Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 3-5, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary
Authorities and Legislation
The federal government has introduced a bill into the State Duma [lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia], which would grant officials of the Investigative Committee and prosecutors, who worked in Syria or the occupied territories of Ukraine, the status of combat veterans.
Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising
Citing Yandex statistics, the Vyorstka media outlet reports a 36% average increase in internet searches for contract military service between July and August. In July, there were 190,600 searches with the query "contract service," rising to 260,300 in August. The Vladimir region saw the largest increase of 58.5%, with searches jumping from 1,689 to 2,677. On Aug. 2, regional authorities raised the value of the regional sign-up bonus to the 400,000-ruble [$4,530] minimum recommended by Putin. The Tambov region followed with a 57.4% increase, as searches surged from 1,066 to 1,678 after authorities hiked up the value of the regional sign-up bonus from 100,000 to 400,000 rubles [ $1,130 to $4,530]. The Saratov region recorded the third-largest increase at 56.4%, after a tenfold rise in the sign-up bonus from 50,000 to 500,000 rubles [$570 to $5,660]. The Kurgan and Tomsk regions registered the smallest increases in searches for contract service, with 4.4% and 3.7% growth, respectively, despite authorities in the Kurgan region raising the regional sign-up bonus twice during the period. It went up from 100,000 to 400,000 rubles [$1,130 to $4,530] on Aug. 1 and reached 650,000 rubles [$7,360] on Aug. 15. Meanwhile in the Tomsk region, authorities aligned the value of the sign-up bonus to the minimum recommended 400,000 rubles [$4,530] on Aug. 1. The only region, which saw a decrease in the number of internet searches for contract service in August, was Russia’s constituent republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, even though its authorities raised the sign-up bonus to 1.6 million rubles [$18,100], one of the highest in the country.
According to the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet, Russian authorities have launched an unprecedented recruitment campaign in response to Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region. The campaign is heavily featured on platforms such as Telegram, Yandex, VKontakte and national television channels. In August, the number of unique views of posts mentioning the contract service recruitment website on Telegram increased 5.8 times compared to the monthly average since the site's launch in November 2022. These posts garnered 13.5 million views in the last month alone. The number of posts mentioning the site also grew 5.5 times compared to previous months. Regional authorities in nine regions, including Moscow and the Moscow and Leningrad regions, have intensified their use of Yandex's social advertising service to promote military enlistment. Calls to join the military have also become more frequent in propaganda talk shows aired on national TV.
According to the Idite Lesom! [Flee through the woods/Get lost you all] Telegram channel, recruitment centers for contract military service have reappeared in the cities of Moscow and Yekaterinburg. These recruitment points are located in areas with high foot traffic, such as metro stations, shopping malls and streets.
The Ministry of Defense has announced the formation of the BARS-Belgorod volunteer unit, which is expected to focus on guarding and defending socially significant infrastructure, combating UAVs, detecting and engaging sabotage and reconnaissance groups, facilitating civilian evacuations and enforcing the counter-terrorism operation regime. Previously, authorities of the Kursk region had advertised for contract military service in the BARS-Kursk volunteer unit.
Chechen law enforcement officers forcefully sent at least seven gay men in their custody to the war. The LGBT+ civil rights project Crisis Group Northern Caucasus SOS reported that one of the men was already killed. According to the project, the practice of sending LGBT+ persons to the frontline started in September 2022. Men were detained, threatened with fabricated charges and told that their sexual orientation would be disclosed to their pre-trial detention center cellmates. They were then presented with the choice to either go to war or pay the officers 1.5 million rubles [$17,000].
Several convicts or persons accused of crimes expressed their desire to fight in the war with Ukraine. Among them are Tarkhan Eldukaev, accused of kidnapping and attempted murder of the singer Avraam Russo; Andrey Dyakov of Sverdlovsk region, who allegedly took a 213 million ruble [$2.41 million] bribe; and Aleksandr Fyodorov, the Rector of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, arrested for embezzling over 18 million rubles [$203,800].
Dmitry Matveev, who was arrested for the murder of Anton Egovtsev, the head of the Perm branch of the Zov Naroda [People’s Call] organization specializing on reporting on undesirable persons, is now heading to the war. Matveev is allegedly at a military facility, awaiting deployment to the frontline.
Ilya Belostotsky, the former director of the children’s comedy TV show Yeralash, who was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for molesting a 13-year boy, received his second award, the Medal of Zhukov. News emerged last year that Belostotsky signed a contract with the MoD in a penal colony and went to war.
In anticipation of the forthcoming fall regular conscription campaign, lawyers from the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel have prepared an article on the process for replacing compulsory military service with alternative civilian service. The article covers eligibility criteria and details the procedure to follow in case of refusal.
Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers
The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Andrey Shmelyov from the Astrakhan region, Alisher Azimov and Andrey Chulkov from the Rostov region, as well as Anton Tatarenko from the Amur region.
