Military conscription of local residents in the Russian Armed Forces continues in occupied Crimea, while 21 people were sentenced to imprisonment for evasion from military service in 2018, according to the UN monitoring mission on human rights in Ukraine.
Russia continues to suppress freedom of expression and criticism, as well as expression of the view on the occupation of the peninsula, the mission’s report, presented at a press conference in Kyiv on March 12, reads.
Crimean residents are being called up to serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Men, in case of evasion from military service, can become victims of criminal prosecution and be punished for up to two years in prison. In 2018, at least 21 people were found guilty of such a case, the UN said.
“Crimean Tatars continue to suffer more from human rights violations … they continue to face sentences in criminal cases against Crimean Tatars for their possible membership in religious Muslim organizations that are prohibited in the Russian Federation,” the report says.
