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Russia Forces Over 46,000 Ukrainians Into Military Service, Including Thousands From Crimea and Donbas

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Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko
Dariia Mykhailenko
News Writer
People arrive at recruiting office to register themselves after declaration of mobilization in the Donetsk region under Russian control, on February 23, 2022. (Source: Getty Images)
People arrive at recruiting office to register themselves after declaration of mobilization in the Donetsk region under Russian control, on February 23, 2022. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia has forcibly mobilized 46,327 Ukrainians from the temporarily occupied territories, according to Dmitro Usov, the Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Affairs.

This was disclosed at the Third International Conference Crimea Global: Understanding Ukraine through the South, as reported by Ukrinform correspondent on November 18.

“We have established that 46,327 of our citizens have been forcibly mobilized from the occupied territories, including Crimea. These individuals are fighting against us,” said Usov.

The Coordination Headquarters further reported that in the Donetsk region, 5,368 Ukrainians were mobilized, in Luhansk, 4,650, in Zaporizhzhia, 560, and in Kherson, 478. In Crimea, 35,272 people were mobilized, with an additional 5,368 from Sevastopol.

These statistics on mobilization cover the period from February 2022 to July 2025. The Ukrainian military intelligence gathered this information, which has been confirmed by Russia, Usov noted.

He also mentioned that 16% of the prisoners held in Ukrainian camps for prisoners of war are Ukrainian citizens, with 6% of them being from Crimea.

Furthermore, Usov shared that legislative changes will be proposed to the Ukrainian Parliament to prevent Ukrainians from temporarily occupied territories from being returned to Russia during exchanges.

“We must make the right decision when there is a request from the Russian side for exchanges, because it is an exchange of Ukrainians for Ukrainians. We must do everything to ensure they do not return to Russia, but stay in Ukraine,” Usov emphasized.

He added that Ukrainian courts have already issued acquittals for some of the Ukrainian prisoners held in Ukrainian territory. "We are waiting for their release from the camps," he concluded.

Earlier, in the temporarily occupied Kherson region, authorities installed by Russia are coercing Ukrainian parents into accepting Russian passports for their children, threatening to remove them from parental custody if they refuse.

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