There are several Ukrainians from the occupied territories serving with Dmytro (Image: Getty Images)
Dmytro, a native of southern Ukraine, enjoyed a peaceful life working on his parents’ farm before the Russian invasion. When Russia seized control of his hometown in 2022, his family chose to remain, unable to “abandon their home.” Dmytro stayed for them.
Subsequently, he and his father were coerced into registering for military service under threat of fines and property seizure.
“I don’t like it, and I felt guilty about being in the Russian army that occupied my city. I can’t call myself a great patriot of Ukraine, but I think what Russia is doing is extremely wrong, and I don’t want me and my family to be forced into anything,” Dmytro confessed to the Kyiv Independent. The report emerged as experts warn of the horrifying WW3 signs a Putin invasion of two NATO allies is imminent.
“After I got in touch with Atesh, I did different tasks… So far, they’ve been small ones, like fixing minor (vehicle) breakdowns that cause delays in logistics or supplies. It’s not much, but I think even this can affect combat operations,” Dmytro revealed to the Express US.
“If shells, provisions, or reinforcements cannot arrive on time, it will have negative consequences,” he warned.
Read more: Putin says NATO is ‘paper tiger’ as he accuses Europe of ‘hysteria’
Read more: Desperate Putin prepares to send Russian troops into battle on horseback
While Dmytro’s account is difficult to confirm, it is far from unique. Reports suggest that in occupied territories, Ukrainians are being forced to accept Russian passports and register for military service, enabling Russia to mobilise them.
Ukraine’s intelligence services have revealed that Russia has mobilised an estimated 300,000 men from the local population in occupied Ukraine since the onset of full-scale war in 2022 until summer 2024. This information was reported by the Eastern Human Rights Group and the Institute for Strategic Studies and Security (ISRS).
The Yellow Ribbon resistance movement, a Ukrainian civil resistance network active in occupied areas, stated on 28 Aug. that Russian military commissariats had increased their activity over the previous month in Luhansk Oblast.
“Representatives of the occupying structures are looking for potential conscripts at enterprises, in shops, and in service centres,” the report reveals.
The report suggests that Russia is not only targeting young people but also focusing its mobilisation efforts on Ukrainians in “difficult life situations,” These include orphans, children of disabled individuals, and boys whose parents are hospitalised with cancer or other severe health conditions.
Military mobility of Ukrainian soldiers near Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
However, Russia’s mobilisation efforts are facing significant challenges. Data from the National Resistance Centre shows that Russia is struggling to meet its 2025 mobilisation goal in occupied Crimea, having only managed to mobilise 963 out of 1,636 people, which is just 59% of the annual target.
Several Ukrainians from the occupied territories are serving alongside Dmytro.
“The commander sometimes says, especially when he’s drunk, that they are liberating us (Ukrainians under occupation) here and fighting because of us. Once, he even threatened to send us to another unit for an assault because ‘we owed our debt’ to Russia.”
He reveals that relatives and friends residing in the occupied territory are aware that he was conscripted into the Russian army, and “are not happy about that.”
However, he chose not to inform his friends and acquaintances who live outside the Russian-occupied areas.
Ukraine: Drone operators take down Mi-28 helicopter
Dmytro maintains vehicles in the Russian army and is “forced to talk with Russian soldiers every day.
“Of course, it’s difficult and unpleasant (being close to Russians),” he explained, “but we usually don’t talk about the war during our service.”
Aside from the commander, the “ordinary” soldiers get along well with Ukrainians from the occupied territory, though they “consider the Ukrainians who are fighting against them to be Bandera supporters and Nazis controlled by the West.
“Everyone in my unit is very tired of the war and is waiting for it to end. … I think they themselves do not understand what they are doing here and do not ask themselves such questions. Most are here for money, some, like me, because they were forced to come,” Dmytro explained.
“I try to keep a cool head about my work and these conditions. I’m waiting for everything to end so I can go home and do what I used to do.”
