Residents of Crimea who were forcibly conscripted into the ranks of the Russian army will not be subject to criminal prosecution in Ukraine, except in cases where they comply with criminal military orders, according to the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Thus, according to information received by the department, Russia is currently actively mobilizing residents of the temporarily occupied peninsula to participate in the war against Ukraine, and also intimidates citizens who since 2014 were forced to serve in the Russian armed forces under duress that allegedly Ukrainian the government will punish them for it.

"Crimeans, who were forcedly conscripted into the ranks of the Russian army or other illegal formations, are victims of the armed conflict, not criminals. Therefore, they cannot and will not be subject to criminal prosecution by the authorities of Ukraine. Unreliable information about the persecution of conscripts by Ukraine is another fake that is spreading throughout Russia and aimed at intimidating the civilian population of the peninsula," the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea said on Facebook.

At the same time, if it is proved that the conscripted person carried out illegal criminal orders that caused civilian casualties or the destruction of civilian infrastructure, he will be held criminally liable under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.