Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 29-30, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The federal government has presented its draft national budget for 2025–2027 to the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia]. According to the explanatory note, about 13.5 trillion rubles [$144 billion] will be allocated for national defense in 2025, matching closely the figures previously reported by Bloomberg. This amount includes, inter alia, an annual allocation of 14 billion rubles [$149 million] for the "creation of a mobilization reserve for the Russian Armed Forces." Moreover, 400 million rubles [$4.25 million] will be allocated each year from 2025 to 2027 for awards recognizing achievements in developing arms and military equipment. The Bell estimates that military expenditures will account for 6.31% of GDP, which is expected to reach 215 trillion rubles [$2.5 trillion] in 2025. Overall, 41% of government spending in 2025 will be directed toward national defense and security. The Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet compared key expenditure items in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, noting, among other changes, that spending on social policy will decrease by 1.24 trillion rubles [$13 billion].
Andrey Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, has introduced a bill that would grant commanders of military units taking part in the invasion of Ukraine the right to notarize wills and powers of attorney written by members of "volunteer units." These documents would allow third parties to take actions on their behalf, including handling property transactions, collecting money and providing representation in courts or before government agencies.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to start the fall regular conscription campaign, running from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024. Authorities plan to draft 133,000 men aged between 18 and 30 years, an increase of 3,000 compared to the previous fall campaign. If a citizen turns 30 before or during the campaign, they are entitled to an exemption from military service and should be placed into the reserve instead. During the 2024 spring conscription campaign, 150,000 individuals were drafted, compared to 147,000 in the spring of 2023 (see here for the 10-year trend).
During a briefing, Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, Deputy Head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, stated that "citizens will be notified to attend events related to military conscription via paper draft notices." According to Tsimlyansky, these draft notices will be delivered personally and signed for or sent via registered mail. In other words, draft office employees will not notify conscripts through the Draft Register, which was recently launched in test mode in three regions.
It is worth noting that until the Unified Military Register—a system to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices electronically—is fully implemented across all Russian regions, electronic draft notices will not have legal force. The register is set to become operational on Jan. 1, 2025. Additionally, during the briefing, Tsimlyansky stated that conscripts "will not be involved in tasks related to the "special military operation" in the new regions." He also mentioned that during this conscription campaign, complaints can be filed remotely with the draft board via the Gosuslugi public services portal.
Another raid targeting migrants took place at Tolmachevo Airport in the city of Novosibirsk. According to official reports, 18 people were taken to draft offices to be registered for military service. Law enforcement officers noted that "some individuals had already been identified twice, but still have not registered and instead chose to fly back to their homeland." A similar raid occurred in Saint Petersburg, where 120 people were checked in Apraksin Yard [market and retail block], and nine of them, who had obtained Russian citizenship, were issued draft notices.
The independent publication Pskovskaya Guberniya reported that among a group of 16 people from the Pskov region who were sent to fight in the war with Ukraine, two were citizens of African countries. Earlier reports indicated that 33 more volunteer fighters from Africa had been dispatched to the frontline from the region. The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] uncovered that mercenaries from Africa and Arab countries are also being sent to the war through Perm. Refugees are being promised Russian citizenship in exchange for participation in the war and a salary of $2,200. This effort is being organized by Perm-based businessman Sergey Merzlyakov and his business partner, Iraqi-born Khalid al-Amiri. In 2021, Merzlyakov was involved in false flag attacks on the Belarus-Poland border, where thousands of illegal migrants attempted to enter the European Union.
The Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, in collaboration with Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet], has prepared a guide for deserters forced to hide in Kazakhstan. Earlier, deserter Kamil Kasimov was kidnapped from the republic and taken back to Russia. In early September, a court in Omsk sentenced him to six years in a maximum-security penal colony.
Aleksandr Voronets, a resident of Novosibirsk suspected of murdering a neighbor, signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense and went to war. The criminal case against Voronets has been suspended.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Daniil Litvin from the Belgorod region, Ivan Arkhipov and Pavel Kovalenko from the Saratov region, Artur Khusainov and Maksim Yepanov from the Perm region [Russia's federal subject], Dmitry Gaskov from the Zabaykalsky region [Russia's federal subject], Aleksandr Novikov from the Tyumen region and Dmitry Kruzhkov from the Lipetsk region.
Orlan Saryg-Dongak, the former head of the criminal investigation department in the city of Kyzyl in Russia's constituent Republic of Tyva, who was convicted of murdering and burning a detainee, has been killed in the war. This was reported to the Sibir.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet by the relatives of Alisher Makhmutov, the victim of Saryg-Dongak. Sibir.Realii also reported that former policeman Alim Kenden who was convicted of complicity in Makhmutov's murder, was killed in Ukraine as well. In October 2023, Saryg-Dongak and Kenden were sentenced to 18 and 14 years of imprisonment, respectively, for the murder of Makhmutov. Both convicts were deployed to the war from their penal colonies this summer.