Furthermore, the deaths of two conscript soldiers in the war have been reported. In the area of Shebekino, Belgorod region, 21-year-old Ruslan Gainullin from Russia’s constituent Republic of Tatarstan was killed in an artillery attack. The place and circumstances of the death of 22-year-old Aleksey Khomyakov from the Perm region [Russia’s federal subject] remain undisclosed.
The Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet has confirmed the deaths of 324 mobilized soldiers from Russia’s constituent Republic of Buryatia and 176 from the Irkutsk region. This represents a minimum of 500 mobilized soldiers from these two regions of Russia who have been killed in the war.
Servicemen from the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region–Yugra [Russia's federal subject] and the Tyumen region have recorded a video address to Vladimir Putin, complaining about being forcibly sent to the frontline. According to the soldiers, they are being held in barracks and threatened with criminal charges if they refuse to fight. Many of them are wounded, disabled or suffering from serious injuries. The soldiers were awaiting medical examinations to determine their service fitness category in the Tyumen garrison. On Aug. 2, their documents and phones were confiscated, and they were sent to the settlement of Yelansky in the Sverdlovsk region.
Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian propagandist, reacted to a post by the ASTRA Telegram channel about Colonel Aleksey Ksenofontov, commander of the 25th Brigade, who sent his subordinates on a suicidal assault while drunk. Solovyov demanded an investigation into the ASTRA journalists for slander and threatened them with imprisonment. He claimed to be personally acquainted with Ksenofontov and stated that he had never seen him drunk, adding that he was allegedly with the colonel at the command post during the assaults. However, Solovyov confirmed that the military prosecutor’s office had investigated the March assault but found no violations.
Aleksandr Vladimirov, a serviceman from the 169th Motorized Rifle Brigade, recorded a video address to Putin, complaining about the harsh treatment from his commander. On June 1 of this year, Vladimirov sustained multiple shrapnel wounds and was sent to a hospital; however, instead of receiving proper treatment, his wounds were stitched up with shrapnel still inside. During his leave, he underwent another surgery, and the military medical board gave him 30 days to recover. Despite this, his commander denied him the necessary rehabilitation. In response, Vladimirov left his unit on his own for three days. Upon his return, the commander accused him of disciplinary violations, assaulted him and threatened to send him to the frontlines.
Kursk Region
Nearly 700 residents of the Kursk region are listed as missing following the advance of the AFU. Such data was published by the LizaAlert search and rescue team. In August alone, 918 applications for missing persons were submitted. Of these, 202 individuals were found alive, five were confirmed dead and 698 remain unaccounted for. Searches are ongoing.
Residents of the Kursk region demanded the creation of a "green corridor" to facilitate the evacuation of people from settlements occupied by the AFU. A petition posted on VKontakte on Sept. 4 has gained almost 1,000 signatures in just one day. It is addressed to Putin and the MoD. In addition to the appeal to Putin, social networks are spreading a video featuring residents of the village of Guyevo, who ask Putin for a "green corridor" through Ukrainian-held territory.
Many refugees are finding that officials are denying them the promised payments of 10,000 rubles [$110] from the regional budget and 15,000 rubles [$170] from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which were intended for those who left their homes. Many receive only one payment per family. The refusals are linked to the authorities' focus on organizing the gubernatorial elections. The Doxa online student magazine has explored whether Russian authorities are adequately assisting the residents of the Kursk region.
New evidence of looting by Russian servicemen in the Kursk region has emerged. Several such videos documenting such incidents have been published by the russia no context Telegram channel. One video, shared by Michael Nacke, shows a serviceman in Russian uniform breaking into a children's clothing store in the village of Korenevo. The video, recorded on August 12, shows the military personnel stealing cash from the register, and another soldier later appears to steal two dozen belts. Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet found photos of the store that match the setting depicted in the video. A local resident who left Korenevo confirmed the video's authenticity to ASTRA, noting that soldiers had broken into nearly all retail outlets. Fearing further looting of their homes, residents of frontline towns and villages in the Kursk region are reluctant to evacuate to safer places, according to BBC News Russian.
Concrete shelters being sent to the Kursk region may not meet federal standards, as they are made from regular concrete rather than reinforced concrete. Such modules cannot effectively protect against strikes and will collapse like a "house of cards" upon impact, according to a source from the Ostorozhno, Novosti [Beware the News] Telegram channel. Last week, about 60 such shelters were already sent to Kursk.
Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents
The Omsk Regional Court is concluding the criminal case of Sergey Kozlov, a 36-year-old former Wagner Group mercenary recruited from a penal colony. Kozlov is accused of the particularly brutal murder of his 18-year-old pregnant girlfriend. He had previously been convicted multiple times for several episodes of intentionally causing grievous and minor bodily harm, as well as for theft and robbery. In June 2021, he was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment for assaulting a woman and her daughter. Kozlov was recruited from the penal colony into the Wagner Group and deployed to Ukraine. In the summer of 2023, he returned home.
