In three months, the Crimean Human Rights Group documented 63 Crimeans who were unlawfully mobilized by Russia and lost their lives.

From July to September 2024, the Crimean human rights organization documented at least 63 Crimeans who were illegally mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Since the onset of the large-scale invasion, the human rights organization has recorded a total of 703 deaths among the residents of the Crimean Peninsula.

This information is presented in the Monitoring Review by the Crimean Human Rights Group regarding the human rights situation.

Since February 24, 2022, the human rights organization has been regularly collecting information about the deceased and captured Russian military personnel assigned to military units in Crimea.

The human rights organization is outraged that the Russian Federation is using Crimeans in a full-scale war against Ukraine, forcibly conscripting local citizens of Ukraine into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in violation of international humanitarian law.

The Crimean Human Rights Group reminds that the forced recruitment of the population of occupied territories into the army of the occupying state constitutes a violation of international law, specifically the provisions of Article 51 of the Convention
on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Moreover, the actions of individuals responsible for implementing such forced recruitment are considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

On October 1, the RF and its temporarily occupied territories began another autumn conscription campaign. According to Vladimir Putin's decree dated September 30, 2024, the occupiers planned to conscript no less than 133,000 conscripts into the RF army.

To enforce conscription into the Armed Forces of the RF, the occupying authorities are using criminal prosecution for evasion from such service under Article 328 of the Criminal Code of the RF (evasion from military service in the Armed Forces of the RF), which provides for fines.

Throughout the period of temporary occupation, the Crimean Human Rights Group has documented at least 522 such criminal cases. Most often, the “courts” impose fines of up to 50,000 rubles. However, paying the fine does not exempt one from military service.

The issue of illegal conscription and mobilization was addressed during the annual press conference on the results of the activities of the President's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by its former head and people's deputy Tamila Tasheva.

According to her, residents of the peninsula who are being mobilized by the occupying authorities do not want to have a criminal case in their history, as it may hinder their employment opportunities in the future.

“But there is nothing to worry about, you won't be killed in the war, and you won't be killing, particularly, peaceful Ukrainian civilians. You won't be imprisoned. Especially since it will be a criminal case from the aggressor state,” – commented Tamila Tasheva.

The people's deputy urged Crimeans to avoid conscription into the armed forces of the aggressor country.

Previously, the Crimean Human Rights Group called on Crimeans to send documents and other evidence confirming the commission of crimes in occupied Crimea.

Recently, the ZMINA Human Rights Center presented a guide “How Victims in Ukraine Can Be Heard by the International Criminal Court (ICC).” Earlier, the Center for Civil Readiness developed, particularly for residents of occupied territories, an online course on the Prometeus platform titled “Chameleon: Avoiding Capture and the Psychology of Survival in Captivity.”

Recently, ZMINA reported that an electronic service “You are in Ukraine” has been launched for Ukrainians living in temporarily occupied territories: it includes safety and resistance instructions, as well as access to quality VPN and secure browser services.