Ukraine expresses its strong protest against the forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories into the Russian army and calls on the world to increase pressure on Russia, and the International Criminal Court to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice, according to a statement by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on March 31 regarding the Russian "conscription" in the temporarily occupied territories, writes UNN.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest in connection with the forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens into the armed forces and other military formations, which the Russian Federation carries out in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as part of the so-called "spring conscription 2025"
As stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Russian "conscription" in the occupied territories is a gross violation of international law.
We call on the world community to increase political and diplomatic, sanctions and other types of pressure on the Kremlin regime. We appeal to the International Criminal Court to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, to take all necessary measures to protect the rights of coerced Ukrainian citizens who are subjected to pressure from the occupation authorities and to document Russian crimes.
Appeal to Ukrainians in the occupied territories
"We ask Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories to avoid the Russian "conscription" in every possible way, and in case of forced mobilization, to leave such units at the first opportunity and return to the territory of Ukraine or go to third countries. If the Russian Federation involves conscripts in the aggression against Ukraine, we urge them to take advantage of the "I want to live" project and voluntarily lay down their arms to the Defense Forces of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed to ethnic Ukrainians who are citizens of the Russian Federation in Kuban, Starodubshchyna, Northern and Eastern Slobozhanshchyna within the current Krasnodar Territory, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk, Rostov regions of the Russian Federation: "remember your ancestry and roots and do not participate in the criminal war against the homeland of your ancestors."
"Ukraine, together with its partners, continues to document this and other Russian crimes, and to work to bring the Russian military and political leadership to justice for the crime of aggression against our state and all related atrocities," the Foreign Ministry stressed.