They are looking for weapons and deserters from the army. How is Russia preparing Crimea for war?

From the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities in Crimea declared that "nothing threatens" the peninsula. But the longer hostilities last, the more life on the peninsula changes.

Check the car and prevent photography

The continuation of Russia's military actions against Ukraine leads to new restrictions for the residents of Crimea. Since February, cars on the Crimean peninsula have been checked for weapons and explosives. Corresponding changes are introduced by amendments to the decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

We are talking about cities and districts in which the "yellow" degree of danger from terrorism has been declared. In Crimea, it is in force in the districts of Sevastopol, Armyansk, Dzhankoye, Kerch, Krasnoperekopsk, Dzhankoysk, Krasnoperekopsk and Leninsk, as well as on many infrastructure facilities.

According to the Russian commander of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, such a rule is valid until a decision is made to abolish it. When this could happen is not yet known.

Since the autumn of last year, the "intermediate response level" has been functioning in Crimea, which significantly expands the powers of local authorities in terms of response to possible threats, up to the point of forced relocation of people who find themselves in a dangerous zone. This regime prohibits photography and recording of traffic infrastructure. This primarily applies to railway facilities.

The Russian authorities allow photography for personal use at stations, stops and platforms, as well as inside trains, if they do not disturb and do not create inconvenience and danger to passengers, general plans of stations and trains without a detailed description of their structural characteristics.

But the Crimeans are allowed to publish only photos and videos of the railway infrastructure, taken before October 19, 2022 - the day of the appearance of the decree on the introduction of the "intermediate level of response" in Crimea.

 

Protection from wood and concrete

In Crimea, there are more and more fortifications necessary for defense purposes. At the end of last year, the Russian army and authorities began to equip them after the Ukrainian armed forces de-occupied Kherson and the right bank of the Kherson region.

Earlier, Krym.Realii reported that trenches and fortifications appeared on the southern coast of the peninsula and in the area of the Belbek airport near Sevastopol. Among such constructions, the "dragon's teeth" - concrete triangles, whose task is to prevent the advance of heavy machinery - are especially noticeable.

 

Now it is reported that the Russian authorities are also equipping fortifications in the east of Crimea. In Feodosia, local residents were invited to participate in the works on the construction of the fortifications.

"Work contracts are signed with the workers, accommodation in a hostel, three hot meals, and delivery to the workplace are provided. According to the contract, the payment is two thousand rubles a day, payments are made twice a month," said Deputy Head of the Russian City Administration Andrey Novokreshchenov, who personally checked the progress of the works at the beginning of February.

According to him, anyone who wants to can participate in making and installing wooden shields on defense facilities. The Russian head of Crimea said that these works will be completed by April 15.

 

New personnel for the war

Russian authorities are preparing even minors for military action, according to the Office of the President of Ukraine ARC.

"DOSAAF (Voluntary Society for Aid to the Army, Aviation and Fleet of Russia - KR) of Kerch and Leninsky district is recruiting almost adult citizens for training - to drive military trucks with further mandatory conscription into the Russian army," - reports the department.

DOSAAF Crimea does not publicly report such training.

Snipers are also trained on the Crimean peninsula. Advertisements for admission to courses on rifles of the Russian brand "Lobaev arms" are being distributed on social networks. They are recruiting, in particular, candidates over 20 years of age with shooting experience and physical training, as well as the desire and willingness to participate in military operations against Ukraine.

The chief designer of the "Lobaev arms" rifles, Russian businessman Vladislav Lobaev, claims that he is preparing snipers at the initiative of Sergey Aksenov for further deployment in the "SVO zone" ("special military operation", as they call the invasion of Ukraine in Russia).

The Russian head of Crimea has not yet publicly announced his participation in this initiative.

Crimea and the Russian army: defections and boycott

Russian authorities are sending Crimeans to war with Ukraine, mobilizing them into the Russian army. However, many Crimeans boycott this military service. The Crimean Human Rights Group recorded at least 429 criminal cases initiated by the Russian authorities in Crimea under Article 328 of the Russian Criminal Code (evasion of service in the Armed Forces of Russia) and forwarded to "courts".

"The first-instance "courts" issued 307 convictions, of which 86 were issued already after February 24, 2022, as well as 33 decisions of appellate "courts" on the confirmation of sentences. Among these cases are 67 decisions on suspension of criminal cases against Crimeans. The completion of these cases does not release these people from forced recruitment into the ranks of the Armed Forces of the occupying army," human rights activists state.

The head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Eskender Bariev, says that Russian security forces are looking for those who avoid mobilization in Crimea by making house-to-house rounds.

 

"We were sent information with a copy of the document "List of persons of Crimean Tatar nationality, who avoid service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, subject to search". They went from house to house in the Belogorsk district and in Belogorsk itself. They were looking for these people. In the second raid, they went from house to house and found out how many adults and how many minor children lived there. Whether they have cars or not, they collect information about their neighbors," he told Krym.Realii.

Russian law enforcement agencies do not publicly report on their work with deserters from military service.

The Russian authorities also record the facts of refusal to carry out orders related to hostilities during the invasion of Ukraine in full scale.

Specifically, in Sevastopol, the Russian military court convicted the soldiers of the Belogor Garrison of the Amur Region of Russia, Vladimir and Egor Kotov, because they did not follow the order of the commander during the war in the territory of the Kherson Region to "go to fulfill the tasks of holding the occupied lines in the areas of the battalion's defense in order to prevent an enemy breakthrough ." .

In court, it was reported, they "partially admitted their guilt".

One Russian soldier was sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony under the general regime and the loss of the military rank of "senior ensign", and another - to 3.4 years in a penal colony under the general regime. There is no public attitude of the convicted regarding the punishment.