Russia has launched forced total mobilization in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, conscripting men born 1996–2008. Ukrainian officials describe it as "targeted disposal" of the local population, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
The campaign fits a pattern that Ukrainian officials now describe as deliberate "utilization" of the local population. Testimonies from within Russian units report that those mobilized receive neither medical examinations nor full military training. Regardless, Russian commanders send them to identify Ukrainian positions or absorb fire in offensive operations.
Commanders admit: the system is breaking
Russian unit commanders have publicly acknowledged the crisis conditions, according to the CCD. Riots are breaking out in formations, and soldiers are treated as "expendable material."
The mobilized often include people with chronic illnesses or physical disabilities who would be medically disqualified under any conventional military system.
Forced mobilization: a documented war crime
Under Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, occupying powers are explicitly prohibited from compelling protected persons to serve in armed or auxiliary forces. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies such forced conscription as a war crime.
Since February 2022, when occupation authorities ordered general mobilization days before Russia's full-scale invasion, residents have described patrols literally grabbing men off the streets and from workplaces. By mid-2022, human rights groups estimated 140,000 people had been forcibly mobilized in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR/LNR). Casualty rates in some formations reach 70–80%.
Russia's promise vs. reality
The CCD's report frames this as evidence of a "genocidal policy."
"This is direct confirmation that for Russia, the lives of the inhabitants of the occupied territories have no value. Forced mobilization in the occupied Donbas is part of the Russian Federation's genocidal policy: the physical extermination of people whom Russia promised to protect continues," the Center stated.
The Kremlin has expanded forced mobilization beyond Donbas in recent months, with reports of reservist call-ups in Luhansk Oblast. Russian authorities promised the men they would guard infrastructure. Instead, they immediately transferred to military training centers to prepare them for combat.
