This spring Russia He appoints more new recruits to military service than ever in the last 14 years. At the end of March Vladimir Putin He issued a decree ordering the appointment to the army for twelve months a total of 160,000. men aged 18 to 30. The conscripts were to start service from April 10.
Russian Ministry of Defense He claims that the establishment of new conscripts, which takes place twice a year – in spring and autumn – has nothing to do with the war against Ukraine. However, this also applies to men In the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Chersonia in the regions of Russia.which Moscow argued and considers her territory.
According to the Ukrainian organization, the Eastern group of human rights defenders in the autumn of 2024 at least 300 people from the occupied territories were incorporated into the Russian army, including about 200 from the Zaporoskie and Kherson region, as well as 100 from the Lugansk and Donetsk region.
War in Ukraine. Oleksy: I would have to start my life again
– If I be mobilized forcibly, I will shoot – says Oleksij (name changed). This 21-year-old lives in a part of the Zaporozhian region occupied by Russia, where he wants to stay with his family and all his belongings. “I would have to start my life again,” he emphasizes.
Although Oleksij has now Russian passportso far he has avoided consumption to the army. However, from last autumn, the Russian occupation authorities have been requiring men to register with conscripts.
Oleksij explains that without Russian documents it is almost impossible to find a job or study at a university. However, he does not know any cases of forced military service. Informs for the fact that pro -Russian men voluntarily went to conscripts and signed contracts with the Russian army.
A similar story is described by the 28-year-old A resident of the occupied village in the Lugansk region. This man has not yet accepted the Russian passport. According to him, the occupation authorities make life difficult for people like him. Ukrainian human rights defenders confirm that, for example, you cannot get a SIM card without a Russian passport, because mobile phones are under Russian control.
Military service for Ukrainians
Everyone who joins the Russian army is first sent to Russia for training, usually in barracks in the southern regions of Russia – Rostów and Krasnodar, but also nearby St. Petersburg or Moscow. Some men are sent to Ukrainian Russia annexed by Russia Crimea Peninsula.
According to the Ukrainian activist for human rights and the head of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Safety Pawło, the Russian army did not create its own barracks in occupied territories of Ukraine for security reasons.
– After completing the training, many conscripts are sent to the front after signing the contract with the Russian army – says the expert. Sometimes it is done voluntarily, but often under pressure or because of a lack of alternative.
Only a few conscript from occupied territories You manage to find near St. Petersburg or Moscow thanks to acquaintances and bribes to avoid sending to the front. According to Łyzjański, only 15 men succeeded last year.
This is because the Russian army must fill the mobilization plan and is under pressure itself. – They try to make up for the lack of soldiers with men who graduated from military service – explains the human rights defender.
Ukraine. Soldiers from the occupied circuits
Such a case was described on the Telegram channel and concerns mobilization to the army in the so -called “Donetsk People's Republic”. A man from the occupied part of the Donetsk region was sent to the Krasnodrodów region for the purpose of military service. He was told that after the end of his service he would have to go to the front. – The commanders said that everything has already been organized for him – says Mikhail (name changed) in an interview with DW. This man wanted to contact Russian military prosecutor's office. His further fate is unknown.
The duty of military service is not only subject to persons who accepted the Russian passport and are at least 18 years old, but also those who graduated from the so -called “Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republic” before February 2022, i.e. before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to Mikhail, this also includes members of the so-called “folk militia” of these self-proclaimed republics that existed in 2014-2022. They were sent to Russia to perform military service. In addition, men of conscript in the above -mentioned areas are called directly to the conscript committees to register or start of military service. “But I can't say what the scope is,” he says.
Russia. Penalties for refusal
– The refusal of service in the Russian army is practically impossible – says Olha Skrypnyk, head of the Ukrainian Crymian group of human rights defenders. According to her, Russia began the illegal consumption of men to the army in 2015; First in an annexed Crimea, and then in other occupied areas of Ukraine.
– before the Russian full -scale invasionEvery year, about six thousand people were taken into the army in Crimea. Currently, we do not have numerical data, but probably this number has increased – explains Olha Skrypnyk.
The refusal of military service in Russia may result in a judgment of up to two years imprisonment. In the opinion of the organization of human rights, at least 583 criminal proceedings were initiated in Crimea.
However, according to the Russian -speaking Verstka information service, which is critical of the Kremlin, in the first half of 2024 no one was sentenced to imprisonment; Three men received suspended sentences, and the others were sentenced to a fine.
Organizations talk about war crimes
The judgments imposed, however, do not release anyone from the service in the Russian army, says Skrypnyk, emphasizing that military consumption in the occupied territories violates international Humanitarian law and is a war crime.
Russia forced into the army of Ukrainians living in the territories occupied since 2022 and often uses them as human shields. – We know the cases in which the army, unarmed men were erected in front of other troops, and were the first to be attacked. It was practiced on a massive scale in 2022 – says Olha Skrypnyk.
In the opinion of the “Crimean Human Rights Group” organization, Russia used many recruits from Crimea he marked during the invasion of Ukraine. According to the activist, since 2022, at least 1873 members of the Russian army were killed from the units in Crimea, and 116 were taken prisoner by the Ukrainian armed forces.