During the eight years of the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, about 36,000 Crimeans and Sevastopol residents were drafted into the Russian army. This was stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The department’s statement says that Russia’s mobilization campaign in Crimea speaks of the desire of the Russian authorities to reduce “the number of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars on the peninsula as a category of people that has the greatest resistance to Russian occupation.” The current conscription campaign is already the 16th in a row for the occupied peninsula.
Also, the Ukrainian authorities recalled that by calling on the inhabitants of Crimea, Russia violates the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Population in Time of War. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the world community to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.
In April, the human rights organization KrymSOS created a register of Russian military commissars who forcibly conscript residents of annexed Crimea into the army. According to human rights activists, information about 18 officials has been confirmed.