Ukrainian intelligence official says Russia has forcibly mobilized more than 55,000 residents of occupied territories

Since the start of 2022, between 55,000 and 60,000 residents of Ukraine’s occupied territories have been forcibly mobilized into the Russian army, Ukrainian intelligence official Andriy Chernyak said on Monday.

“It’s forced mobilization: the occupiers caught people in the streets, or went to the few establishments still operating, and forcibly took people away; they simply put them in uniforms and sent them to the front,” Chernyak said, according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate.

The official also said that the Russian military promised to send many mobilized Ukrainians to the second or third lines, but that they were actually sent to the front line.

In addition, Chernyak said that the Russian army forced students to join the army. “A person would go to class one morning, and two days later he would be in battle. Strictly speaking, Russia doesn’t consider residents of the Donetsk or Luhansk regions people, so they couldn’t care less about whether they’re following the law,” he said. He added that the only opportunity people mobilized from the annexed territories have to survive is to surrender at the first opportunity.