Crimean residents facing illegal conscription into the Russian army are urged to report these cases to Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Residents of the occupied Crimea who are about to be drafted into the Russian army are urged to report such cases to Ukraine, as this is a war crime and violates international law.
Residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea who are about to be drafted into the Russian army are asked to report such cases to Ukraine. The corresponding statement was made by the Official Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, UNN reports.
We appeal to the citizens of Ukraine who are forced to serve in the armed forces of the occupying state to report the facts of illegal conscription. The evidence collected will help in the work of documenting and bringing to justice those responsible for organizing illegal conscription in Crimea, as well as protecting our citizens who are victims of war crimes.
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Today, another illegal conscription campaign for military service has begun in Russia. Russians are also mobilizing men on the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
The agency noted that since 2015, 18 such illegal conscription campaigns have taken place in the annexed Crimea. In total, about 44.5 thousand conscripts were called up to serve in the armed forces of the occupying state.
It is noted that the residents of the peninsula, citizens of Ukraine, are once again trying to avoid illegal conscription, but the occupation administrations will try to force them through criminal prosecution mechanisms. The Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is aware of 520 cases, 206 of which occurred after February 24, 2022, or 40%.
We emphasize that such actions of the representatives of the aggressor state constitute a systemic war crime and remind that the conscription of residents of the occupied territories into the armed forces by the occupiers, systematic propaganda of service in the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea, as well as the transfer of Ukrainian citizens from the occupied territory to the territory of the Russian Federation violate the provisions of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
They also noted that the illegal conscription campaign of the Russian Federation in Crimea and the criminal prosecution of our citizens for draft evasion are also condemned by the international community. In particular, this was approved in the UN General Assembly resolutions of December 18, 2019 and December 16, 2020 "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol".
