"Purge" of the unpleasant: how Russia is mobilizing the Crimean Tatars for war  

 

Men of the draft age mostly travel alone, as well as with their families, via the Kerch Bridge, which connects the peninsula with Russia, because this is the only way they can get out of Crimea and then reach Georgia, Azerbaijan or the countries of Central Asia, primarily Kazakhstan.

The non-governmental organization "Crimea SOS" and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people call the mobilization violent and point out that there are clearly more Crimean Tatars on the lists for mobilization than other inhabitants of the peninsula. It is said that 80-90 percent of Crimean Tatars are included in lists for mobilization in some locations.

According to the representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, in the first two days of Putin's decree on mobilization, 1,500 invitations were delivered to the Crimean Tatars.

 

Mejlis member Eskander Bariev said on September 27 on TV Channel 5 that the Russians issued a total of 60,000 invitations to the residents of the annexed peninsula, mostly to the Crimean Tatars.

This information was confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelensky: "Most of the calls for mobilization there were written specifically for the Crimeans. It is another element of Russia's genocidal policy, another reason for the immediate and harsh reaction of the whole world."

 

 

"Crimean Tatars started leaving Crimea the day after the announcement of the mobilization decree. And not only Tatars. Everyone's mood is terrible. Even those who had "son-in-law" on their cars (the letter Z.) took them off and are trying to leave," 26-year-old Akhtem, who lives in one of the districts of Crimea (his name has been changed from security sources), told BBC News Ukraine reasons).

A few days ago, together with his wife and four other men, he left Crimea by car and traveled nearly 4,000 kilometers to the border with Kazakhstan.

Ahtem left before the invitation was brought to him.

Another interviewee of BBC News Ukraine, who lives in Kyiv but has relatives in Crimea, says that calls home are not only made by military commissariat workers, but also by Crimean Tatars, whom he calls "collaborators".

"One of the local deputies of a village near Simferopol was supposed to deliver 70 invitations, half of them to Crimean Tatars. But he managed to deliver only three, because people refused to communicate with him," he says on condition of anonymity. .

According to him, on the first day of Putin's decree on mobilization, more than 10,000 people registered in a closed group in Telegram, where lawyers give advice on how to act in order to avoid mobilization, and the next day there were already 15,000. There they discuss how to behave with the representatives of the military commissariat, how and where to leave Crimea and what to do in Russia or Kazakhstan, which has become the biggest center for those fleeing mobilization, and not only for Crimean Tatars.

 

 

Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians who remain on the peninsula and do not recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, were forced to take Russian citizenship in 2014-2015 in order to work in Crimea and use medical and social services.

 

That is, according to formal signs, the Russian Federation can consider the residents of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars, the same potential soldiers of the Russian army as those from other regions.

At the same time, the leaders of the Crimean Tatars accuse Russia of violating the Geneva Conventions, which refer to the demands of states that have occupied other territories. According to them, as emphasized in the Majlis, "the occupying power cannot force persons under its care to serve in its armed or auxiliary forces".

Mejlis emphasizes that the action of the Russian authorities looks like an intention to destroy the adult male population of the indigenous people of the Crimean Tatars.

 

About 300,000 Crimean Tatars live in Ukraine, mostly in Crimea. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, about 30,000 people left the peninsula.

"Do you understand what they are doing? They are trying to send Crimean Tatars to fight against their relatives, who are now in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the entire line of conflict. To send them to war against their own country, because the majority of Crimean Tatars have pro-Ukrainian views, despite the violent acquiring a Russian "ausvais", that is, a passport", says Alim Alijev, deputy general director of the Ukrainian Institute and co-founder of "Crimea SOS".

Mihajlo Podoljak, adviser to the head of the office of the president of Ukraine, called the situation with calls to the Crimean Tatars "an attempt by Moscow to cleanse the territory of disloyal population".

The Mejlis called on the Crimean Tatars to refuse service in the Russian army in any way possible and to leave Crimea if possible.

"We offer a choice that gives the possibility to preserve life, dignity, not to be killed and not to become a murderer. Yes, there is an article of the Criminal Code to avoid mobilization. It foresees up to five years in prison. But we believe that this step will be a testimony not only about man's courage and dignity, but also about man taking care of himself, his family and Crimea, which will be liberated. No one will spend five years in prison, "said Majlis leader Refat Chubarov.

The representation of the president in the ARC recommends that the Crimean Tatars and other Crimeans who do not recognize the annexation leave the peninsula.

 

They also give other advice: avoid receiving calls in person, communicating by phone, change your place of residence, delete Russian mobile applications for the provision of administrative services, where mobilization notifications can be received. Also, among the tips - under no circumstances go to the Military Commissariat, if the summons has been served.

"Because you have to understand that even if the summons is served and you don't go to the Military Commissariat, it's an administrative responsibility - fines," Alim Aliyev emphasized in an interview with BBC News Ukraine.

Advice on how to avoid mobilization is also given on social networks

And the most important recommendation of state bodies and Majlis - if it was not possible to avoid mobilization, immediately surrender to the Armed Forces. The phone numbers that I can call are also listed.

 

With Russian passports and car numbers, Ahtem and other Crimean men drove across Russian territory to the border with Kazakhstan without incident. When the road patrols asked where they were going, they answered - that they were working on construction.

He says that in order to reach Kazakhstan, they stood in line for a day at the Russian-Kazakh crossing Žibek-Žoli.

"There are a lot of people there. We stood with the Russians, next to us was a woman with a son from St. Petersburg. People from Volgograd, Chechnya, Dagestan, Perm. That is, we found ourselves in the same situation as those whose country went to war against my country," says Akhtem.

 

According to him, the number of people at this crossing is constantly increasing.

"Everyone who tries to cross the border is interrogated by FSB officers. They take their phones, ask where and for what purpose you are going, when you are coming back, how you feel about the latest events. I said that the purpose of our trip is touristic, we are going with my wife to Astana for a walk. Others say they are going to a wedding at their aunt's house. But there everyone understands everything, because mostly men wait at the border," says Ahtem.

It turned out that the road to Kazakhstan is one of the few where Crimean Tatars can go with an internal Russian passport. From there, with a Ukrainian foreign passport or identity card, they arrive in other countries, as well as in Ukraine. Many residents of Crimea have expired Ukrainian documents, but the Ukrainian embassy in Astana helps with new passports and relocation to Ukraine or another country.

I can also travel through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan using an internal Russian passport. They can also enter Georgia with him, but now the situation there has changed: Russia promises to set up a mobilization point on the border.

Ahtem says he will try to fly to Turkey as soon as possible. And he hopes to return to Crimea.

 

"We left everything there, we are renovating the apartment," says Ahtem.