Abuse and food shortages: how Russia treats recruits from occupied southern Ukraine

The I Want to Live project reported the information on Telegram.

The project reported that, last fall, thirty Ukrainian men illegally mobilized by Russia from the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were sent to a military unit in temporarily occupied Crimea.

Russian forces assigned sergeants from the Caucasus to oversee them. As a result, from the first day in the unit, the recruits were subjected to mistreatment.

"For example, the sergeants began 'disciplining' them by throwing training grenades into sleeping quarters while they were asleep, turning the Ukrainians' belongings and beds upside down, and forcing them to watch as they performed namaz," the report states.

In addition, the illegally mobilized soldiers also complain about terrible and insufficient food.

"The traditionally poor nutrition and supply issues of the 'second army of the world,' along with constant psychological pressure from commanders, are still present," the project emphasized.

• Earlier, the Yellow Ribbon movement reported that in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region, Russian military forces are searching for people in difficult situations to forcibly mobilize them into the army.