Russia mobilizes more than 46,000 Ukrainians from occupied territories – Coordination Headquarters
Russia has forcibly mobilized 46,327 Ukrainians from the temporarily occupied territories.
Dmytro Usov, Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, reported this at the Third Crimea Global. Understanding Ukraine through the South conference, Ukrinform's correspondent reports.
"We have established that from the occupied territories, from annexed Crimea, 46,327 of our citizens have been forcibly mobilized. These people are fighting against us," he said.
According to the Coordination Headquarters, in Donetsk region the Russians mobilized 5,368 Ukrainians; in Luhansk region – 4,650; in Zaporizhzhia region – 560; in Kherson region – 478. In Crimea, 35,272 people were mobilized, and in Sevastopol – another 5,368.
These mobilization figures cover the period from February 2022 to July 2025. Ukrainian military intelligence obtained the data, and the Russian side confirmed them, Usov noted.
According to him, 16% of the prisoners held in Ukrainian POW camps are Ukrainian citizens, 6% of them from Crimea. The Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters also reported that legislative changes will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada to prohibit returning Ukrainians from temporarily occupied territories to Russia during prisoner exchanges.
"We must make the right decision when the Russian side requests their exchange, because Ukrainians are being exchanged for Ukrainians. We must do everything to ensure they do not return to Russia but remain in Ukraine," Usov emphasized.
He added that in the cases of some Ukrainians held in captivity in Ukraine, domestic courts have already issued acquittals. "And we are waiting for them to be released from the camps," Usov said.
As Ukrinform reported, according to the Coordination Headquarters, recently there have been increasing cases of Russian special services contacting families of Ukrainian POWs and attempting to involve them in cooperation.
Photo: HUR