This spring marks the highest rate of military conscription that Russia has seen in 14 years. In late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree ordering 160,000 men aged 18 to 30 to be called up. Their year of service began on April 10.

Russia's Defense Ministry claims that the latest round of conscription, which takes place biannually in spring and autumn, has nothing to do with the war against Ukraine. But men in the Russian-occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are also being drafted.

According to Ukraine's Eastern Human Rights Group (EHRG), at least 300 people from the occupied territories were conscripted into the Russian army in fall 2024, including around 200 from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and 100 from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

"If I'm forcibly mobilized, I'll shoot myself," says Oleksii (name changed). The 21-year-old lives in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia, where he wants to stay with his family. "I would have to start my life all over again," he says.

Although Oleksii now has a Russian passport, he has so far been spared conscription. But since last fall, the Russian occupation authorities have been requiring men to enlist in the military, he says.

Without Russian ID, it is almost impossible to get a job or study at a university, Oleksii explains. While he is not aware of any cases of forced conscription for military........

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