Russia’s mobilization law theoretically allows harsher sentences for nearly any crime. In practice, courts rarely invoke it.

Exactly four years ago, an amendment to Russia’s Criminal Code, directly tied to mobilization, took effect. Under the amendment, courts could, in theory, treat almost any crime committed since September 24, 2022, as having at least one aggravating circumstance: it was committed “during mobilization” — a period that has yet to end.