More and more reports are appearing in the Russian-language media space that the Russian occupation authorities have intensified conscription in the captured territories of Ukraine. The number of patrols IDying local men has increased significantly. Ukrainians are handed draft summonses right in the street of taken to the assembly points without any paperwork whatsoever.
The occupation authorities have abolished physical exams for draftees altogether. Even those suffering from chronic diseases still get called up for service. Enlistment officers hunt for local men outside apartment blocks, in shops, and locations where drinking water is distributed.
The current mobilization is rather harsh as age and health concerns are not taken into consideration, and neither is the number of children raised in a family. Men are severely beaten for refusing to report to a draft office.
Forcible mobilization on the territories captured by Russia has become a mass phenomenon. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have already forcibly called up for service more than 100,000 residents of the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.
At the same time, those drafted in the captured territories are not included in the Russian death toll, clearly seen by Moscow as cannon fodder.
While Russians flee the country, trying to evade mobilization, thousands of Ukrainians remain hostage to the Kremlin regime, living under the constant threat of being drafted into the Russian army. Ukrainians who remained in the occupied territories are forced to hide not to get drafted into the invasion force.
The total mobilization of the male population of the temporarily captured areas by the Russian occupation authorities is a consequence of the genocidal nature of Russia’s war on Ukraine. This is a war against the very existence of Ukrainians, so it does not matter to the Russian authorities how Ukrainians die and on which side of the barricades they end up.
Russia is committing crimes by persecuting those who are unwilling to serve in its armed forces. Now, in addition to Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia partially occupied the territory of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Russian authorities continue the practice of forcible conscription as they are running out of human resources.
The ongoing mobilization carried out by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine violates international humanitarian law, in particular Art. 51 IV of the Geneva Convention. It prohibits the drafting of residents of the occupied territories into the ranks of the invading army. In this regard, Russia must be held accountable for the forcible mobilization of civilians on Ukrainian soil.