The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine calls on the Russian Federation to end the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“We are very concerned by recent reports that Russia has been sentencing residents of Crimea for evading the Russian military draft. We call on Russia to end its illegal occupation of Crimea and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. #CrimeaIsUkraine,” the Embassy said on Twitter on August 7.
As reported, the Crimean Human Rights Group informed on August 5 that 20 new criminal cases were opened against Crimean residents in 2019 under article 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for evading military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. A verdict was given in 17 of them, and decisions on remaining three were pending.
At least 69 such cases have been opened against Crimeans in total, according to human rights activists.
