Moscow-installed illegal occupation government in Crimea is preparing a new wave of mobilization of locals to the Russian army, reported the Mission of Ukraine’s President in Crimea.
The occupation authorities are installing mobilization points in Crimean cities, with one already active in central Alushta, according to the Aug. 28 report.
Meanwhile, the Russian military enlistment office in Sevastopol is briefing its employees on handing out summonses to residents in coordination with police or Rosgvardia, the Mission wrote.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia plans to mobilize up to 30,000 people and call up 10,000 previously conscripted soldiers in Crimea.
Russian instructors also reportedly conduct military training in Crimea based on their “experience" in fighting against Ukrainian forces, teaching locals field medicine, marksmanship skills, drone control, and mountaineering.
David Kirichenko
“The occupiers are looking for all possible ways to involve the residents of occupied Crimea in the war against Ukraine,” adds the report.
The Mission cited a recent decree signed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, allowing the "operational headquarters" of occupied Crimea to "coordinate" the work of military units and involve locals in "guarding and fighting against saboteurs on a voluntary basis."
On Aug. 27, the National Resistance Center, run by Ukraine’s special forces, reported that people living in Russian-occupied Crimea were increasingly unhappy with Moscow’s efforts to force them into the army.
Russian proxies throughout the occupied regions of Ukraine have forcibly drafted residents into the Russian military. In the Russian Federation, too, where campaigns to force men into military service have proven deeply unpopular, efforts to entice recruits with financial benefits have increased.
Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula has been under Russian occupation since 2014 following a fake referendum staged by Russia to annex the territory.
