Russia uses military call-up in captured areas to spread influence - British intel

Russian authorities are planning a mobilization campaign in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region as part of their campaign to Russify and coerce the population to accept the new government.

The British Ministry of Defense reported this on X with reference to intelligence data, Ukrinform saw.

The so-called governor of Zaporizhzhia region signed an order stating that Russia is preparing the required infrastructure and measures for military conscription in Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia region.

Analysts note that this will be the first draft in this particular territory temporarily occupied by Russia since September 2022.

"It is likely that Russia sees this measure as a way of satisfying the need by the Russian Armed Forces for additional personnel to support its war effort. The effect of the decree is likely to be limited given that a significant proportion of the population of Zaporizhzhia has departed," the report reads.

It is also noted that in Melitopol, the largest city occupied by Russians in Zaporizhzhia region, only 40% of the pre-war population remain and half of those consist of ethnic Russians offered work in the city.

"This decree is also part of a broader campaign by the Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories to coerce the population to accept Russian governance. (…) The Kremlin continues to pursue a relentless Russification policy across the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the British intelligence concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, enterprises in the so-called "Luhansk People’s Republic" are canceling the assignment of salaries to those whom Russia drafted for war because the short life span of such draftees.