Russia is forcing Ukrainian civilians stuck in occupied towns to join the army and 'fight against their own country,' watchdog reports

• Russia is forcing Ukrainians in occupied towns to join the army, a watchdog organization reports.
• Human Rights Watch found that both civilians and individuals in detention centers have been threatened and pressured.

Russia is forcibly enlisting Ukrainian civilians in occupied towns and regions, making them fight against their own country, according to a new watchdog report.

The reported practice, which experts call a war crime, reflects a demand for manpower amid heavy casualties on the battlefield, longstanding problems with retention and recruitment, and the cruelty of the Russian way of war.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch published a report on the actions of Russian authorities in occupied regions, condemning the act of trying to forcibly enlist Ukrainian civilians and people in detention centers into the Russian military.

"Russian authorities openly and unlawfully force men in occupied areas of Ukraine to fight against their own country," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

In particular, he was referencing Russia's fall conscription campaign in areas like Donetsk, as well as the United Nations report this month stating that men in certain areas were forced to go to the front lines.

There have been other cases, too, of Russia pushing mobilization efforts in occupied regions. When the propaganda doesn't work, they turn to intimidation and threats, the Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov noted.

"Russians understand that Ukrainian people don't want to fight other Ukrainians," he said. "So they find every way to pressure them."

But Russian authorities also seek recruitment from Ukrainian men in detention centers, hoping to coerce prisoners who have little food, water, or future to agree to fight.

Human Rights Watch said they'd talked to three men in the Donetsk region who'd been living in detention since before Russia's full-scale invasion nearly two years ago. The men they interviewed said they'd been pressured, intimidated, threatened, and subjected to propaganda to join the Donetsk's People's Republic, which is both a Russian-backed paramilitary and occupied Ukrainian territory.

The pressure to join has intensified in recent months, the three men added. One, a 38-year-old Ukrainian civilian with the alias "Yurii," said he was subjected to disgusting detention conditions, including an overcrowded cell filled with other prisoners who had active tuberculosis and food and water deprivation.

"When we complain, they respond: 'if you don't like the conditions here, going to war is your way out,'" he said.

Yurii's lawyer told Human Rights Watch: "The administration comes regularly and brings them enlistment forms, pushing them to 'volunteer.'… Many detainees have already agreed. Those who agree are sent immediately to the front lines, no training, nothing."

The practice of compelling or forcing Ukrainian civilians living in occupied regions to fight against their own country is yet another in a long list of alleged Russian war crimes, as documented by watchdog organizations and human rights groups.

It also comes amid force generation challenges for Russia, which has been documented sending poorly trained and even injured soldiers back into battle. Some troops with amputations or unhealed wounds are also being forced to go back to the front lines, intelligence updates indicate.

Earlier this month, a declassified US intelligence report said Russia had amounted a staggering 315,000 dead and injured troops, or about 90% of the personnel it had when it first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has a pressing need for additional manpower, a problem Ukraine is also facing at the moment, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated an unwillingness to mobilize more Russian forces prior to the 2024 election. Given the negative response the last mobilization received, it appears the Russians are looking to other options.

Just last month, Russian state media said that Ukrainian prisoners of war would be fighting in the Russian army, although it remained unclear whether these POWs had been coerced into joining or, as Russia suggested, joined of their own accord.

The deployment of POWs in service of the side that captured them is most likely a violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War.