The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) revealed that since the beginning of 2022, approximately 55,000 to 60,000 residents from the occupied territories of Ukraine have been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army.
Andriy Chernyak, a representative of the military intelligence agency, disclosed this alarming information, shedding light on the harsh realities faced by the occupied regions.
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“This is a forced mobilization: the occupiers caught people on the street, they came to those few enterprises that were still working, and forcibly took people away – they simply changed clothes and sent them to the front,” the press service of the HUR quoted Chernyak as saying.
Russian authorities, according to Ukrainian Intelligence, had promised the mobilized men assignments in the second or third line of defense. Still, instead, they were thrust into the first line of the frontline.
Chernyak also revealed that even students were not spared from the relentless conscription. Many were abruptly taken from their classrooms and found themselves on the battlefield within a matter of days.
“Russia does not consider the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to be people, so the occupiers absolutely do not care. The laws do not apply,” Chernyak said.
Residents forcibly conscripted from the annexed territories face grave risks, and intelligence representatives emphasized that surrendering at the first opportunity may be the only hope for survival.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November, 24, 2024
The forced mobilization began on February 19, 2022, merely five days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The aggressive conscription efforts have had dire consequences, leading to the closure of numerous enterprises and the disruption of essential city and municipal services in the occupied territories.
As a result, residents in the annexed regions have been left with no choice but to go into hiding or attempt to flee illegally from the self-proclaimed republics to avoid the clutches of Russian conscription.
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