evan Gershkovich.

The 2nd Eastern District Military Court sentenced 40-year-old David Fedorenko from Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk region, to five years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of preparing an act of terror and drug possession. Investigators allege that, acting on instructions from an unidentified contact on Telegram, Fedorenko purchased components for an incendiary mixture in preparation to set fire to a post office branch before being detained by the FSB. The court’s press release did not specify who the contact was and made no mention of Ukraine.

The "Prosecutor’s Office" of the occupied Kherson region reported that a high treason case against a 30-year-old local woman had been submitted to court. Law enforcement officers stated that from September 2023 to January 2024, she made several transfers intended "for financial support and material and technical provision of Ukrainian armed formations." The woman’s name and other details of the case have not been disclosed.

In September, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring)added 46 minors to the register of "terrorists" and "extremists." This is a record monthly increase since the list was created. The youngest person on the list is 14-year-old Yury Zabrullin from Chelyabinsk, though the grounds for his inclusion remain unspecified. In the incomplete 2025 year, the number of minors on the "terrorist" list has increased five and a half times: in December 2024, it included 36 teenagers, while currently there are 201. Human rights defenders also report a sharp increase in criminal cases against teenagers under articles on terrorism, sabotage and treason. In the first half of 2025 alone, 42 minors were detained on such charges.

Assistance

Governor of Bashkortostan [Russia's constituent republic] Radiy Khabirov reported that "for the implementation of 54 support measures" for participants in the war against Ukraine and their family members, 13 billion rubles [$156 million] were allocated from the republican budget in 2024, and 25 billion rubles [$299 million] in 2025. At the same time, the budget deficit of Bashkortostan is projected to grow by 18.9 billion rubles [$226 million] next year.

Children and Militarization

The first school dedicated to UAVs has opened in Krasnodar, according to city mayor Yevgeny Naumov. The program offers schoolchildren free training in drone assembly and piloting, hands-on experience with 3D printing technologies and practice with both flight simulators and real UAVs. Instruction will be provided by mentors, including veterans of the war in Ukraine.

Longreads

The Vot Tak [Like This] media outlet reports on how Russian mobilized soldiers are attempting to be discharged from service and why very few of them succeed.

The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet has prepared a report on the case of Semyon Zenkov, who is accused of sabotage for setting fire to a relay cabinet on a railway line in the Leningrad region.