By Galina Korol | 2025-04-28

KYIV -- In Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, young men face a chilling ultimatum: fight for Russia against their own homeland or face prison. Russia is ramping up conscription, targeting thousands to fill its military ranks, defying international law and shattering lives in its bid to erase Ukrainian identity.

Conscription has escalated dramatically since the early days of occupation.

"At the start of the occupation, roughly speaking, about 10 men were conscripted. Now, we are talking about thousands," the spokesperson for the National Resistance Center, who goes by the call sign "Lipa," told Kontur.

It is very likely that "an absolute majority of men ages 18 to 29 will be drafted," Sergei Danilov, deputy director of the Center for Middle East Studies, told Kontur.

This spring, occupation authorities in Melitopol aim to draft 350 young men, according to the National Resistance Center. Last fall, Russia drafted at least 300 men from occupied territory, including 200 from Zaporizhzhia and Kherson and 100 from Luhansk and Donetsk, per the Eastern Human Rights Group, as reported by Deutsche Welle on April 10.

This escalation is a deliberate strategy to bolster Russian forces while coercing Ukrainians to fight against their own nation, analysts say.

"It is very difficult for a man in temporarily occupied territory to avoid the war, because there are so many factors that inevitably lead you there," Lipa said.

Militarization is intensifying, particularly among youth.

"This is no longer just ideological preparation. It is the creation of a generation that will fight. The system for training children to fight has become so relentless, it’s truly horrifying," Lipa said, noting that in Crimea, this "machine" has consumed 11 graduating classes.

Since 2015, Crimea has seen 583 criminal cases for draft evasion, with 470 convictions, according to the representative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported April 1.

Courts fined the majority of the convicted Crimeans between 5,000 and 50,000 RUB ($61 and $608). Some face repeated prosecutions and suspended sentences.

Such actions "not only violate international humanitarian law but also constitute direct pressure on Ukrainian citizens meant to force cooperation with the occupier and to destroy their national identity," the Crimean Wind Telegram channel said April 2.

A 'horrible scheme'

Russian authorities employ pressure, blackmail and deception to enforce conscription.

"This is a sort of a 'clever scheme'... boys are conscripted, and from the very first day, [Russians] push them to sign contracts, after which there's no way out," Lipa explained.

Moreover, enlistment offices may fabricate criminal cases, threatening objectors with jail and service in high-risk penal military units like Storm-Z.

In addition, the occupation authorities manipulate the minds of impressionable young men. Previously, some conscripts served without combat and returned home, which could have created a false sense of safety.

"Guys would serve and even return home without being sent into war. They were real-life propagandists, proofs that 'there's nothing scary about this,'" Danilov said.

Now, however, "even conscripts who haven't signed contracts [to become professional soldiers] face a high risk of being sent into combat," Oleksiy Melnyk, senior expert in international politics and security at the Razumkov Center, told Kontur.

Melnyk described the draft as part of a "horrible scheme" to treat occupied populations as Russian assets, forcing them to fight Ukraine.

"Russia views the population that has ended up in occupied territory as its own," he said.

In almost every occupied community, some men have signed military service contracts and deaths are rising, said Danilov, predicting "many more cases" this year.

"When you talk to the heads of the military administrations or the heads of the occupied communities, practically every one has one or more men who have signed contracts, and there are already those who have died," he said.

Escape routes: how to avoid the draft

Evading conscription is challenging but possible. Danilov advised, "The first course of action is to leave while you can." Alternatively, bribes may work locally to avoid service.

"Pay bribes if there's an opportunity, if there are ways at the local level to somehow avoid doing compulsory military service, not to mention being sent into the 'special military operation,'" he continued, citing the Kremlin's euphemism for its invasion of Ukraine.

However, no method is foolproof, and young men remain under constant threat.

Lipa urged those conscripted to document coercion: "If it so happens that you end up in this war, it's very important to somehow document that you were not there voluntarily. So that later -- if you surrender or when the war ends -- you can be exonerated and not treated as a criminal who really wanted to fight against Ukraine."

Conscription in occupied territory grossly violates international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which Russia disregards, Melnyk said.

The international community needs to condemn all of Russia's actions and courts need to prosecute the culprits, analysts emphasize.