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Russia’s Forced Draft in Occupied Donbas Targets the Sick, the Disabled, and the Untrained
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia has launched what Ukrainian officials describe as a sweeping campaign of forced mobilization in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions—an effort increasingly resembling the deliberate disposal of the local population, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) said on January 18.
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According to the CCD, men conscripted from occupied Donbas—including individuals with disabilities or serious medical conditions—are being thrown into frontline assaults with little regard for survival.
Testimonies from within the units themselves indicate that many of the mobilized are used as expendable manpower to probe Ukrainian positions and absorb initial enemy fire.
Russian unit commanders have publicly acknowledged the severity of the situation, admitting that many conscripts received neither medical screening nor proper military training.
As conditions deteriorate, unrest has reportedly begun to surface within these formations, while personnel are increasingly treated as disposable resources rather than soldiers.
Despite the growing chaos, Russian occupation authorities show no signs of slowing the campaign. Ukrainian officials point to a recent decision to establish draft commissions and begin conscripting men born between 1996 and 2008 in occupied areas of the Donetsk region as evidence that forced mobilization is accelerating rather than easing.
“This is direct proof that Russia places no value on the lives of people living in the occupied territories. Forced mobilization in occupied Donbas is part of Russia’s genocidal policy: the physical destruction of people it once claimed it would protect is ongoing,” the CCD said.
Earlier, reports emerged that Russia was no longer disguising military training for children as social or educational programs, with minors now being taught to operate drones and participate in other military-related activities.
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-63a0cfde531e2c4be940b69a21bbda78.jpg "Mother Eugenia, a nun receiving support from the Saint Elisabeth Monastery with a Russian flag and the “Z” seen as a staunchly pro-war symbol of Putin's invasion of Ukraine (Photo: Saint Elisabeth Convent via Telegram)")
-cee84131972e3b8f5739213255e08574.jpg "Mural in New York City honoring Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was killed in the U.S. (Photo: Julia Gorodetskaya)")