Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 27-29, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Russian police officers have started filing reports documenting each time they offered detained individuals the option to fight in the war against Ukraine. According to the Astra Telegram channel, such cases have been reported in the Bryansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Altai and Krasnodar regions, as well as in Russia’s constituent republic of Komi and annexed Crimea. Even women are being offered the option to enlist. Previously, the Kommersant and Baza media outlets, along with the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel, reported that employees of various government agencies—including the Investigative Committee, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Security Service, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Federal Customs Service and court bailiffs—have been taking part in efforts to recruit contract soldiers.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
In Buryatia [Russia's constituent republic], approximately 50 relatives of mobilized and contract soldiers serving in the 36th Combined Arms Army have appealed to Vladimir Putin, criticizing the Ministry of Defense’s failure to locate their missing family members. In a video address published by the Free Buryatia foundation, the relatives say that they are forced to search for their loved ones on their own. Draft offices, unit commanders, the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Defense and Alexey Tsydenov, the Head of Buryatia, have all provided only dismissive replies, suggesting they should not wait for the soldiers to return and should instead petition the courts to declare them dead. Moreover, since July 2024, authorities have stopped payments to soldiers who are missing in action or held as prisoners of war. More than 300 Buryatia residents are currently missing in action, and according to their relatives, the fate of many more remains unknown. On Sept. 27, Tsydenov met with the families of the servicemen, once again promising to do everything in his power to help.
Soldiers of the 109th Regiment have recorded an appeal with complaints about their company commander. While intoxicated, he ordered them to advance to a position where three groups had previously been sent, none of which have made contact since.
The Free Yakutia Foundation has published a video purportedly showing the deployment of soldiers from Russia's constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to the combat zone. In the video, the soldiers complain that they are not being provided with uniforms upon deployment and are being forced to purchase them at their own expense.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
A court in the city of Penza has sentenced a former Wagner Group mercenary to one year and one month in prison for assaulting a man who later died in the hospital. Considering the time already served in pre-trial detention, the convicted man has already been released.
On the morning of Sept. 28, an unknown explosive device detonated on a railway bridge near the town of Kinel in the Samara region as a freight train was passing. The train was not damaged, and no casualties were reported. However, train traffic over the bridge was temporarily suspended due to damage to two concrete structures supporting the railway track. Baza published a video of the explosion. The Kuibyshev Railway Telegram channel stated that the explosion was the result of "external interference in the operation of railway transport."
Mikhail M., a cadet at the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School (currently known as the Voronezh Air Force Academy), has been accused of treason. For a while, the 22-year-old ran the school’s radio station; he was also known to be interested in emigrating to France or the USA. At some point during the summer of 2023, he was detained and charged with treason, whereas last spring he was also sued by his school. The charges against Mikhail are still unknown; the case will be handled by the military court.
With regard to the "Baymak case," the Investigative Committee has charged residents of Bashkortostan [Russia’s constituent republic] Danis Gaisin and Ainur Khusainov with mass unrest, according to updates their relatives posted in an online support group. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years. Danis Gaisin is a father of six, one of his children is disabled, his wife has a chronic illness and his father recently suffered a stroke. All that is known about 48-year-old Ainur Khusainov is that he is from the city of Sterlitamak. In total, criminal proceedings related to the Baymak case were initiated against more than 80 individuals.
Assistance
Transport tax benefits were enacted in Russia’s Kurgan region for veterans and their family members. Other than that, military personnel, law enforcement officers and their families will be granted priority land leases without the need for a tender process.
The Govorit NeMoskva [NonMoscow Is Speaking] media outlet has compiled cases in which authorities have failed to provide the assistance promised by the state to the relatives of participants in the invasion of Ukraine.
Children and Educational System
The Vladimir regional authorities have allocated 800,000 rubles [$8,610] for organizing summer "military-patriotic" camps for children conducted by the regional Combat Brotherhood [All-Russian public organization of veterans]. Additionally, 332,000 rubles [$3,570] have been allocated to enhance military-patriotic education and "prepare the youth of the Melenkovsky district for service in the Russian Armed Forces and the defense of the Motherland."
Over 100 teachers from the Kurgan region have been undergoing firearm training as part of advanced courses on the "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland."
Miscellaneous
According to calculations by The Moscow Times, Russian regions have spent more than 150 million rubles [$1.61 million] on memorials for soldiers killed in Ukraine, since 2023. The highest expenditure was in the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], where regional authorities spent over 42 million rubles [$451,900]. The Republic of Tyva [Russia's constituent republic] ranked second, having spent over 23 million rubles [$247,500], followed by the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region [Russia's federal subject], which allocated over 21 million rubles [$225,900]. Notably, Tyva has consistently ranked among the poorest regions in Russia, while the Zabaykalsky region has also been listed among the top ten poorest regions.
Longreads
The Vyorstka media outlet detailed the medical conditions that may qualify individuals for a deferral from statutory military service and outlined how service fitness categories are assigned to recruits. The report also explained the process for proving the existence of medical conditions that would disqualify someone from military service.