On May 20, 2025, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (IC RF) Alexander Bastrykin, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPBILF), reported that 20 thousand people who recently received Russian citizenship were sent to the special military operation zone (SMO). According to him, these individuals were identified during raids by the military investigative department of the IC RF together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian National Guard. In total, security forces "caught" 80 thousand naturalized citizens who evaded military registration, a quarter of whom have already been sent to the front lines.

"We have caught 80 thousand such citizens of Russia, who do not want to go to the front line, let alone to the military registration and enlistment office. We have registered them, and already 20 thousand young citizens of Russia, who for some reason do not like living in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, are on the front line," — said Bastrykin, whose words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

The raids that the head of the Investigative Committee spoke about began in October 2023, when a special group was created to identify new Russian citizens who had not registered for military service. According to Kommersant, in 2024, as a result of such checks, more than 30 thousand people were registered, of which about 10 thousand were sent to the SVO zone, mainly to rear units to build fortifications and dig trenches. By 2025, this number had doubled.