Russia Forcing 'Evacuees' Fleeing Ukraine to Bolster Crimea Defense
Russian-installed authorities in Crimea are recruiting "evacuees" from the occupied territories of Ukraine to bolster defense in the Black Sea peninsula ahead of an anticipated spring counteroffensive by Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.
In a statement on her Telegram channel, Maliar said Russian authorities are spreading "false information" about alleged negative consequences should currently occupied regions return to Ukrainian control following Kyiv's expected counteroffensive.
Russian forces have been fortifying the Crimea amid fears of a Ukrainian advance. Crimea was annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin from Ukraine in 2014, a move that has not been recognized internationally. A yellow terror threat level has been in place in parts of the peninsula since April 11, 2022, weeks after Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
The Washington Post recently published satellite imagery from Maxar, a space solutions company, showing Russian forces building an extensive web of defense fortifications on the Black Sea peninsula and along its approaches from occupied southern Ukraine. Al Jazeera has published satellite images showing the reinforcement of the defenses around the Russian Sevastopol naval base.
Beaches in Crimea have also reportedly been closed for swimmers throughout the Black Sea peninsula as Russian forces dig trenches and prepare new defensive positions in the area.
"The command of the Russian occupying forces in the temporarily occupied territory of the Republic of Crimea organized the forced involvement of evacuees to perform the most difficult work on the equipment of engineering and fortification structures under the supervision of armed Russian servicemen," Maliar said.
The defense minister said Russian authorities are encouraging those living in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson to "evacuate" and "avoid punitive measures" by Ukraine.
Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine by email for comment.
The Black Sea peninsula of Crimea is a key war goal for Ukraine. Last summer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to take back Crimea, saying that Kyiv's military had "kept the goal" of recapturing the region since it was annexed.
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian politician acting as head of Crimea since 2014, has said the peninsula is "ready" for a counteroffensive from Ukraine.
Explosions were reported in Crimea on Thursday morning, with one striking an area that was housing a large quantity of Russian military equipment, according to Russian Telegram channels.
Crimean Wind, a Ukrainian news channel on Telegram, published an image showing a plume of smoke rising into the air in the village of Krinichki, in Crimea's Kirovsky district. It quoted residents as saying that there was a large quantity of Russian military equipment in the area where an explosion took place.
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