This spring, Russia has reached the highest military conscription rates in 14 years, with President Putin ordering 160,000 young men to serve. The Defense Ministry claims this is unrelated to the Ukraine war, but many from occupied territories are being drafted. Accounts from young men in these regions reveal severe pressures and responsibilities to enlist. With life options limited without a Russian ID, the situation raises fears of forced recruitment, as some pro-Russian individuals volunteer while others express desperation about their futures under conscription demands.
According to Ukraine's Eastern Human Rights Group, at least 300 people from the occupied territories were conscripted into the Russian army in fall 2024, including around 200 from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Although Oleksii now has a Russian passport, he has so far been spared conscription. But since last fall, the Russian occupation authorities have been requiring men to enlist in the military.
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