Mobilization in Russia for Sept. 5-6, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

Army Recruitment and Military Service Advertising

Recruiters in Russia are now attempting to lure citizens into joining the invasion by promising employment in state corporations, writes the Agentstvo [Agency] independent media outlet, pointing to a number of advertisements on online job boards. Posing as aspiring contract soldiers, its journalists have also spoken with the representatives of several recruiting firms to confirm the details. Thus, Metroelektrotrans in Kazan and Mosgortrans in Moscow are among the employers promising jobs to military personnel returning from the war. Some organizations are only offering jobs to contract soldiers for the duration of their military service, including Rosneft and Mosvodokanal, who offer a 1.9 million-ruble [$21,440] sign-up bonus to individuals who enlist through them, according to one of the recruiters.

Viktor Kozlovsky, Chief Executive Officer of the Moscow Metro, has ordered the recruitment of 850 individuals to fight in the war against Ukraine—roughly the same number as the current vacancies. There are almost no requirements for candidates: the organization will even consider those with criminal records and foreign citizens. Additionally, it promises current employees 70,000-ruble [$790] bonuses for referring new volunteers, who are willing to fight.

In Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan [Russia’s constituent republic], a concert was held in support of the soldiers being treated in the local hospital, where Farid Mukhametshin, Chairman of the State Council of Tatarstan, promoted contract military service, emphasizing the sign-up bonus of 2 million rubles [$22,500], which includes the federal payments.

With the start of the new school year, the Voyennye Advokaty [Military Lawyers] Telegram channel has published an explanation on how to apply for a draft deferment, which can be granted for the entire period of full-time study at a university or college. Although the law allows online applications through the Gosuslugi public services portal, draft offices are only accepting paper applications until the launch of the Unified Military Register [the digital system to identify citizens subject to military service and serve draft notices]. However, if the application is submitted by Sept. 10, the draft office may grant the deferment without the need for the applicant to appear in person.

Mobilized Soldiers, Volunteer Fighters and Contract Soldiers

The list of mobilized soldiers killed in the war has been updated to include Vladimir Gavrilov from the Rostov region. It was also reported that another conscript, 21-year-old Arseny Saltaev from the Krasnoyarsk region, has been reported killed at the Russia-Ukraine border in the Belgorod region during an attack. Two other conscripts were killed with him, twin brothers, as reported by Saltaev’s mother. It is likely that she was referring to the brothers Konstantin and Dmitry Reshka from the Omsk region, whose deaths were previously reported by the Omsk Civil Association and journalists from the Okno [Window] project.

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 68,011 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 8,797 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 1,540 soldiers, 187 of whom were mobilized. This week, for the first time, volunteer fighters—that is, soldiers who decided to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine—have become the category with the highest number of casualties, with 13,152 people killed, representing 20% of the total. Previously, the highest number of casualties was sustained by convicts recruited for the war.

Semyon Zaikin, a serviceman of the Storm-V detachment of the 153rd Brigade (likely referring to the 153rd Tank Regiment), recorded a video address in which he complained about his commander. According to Zaikin, his detachment of 69 people was sent on an unprepared assault, resulting in only four survivors. Zaikin refused to execute the order and was assaulted as a consequence. He expects to be sent to the forward positions despite having a compression fracture of two vertebrae. According to him, due to the actions of the commander, the unit regularly suffers heavy losses, and there is widespread extortion for granting leave due to injuries.

Sentences, Legal Proceedings and Incidents

A court in Moscow sentenced Dmitry Rakovsky, who returned from the war, to 10 years in a penal colony for stabbing an acquaintance, suspecting him of "passing information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine." According to Rakovsky's testimony, in November 2023, he met two men on the street and drank several bottles of vodka with them. One of the men questioned Rakovsky about his participation in the war. "Under the influence of alcohol and stress related to his participation in the special military operation," he suspected that the man was asking questions to pass information to the AFU. Rakovsky then bought a kitchen knife from a store and stabbed the man in the chest. He discarded the knife in a trash can and attempted to leave but was detained by plainclothes police officers a few minutes later. The injured man was hospitalized but died a month later. Despite this, Rakovsky was convicted of attempted murder. In delivering the sentence, the court considered his participation in the war and his injuries as mitigating factors. According to the Vyorstka media outlet, Rakovsky had previously been convicted at least four times for robbery, armed assault, and two murders. His most recent conviction for murder was in February 2023, after which he likely volunteered for the war from the penal colony.

As Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] has found out, 28-year-old Arseniy Dyachkin from Sevastopol, who was sentenced in November 2023 to six and a half years in a maximum security penal colony for possession of explosives, has also been convicted of treason. In the new case, he was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony. According to the prosecutors, from September 2022 to April 2023, he collaborated with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and provided the Ukrainian side with information on the location of fortifications in Sevastopol Bay.

The Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case against three Russians who allegedly provided a handler from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense with information about the location of Russian soldiers. They are charged with participation in a terrorist organization and three counts of preparation of terrorist attacks. According to the Investigative Committee, in January 2023, the suspects photographed the location of a Russian temporary base in the occupied city of Luhansk and sent the photos to a coordinator, and in June, one of them filmed the railway tracks near Adler. One of the suspects has been detained, and the other two are on an international wanted list.

According to the Sirena [Siren] Telegram channel, volunteers from the Kursk organization Domik Dobrykh Del [House of Good Deeds] received threats after they attempted to inform the regional administration about how poorly assistance was organized for people trapped in a combat zone. Officials threatened to revoke the organization's license. Additionally, a representative of the Federal Security Service (FSB) warned that spreading such information "could lead to real imprisonment." Under pressure from the authorities, the volunteers "weighed the pros and cons" and decided to suspend their assistance to displaced persons.

Assistance

The authorities of the Perm region have announced a new form of support for participants in the war with Ukraine. Their wives will receive a one-time bonus of 127,994 rubles [$1,440] for a child born in 2024.

Children and Educational System

By the end of the first week of the new school year, the Ne Norma [Not a norm] Telegram channel reported on dozens of schools that had already held meetings between children and war participants. It became known that former Wagner Group mercenary Artyom Dilmuradov, who had murdered a friend's family for money, also met with school children. In 2012, he and three other teenagers brutally killed the family of one of the teens. Dilmuradov was sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony. While in prison, he joined the Wagner Group to fight in the war. In his address, Dilmuradov told the students that "family is the most important thing in life." The meeting was organized by the Defenders of the Fatherland Fund.

In the Penza region, war veterans are being trained to become teachers. The first group of eight veterans is being prepared to teach the Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland. After completing the three-month course, they will be qualified to teach schoolchildren and students.

A 51-year-old war participant, Andrey Shinyagin, sentenced to four years in a penal colony, has become a school teacher. Previously, he and his accomplices, posing as SOBR special police officers, abducted and assaulted at least seven women.

The Baza Telegram channel reported on how the newly introduced lessons on the Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland will be conducted. During these lessons, children will learn to distinguish between different types of UAVs, as well as study the history and methods of using weapons of mass destruction, along with the specifics of contract-based military service.

In several regions of Russia—the Kirov region, Chuvashia [Russia's constituent republic], and the Stavropol region—children were forced to participate in the"I'm not ashamed to be Russian" campaign.

At Kursk Gymnasium No. 25, sandbags and concrete blocks are being used to reinforce the building's facade, with teachers, children and their parents all involved in the work.

Miscellaneous

Meanwhile, despite Putin’s statements about a "new elite," the "special military operation" veterans are almost absent from the ongoing elections in Russia. According to calculations by Vazhnyye Istorii [IStories, independent Russian investigative media outlet], less than 0.5% of the candidates (380 people) are active military personnel. One-third of the military candidates are running with the United Russia party, while the second most popular strategy is to run as an independent candidate.

Longreads

The Kavkaz.Realii [Caucasus.Realities, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] media outlet reported on the increase in the number of criminal cases against minors in connection with the war in Ukraine and how their rights are being respected in detention. Meanwhile, the Lyudi Baikala [People of Baikal] independent media outlet gathered all known information about the underage residents of Siberia who were arrested for sabotage.

Vyorstka found and talked to relatives of seven conscripts who served near the town of Sudzha to understand how the conscripts ended up there, why they were left without weapons, and what happened to them at the border. Lyudi Baikala also spoke with the parents of conscripts who were defending the border in the Kursk region at the moment of the AFU’s breakthrough, as well as with those whose children are now being prepared to be sent to the border.

The T-Invariant publication spoke with lawyer Ivan Pavlov about how to perceive the harsh sentence of Aleksandr Shiplyuk, the 57-year-old head of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who was recently sentenced to 15 years in a penal colony for treason, and what other physicists in Russia should prepare for.

An employee of a Moscow library talked about books that disappeared from the shelves after the war began: works by regime opponents gradually disappeared not only from bookstores but also from the capital's libraries. Among them is "1984" by George Orwell—a book that has not disappeared from Russia’s top sales since 2022.