Forcibly "conscripted" Ukrainians to be used as cannon fodder: Kyiv protests against Russia's autumn conscription in occupied territories
Kyiv • UNN
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest against the autumn conscription for military service, which Russia is launching on October 1, 2025, particularly in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Forcing people to serve in the army of the occupying state is a war crime and will not go unpunished.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest in connection with the so-called "autumn conscription" for military service, which the Russian Federation is launching on October 1, 2025, including in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine - in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, UNN reports with reference to the statement of the department.
By carrying out this "conscription," the Russian Federation grossly violates its international legal obligations, in particular Article 51 of the IV Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which categorically prohibits an occupying power from compelling persons protected by the Convention to serve in its armed or auxiliary forces. Compelling service in the army of an occupying state is a war crime and will not go unpunished.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the Kremlin will certainly use forcibly "conscripted" citizens of Ukraine as cannon fodder in the war against their own state, which puts them in mortal danger. In this regard, we call on Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories to avoid this criminal "conscription" in every possible way.
The department also emphasized that conscripted citizens of the Russian Federation have every right not to comply with and sabotage the criminal "Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on conscription for military service."
In case of involvement in the war against Ukraine, we urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to save yourself through the "I Want to Live" project and voluntarily surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We also appeal to Ukrainians living in historical Ukrainian lands – in Kuban, Starodubshchyna, Northern and Eastern Slobozhanshchyna within the modern Krasnodar Krai, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk, Rostov regions of the Russian Federation: remember your roots and do not participate in the criminal war against the homeland of your ancestors. We also appeal to representatives of all indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation: this is not your war, this is Moscow's war, which throws you to conquer Ukrainian lands just as it once conquered your lands, and massively kills you so that others can live on your lands.
Ukraine continues to document all violations of international law by the Russian Federation. These evidences will be used to bring the Russian military-political leadership to justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized.
We call on the international community to strengthen political, diplomatic, and sanctions pressure on the aggressor state.