Ukrainians Illegally Drafted by Russia Face Beatings and Hazing

Ukrainian citizens from the temporarily occupied territories, who were illegally drafted by Russians into its army, faced beatings, hazing and terrible conditions of service.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported on this.

According to the “I Want to Live” project, last fall, 30 illegally conscripted people from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were included in a military unit in the occupied Crimea.

The Russians appointed natives of the Caucasus as their sergeants, who incite ethnic hatred and systematically organize beatings.

In addition, they detonate training grenades in the barracks, create unbearable living conditions and force Ukrainians to watch them perform namaz.

In addition to systematic humiliation by Caucasian “commanders,” the illegally recruited also complain of terrible and inadequate food.

By such actions, the Russian Federation grossly violates the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

According to the convention, the occupying power is prohibited from compelling the local population to serve in its armed or auxiliary forces, as well as from pressuring them or promoting voluntary enlistment.

“We appeal to all Ukrainian citizens illegally mobilized to the Russian army: you are victims of a war crime. For Ukraine, you are not traitors or criminals. The invaders intend to use you as cannon fodder in the war against your own country. You can save your life by contacting the “I Want to Live” project,” stated the project’s representatives.

On December 15, Militarnyi reported that three Russian conscripts suing the Russian Ministry of Defense over forged contracts were killed in action against Ukraine.

The three men from Sakhalin (Karafuto) had been in a legal battle with the ministry for nearly nine months.

Experts officially confirmed the forgery of their signatures only after their deaths.