Vladimir Aleksandrov, a participant in the war with Ukraine, who was detained on suspicion of murdering an 11-year-old girl in Nizhny Tagil, has confessed to the crime. Aleksandrov raped the girl while drunk, then tried to hide her body. The court has placed the man in custody until Nov. 2. During the investigative experiment, the father of the murdered girl was detained with a knife, as law enforcement officers allege he attempted to attack Aleksandrov. The father is concerned that the murderer might return to the war.
In Volgograd, residents of an apartment building have complained about a previously convicted man who returned from the war and is now threatening them with violence. According to the residents, loud music, swearing and sounds of fights constantly come from his apartment. After one woman filed a police report, the "hero" started banging on her door and threatening her with violence. When the police arrived, he attacked them as well.
Residents of Petrozavodsk have once again complained about the inappropriate behavior of a neighbor who returned from the war. Previously, he was seen running with a machete and later set his apartment on fire. He left for the war from a penal colony where he served a 14-year sentence for murdering his brother, which he committed after almost 10 years in prison for the murder of a young female. Residents have expressed their fear on social media, stating that they are afraid to walk the streets at night and are reluctant to let their children outside.
In connection with the death of a participant in the war with Ukraine, two more police officers have been detained at the police station in Makhachkala. Investigative actions are currently underway with them. Earlier, one police officer was also detained and has been sent to a pre-trial detention center in relation to the same case.
The Garrison Military Court in Tomsk has sentenced mobilized lance corporal Sergey Goncharov to five and a half years in a penal colony for going AWOL. Goncharov did not return to his unit on time from leave in July 2023. He was apprehended nine months later, in March 2024, by officers from the commandant’s office.
Soldier Sergey Parakhin has been sentenced to five years and nine months in a maximum-security penal colony for going AWOL. In May 2023, Parakhin had been sentenced to two and a half years in a maximum-security penal colony for theft and robbery. Two and a half months later, he signed a contract and went to war. In late December, he disappeared from his unit. It was later discovered that during this time, Parakhin was arranging his marriage with his girlfriend, whom he had told he was on leave.
In August 2024, the Vladimir Garrison Military Court handled 12 criminal cases involving AWOL servicemen. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the court has received more than 175 criminal cases related to this charge.
A Ukrainian citizen living in Saint Petersburg with a Russian residence permit was mobilized in 2022 and sent to the war in Ukraine. In July 2023, he was discharged from the army upon reaching the maximum age for military service. Five months later, he obtained Russian citizenship and then applied for the payment he was entitled to. However, in April 2024, his application was denied because he was not a Russian citizen at the time of mobilization. The man filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office, which then went to court. The court ruled that the denial of payments was illegal.
In the Moscow region, four young men were detained on suspicion of arson on a railway. The group includes three 20-year-olds and one 19-year-old. According to ASTRA, on August 27, three relay cabinets were set on fire at the Khrapunovo station in the Moscow region, causing an 18-minute delay for a passenger train. The detainees confessed that unknown individuals on Telegram promised them 10,000 rubles [$110] for the arson. A criminal case has been initiated against the young men under charges related to conspiring and committing an act of terror.
In Volgograd, during the early hours of Aug. 5, an unidentified individual attempted to set fire to the "Old Sarepta" Museum-Reserve building. The blaze was quickly extinguished, with only one door burned. According to the Baza Telegram channel, the arsonist may have confused the buildings: a draft office is located across the street from the museum.
A court in Saint Petersburg has sentenced a resident of Tver to 15 years in prison for an act of terror. According to prosecutors, in July 2023, he received instructions to carry out a terrorist attack on the Oktyabrskaya Railway [Moscow-Saint Petersburg]. Subsequently, he used an incendiary mixture to set fire to a relay cabinet on the stretch between the Obukhovo and Slavyanka stations in Saint Petersburg.
According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), in the occupied part of the Donetsk region, a woman from the city of Mariupol was detained on suspicion of treason. In a video released by law enforcement, the woman states that in 2023, Ukrainian intelligence services contacted her and tasked her with gathering and transmitting information about city life and Russian troop movements.
A resident of Saint Petersburg has also been detained on charges of treason for allegedly providing financial assistance to a foreign state representative engaged in activities against Russia's security. The suspect is accused of registering on a cryptocurrency exchange specifically for this purpose. The name of the suspect has not been disclosed.
The Rostov Regional Court has sentenced 61-year-old local resident Gennady Novitsky to three and a half years in prison "for attempting to cooperate with a foreign state on a confidential basis." According to the press release, between November 2023 and February 2024, Novitsky, believing he was in contact with an employee of Ukrainian intelligence services, sent Russian law enforcement officers "options for his participation in countering" Russia.
Accused of sabotage in the Ryazan region, 36-year-old anarchist Ruslan Sidiki reported that he had been tortured with electricity and beaten for 24 hours. Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] published his story.
Assistance
The Perm administration's transport department plans to spend over 1.4 million rubles [$15,800] on transporting funeral attendees for those killed in the war with Ukraine.
In Saint Petersburg, activists from the Drugoy Variant [Another Option] association, together with the Sograzhdane [Fellow Citizens] project, collected 4 tons of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Kursk region.