According to a decree issued by Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), mandatory military conscription will begin on April 1 in Mariupol and the surrounding region (a link in the first comment).
The decree states that all men between the ages of 18 and 30 must report to the military registration and enlistment office to serve in the armed forces under Russian control. Local police have reportedly been instructed to ensure the delivery of conscripts at any cost, raising concerns about potential abuses of power and human rights violations.
This development is particularly concerning for those who have been waiting for an opportunity to escape the occupied territory. Perhaps most alarmingly, it has been reported that conscripts are now forbidden from leaving the territory of the Donetsk region for Russia, effectively trapping them in the occupied zone…
…Russia’s occupation tactics in Ukrainian territories since 2014 (Crimea, Donbas region, Lugansk region) have been marked by a sinister strategy of pitting Ukrainians against each other, forcing them to fight on behalf of the occupying power. By conscripting local men into their armed forces, Russia effectively creates divisions, fosters terror, and brings death to the communities it seeks to control.
If Russia were to extend its aggression to European countries, they would employ the same tactics, using Ukrainians to fight against Europeans and\or the collective West. This method of sowing discord and exploiting local populations serves to further Russia’s destructive geopolitical ambitions while undermining the unity and stability of the target regions.
In the face of such a grim reality, Ukrainian men are forced to make impossible choices under occupation. Would you likely face an agonizing dilemma if you were in their place? Would you choose to resist and risk your lives and the lives of your loved ones? Or would you submit to the occupying power and potentially become complicit in its atrocities?
it is important to acknowledge the difficult choices faced by Ukrainian evangelical men living in occupied territories. Many of these individuals — church ministers and some theological educators — have chosen since 2014 to remain in their communities, driven by a deep commitment to serve their neighbors and maintain a Christian presence amidst the turmoil.
However, the Russian government’s imposition of military conscription on these men presents them with an agonizing decision: to participate in the full-scale war that goes against their convictions and harms their fellow Ukrainians or to resist and risk severe consequences for themselves and their families…
What would you do? What would Jesus do? Where are those WWJD preachers today? We urgently need them on the front lines in Ukraine to give us an example with their deeds, not their words… We need all those healers here that sell TV shows and claim to heal hundreds and thousands… We need them urgently in Ukraine, at our hospitals and refugee hubs, to heal wounded soldiers and civilians. We would pay money for healing if it worked out… We would pay their travel expenses…
How long, o, Lord?…
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Taras D, Ukraine
764 days of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine
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