The mother of Viktor Petrov, a mobilized soldier from the Irkutsk region who was found hanged, has been denied the death gratuity of five million rubles [$53,260]. According to Yakov Iontsev, a lawyer from the Public Verdict Foundation, the formal reason for the refusal was the absence of documentary evidence linking Petrov’s death to his participation in the war against Ukraine. The authorities did not acknowledge that Petrov was ill at the time of his mobilization and "could not cope with the conditions of service" as a result. The lawyer notes that Petrov's mother had not received the insurance and the payment for the Order of Courage, which was awarded to Petrov posthumously in December 2023. The only state compensation she received was 46,000 rubles [$490] for the funeral and monument. Additionally, her claim against the military unit was recently denied. In early May 2023, Petrov was found hanged in his military unit. Prior to his death, he was hospitalized with broken ribs and complained of torture by the military police. The criminal case for incitement to suicide was quickly closed.
Astemir Khakyashev, who was recruited for war from a penal colony in Kabardino-Balkaria [Russia’s constituent republic], sustained four injuries on the frontline. Despite having medical documents, the MoD refused to appoint a military medical board or issue injury certificates, citing the special status of Storm-Z unit mercenaries, who are not recognized as official military personnel. Khakyashev filed a lawsuit against the MoD demanding 12 million rubles [$127,600], but the court ruled against him. The status of convicts in Storm-Z units was previously reported by BBC News Russian.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
Akhmat battalion members abducted a 37-year-old civilian in the Belgorod region after they suspected him of filming near their location. They believed he was documenting their presence. The man was forcibly placed in a vehicle but managed to escape during the abduction, sustaining a head injury in the process. The man was sent to a hospital with a skull fracture. It remains unclear whether he was subjected to physical violence during the incident. According to the ASTRA Telegram channel, the members of the Akhmat battalion involved in the incident have not yet been apprehended.
The body of 19-year-old conscript soldier Danila F. from Ryazan, who had fled from a shooting range in Patriot Park in the Moscow region, was found in the forest. His weapon was discovered nearby. According to preliminary information reported by the Baza Telegram channel, the soldier committed suicide, allegedly due to his girlfriend breaking up with him.
ASTRA has published a fragment of the resolution initiating the first known criminal case against the command of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces for the torture and mass murder of Russian soldiers. The case involves seven suspects. According to ASTRA, the charges include abuse of power, unlawful imprisonment and the murder of two or more individuals. The Suspilne Ukrainian media outlet had previously reported on the circumstances of the crime after gaining access to documents from the Russian Investigative Committee. Additionally, journalists from Mediazona discovered that one of the soldiers killed by the division's command, Captain Nikolay Kozlovsky, had previously worked for the Federal Penitentiary Service.
In the Kaliningrad region, three teenagers have been detained on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a cell tower. The minors, aged 15 to 17, tried to break into a telecom facility near the village of Gorino, but were spotted, prompting a call to the police, who arrested them. According to law enforcement, an unknown "handler" had promised them between 20,000 rubles [$210] and 25,000 rubles [$270] for the arson. Initially, the target was supposed to be a diesel locomotive.
On July 22, a court in Severodvinsk sentenced 77-year-old Northern (Arctic) Federal University professor Aleksandr Butin to one and a half years of probation for attempting to set fire to a military enlistment office. According to the court, last summer, Butin was contacted online by a stranger who tasked him with setting fire to a draft office. Butin agreed and, under the stranger’s guidance, allegedly made two Molotov cocktails, throwing one at the enlistment office in Severodvinsk. The bottle failed to break a window and fell to the ground before he could throw the second one. Butin pleaded guilty, reached a pre-trial agreement with investigators and the case proceeded without evidence examination. In addition to probation, the court ordered Butin to undergo mandatory psychiatric supervision and treatment.
Valery Timofeev, the vice president of the Russian-Finnish Helsinki Shipyard Oy company engaged in the construction of icebreakers has been sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of state treason. The sentence was handed down on May 28, but the court illegally refused to disclose its length. Mediazona learned of the sentence only after an unsuccessful attempt by the defense to appeal the verdict. Timofeev was accused of passing information about operations at the Yantar shipyard in the Kaliningrad region, which produces vessels for the Navy, among other clients.
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow has fined Maria Turova and Maria Semyonova, the wife and sister of mobilized soldiers, 10,000 rubles [$110] each for participating in an unauthorized protest outside the Ministry of Defense building on Sept. 21. Both women pleaded not guilty.
Children and Educational System
Children in Russian educational institutions and kindergartens were involved in the celebration of the "Day of Reunification" of "new territories" with the Russian Federation. As part of the celebration, children participated in video greetings and telebridges with schools in the occupied territories. Numerous photo reports about these activities were published on the VKontakte social network, featuring identical text and tags, indicating that the educational institutions received corresponding guidelines.
In Kirov, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the annexation of new territories, Denis Lavrov, a fighter of the Wagner Group, held a meeting with students of the College of Food Industry. His namesake had previously been convicted of assault and causing moderate harm to a person, as discovered by the Sota media outlet.
BBC News Russian revealed cases when relatives of mobilized soldiers got into fights with the police while trying to rescue their loved ones who were hiding from service. However, in one case, they nearly killed a fugitive whom they had sheltered.
Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] talked to police officers, lawyers, accused individuals and their relatives to find out how the recruitment of convicts, suspects and detainees for the war is organized.