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Yesterday

Mobilization in Russia for July 18-19, 2024 CIT Volunteer Summary

 

In the Irkutsk region, funds are being raised for body bags for evacuating corpses from the frontline. This request was made in a closed chat for military wives, according to reports by Lyudi Baikala. Military personnel involved in body evacuation have appealed for donations to cover the cost of the bags.

In the Kamchatka region, Rosgvardia (the Russian National Guard) is offering hunters to donate their rifles to the war, implying that the surrendered civilian weapons will be used to combat UAVs.

Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 59,725 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 7,444 mobilized soldiers. Over the past week, the list has been supplemented with 557 soldiers.

Russian soldiers have been awarded bonuses for destroying Abrams tanks. Soldiers from the Group of Troops "Center," fighting in the Avdiivka direction in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, received payments of 500,000 rubles [$5,670], funded by the Fores company. A company representative, Ilya Potanin, promised that Russian soldiers would also receive bonuses for destroying F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft, even though the delivery of F-15 fighters has never been announced by Western allies.

Longreads

Novaya Gazeta Europe [European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta] has estimated the impact of the war on the Russian economy. According to journalists, Russia may have already lost between 1.5 million and 1.7 million people or about 2.2% of the workforce. These figures primarily include mobilized soldiers and contract soldiers sent to the frontline, those who have emigrated and combat losses. If there is a new wave of mobilization, the number of people removed from the economy to the frontline could increase by another 50 to 60% by the end of 2024.

The Insider [independent Russian investigative media outlet] reports about a punishment system in the Russian Army that is based on prison traditions. Commanders are creating "punitive platoons" or squads of voluntary assistants to strengthen discipline and punish drinking soldiers. These groups of soldiers receive certain privileges, such as exemptions from participating in assaults.

According to calculations by the Re: Russia project, Russian authorities may have spent up to 3 trillion rubles [$34 billion] on payments to war participants over the past year. This amount constitutes 1.5% of GDP or 7.5-8.2% of all federal budget expenditures for 2024. Of this sum, 1.55-1.8 trillion rubles [$17.6-$20 billion] has been allocated for monthly salaries of military personnel, while the remaining 1.2 trillion rubles [$13.3 billion] has been designated for payments for injuries, disabilities and deaths.

The Sever.Realii [part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] online media outlet discussed how authorities are coercing convicts to enlist in the war. The Cherta [Boundary] independent online media outlet published interviews with gamblers who sign military contracts and go to the frontline to pay off their debts. Additionally, Idel.Realii, also part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, released a report on a military propaganda marathon in Tatarstan.

According to Meduza [international Russian-language online media outlet], Sergey Kirienko, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, stated in a meeting with deputy governors that the return of participants from the war with Ukraine will become "the main factor of political and social risks." Kirienko believes that war participants "poorly adapt" to civilian life after returning from the frontline. He noted that many went to war to be released from penal colonies, and upon returning home, they commit crimes again. However, Kirienko did not propose any specific measures to address the problem. Meduza's sources noted that in private conversations, officials are already referring to those returning from the frontline as "the new Afghans" and fear that they too might start forming their own criminal groups. Two other participants of the meeting told Meduza that, in their opinion, the Kremlin does not understand the scale of risks that Russia may face after the war.