In the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, there are volunteer movements, actions, and associations that aim to help the participants of the so-called "Special Military Operation".
The Russian authorities have repeatedly emphasized that local residents are engaged in military volunteering.However, whether it happens voluntarily is a question. The Russian authorities do not accept refusals and force to carry out all orders or take away what they want.
TRYBUN journalist analyzed cases of so-called "voluntary" assistance to the Russian military in the occupied Luhansk and Donetsk oblast and found out how local people are forced to volunteer and how "volunteers" from Donbas are generally treated.
Local residents "voluntarily" help the Russian army
This narrative is actively spread by the information resources of the occupiers.
The Russian invaders claim that they have the support of the residents of the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" and that the locals are providing assistance in every way, in particular, they are handing over the necessary things to the Russian military at the front.
For example, on November 4, 2023, the Luhansk Information Center reported that the representatives of “United Russia" in the LPR collected more than 17 thousand warm clothes, candles and camouflage nets for the military.”
Residents of the whole occupied Luhansk oblast allegedly participated in the collection of parcels.Workshops on knitting socks, scarves and gloves were even organized for them. The photo shows that schoolchildren are also participants of the "Give Warmth to a Soldier" campaign.
“Within the party action “Give Warmth to a Soldier,” the residents of all raions of the LPR prepared gifts for military personnel.
Master classes on knitting socks, scarves, and gloves were held in cities and raions. Local residents actively participated in the action and brought knitted and warm clothes.”
There is assistance not from one person, but from full-fledged volunteer movements.
"Myvmeste" is one of such movements. The organizers of the all-Russian mutual aid campaign call on civilians to bring humanitarian kits for the participants of the "special military operations" to the headquarters in Luhansk for further dispatch to frontline positions.The so-called "Government of the LPR" is speading instructions on how to deliver a parcel through social networks.
Several volunteer movements, associations and projects operate in the occupied Luhansk oblast.Their tasks include support of militants, provision of necessary things, treatment.For example, the project "Volunteer" of the Civic Movement "Peace in Luhanshchyna", "Volunteers of Victory", all-Russian public organization "Molodaya gvardiya of United Russia", etc.
Military volunteering is organized by the Russian authorities.All projects are all-Russian, that is, they were initiated on the territory of the Russian Federation and only extended to the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.Aid to the military participating in the so-called "special military operations" was imported from Russia through projects to be further distributed along the front line.
The occupiers do not value volunteers from Donbas
Moreover, the volunteers themselves periodically complain about the attitude towards them and their attempts to help.
Meanwhile, the occupation authorities talk a lot about people from the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" who volunteer for them.It helps to conduct Russian propaganda that people were allegedly waiting for them there. Only real life differs from the picture.
During Putin's year-end conference, which took place on December 14, 2023, a local volunteer from the so-called "DPR" appealed to the President of the Russian Federation.“Volunteers from other oblasts receive insurance when working in Donbas, and their relatives receive financial compensation if activists are injured or killed. However, the norm is not applied to volunteers from Donbas itself.”
That is, for the Russian authorities, there is still a difference between Russian volunteers and volunteers from the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.Putin's response to the boy's appeal was published by the "Luhansk 24" channel. However, certain decisions on this issue have not yet been made.
Do people in the occupied territories volunteer for enemy troops as they really want to help? This question is subject to doubt. In addition to the fact that there is no freedom of speech and choice in these territories, it is forbidden to support anything Ukrainian, Russian rules and laws have been introduced, which residents are forced to follow, and there are other facts about the existence of military volunteerism and "support" for militants.
For example, in schools in the occupied Kadiivka, schoolchildren are involved in weaving camouflage nets for advanced positions at the front.To make it look like "patriotism", actions were dedicated to the action "When we are united, we are invincible!"
On November 1, 2023 the "Luhansk Information Center" wrote about it.
“On the initiative of the Youth Council and the Youth Movement, the young people of Stakhanov joined the action “When we are united, we are invincible!”. The action is dedicated to National Unity Day. As part of the action, schoolchildren will weave camouflage nets and subsequently hand them over to the defenders of the Fatherland on the front line.”
The same thing happens with students of "medical schools".The occupiers force interns to treat wounded soldiers of the Russian army.There is no right to refuse, as they are threatened with expulsion from the educational institution.
The Center of National Resistance reported on November 24, 2023 that "before practice, the Russians instruct young specialists, and specialists from the federal security service conduct conversations with the trainees.Students are threatened with disclosing information and warned of responsibility for extremism."
In the occupied Luhansk oblast medical personnel are collecting funds for the so-called "special military operation" in hospitals.It is necessary to hand over the money, because it is the chief doctor's decision. The ad was posted in one of the local chats.
In 2022, the occupiers also "voluntarily" asked residents of the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts to help with finances and transport for military needs.
According to the "Eastern Human Rights Group", the occupiers summoned businessmen to local administrations in order to "voluntarily" collect donations for the needs of the army. Any refusals were not accepted.
“We have recorded 7 cases of expropriation of vehicles by illegal armed groups from local entrepreneurs engaged in cargo transportation.They seize the vehicles in a civilized manner, sign a transfer agreement and the conditions under which everything is returned to the entrepreneur. In 2014 they took me without documents, but the essence does not change”
Local entrepreneurs of the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" were obliged to donate to military needs.
“It is also recorded that the so-called councils of entrepreneurs of the illegal armed groups in “LPR” and “DPR” (these councils were created in 2021) gather local entrepreneurs in the cities of temporarily occupied territories and announce voluntary-compulsory donations to illegal armed groups for military needs; refusals are not accepted.The amount of contributions is determined by the entrepreneurs’ council for each entrepreneur separately.”
Therefore, the above-mentioned examples prove that military volunteering in the occupied territories is compulsory.Local residents are forced to follow the enemy "orders", as refusal can have negative consequences.Active volunteer movements have been initiated by the Russian authorities. They are used for the purpose of not only importing from the Russian Federation and distributing aid to the Russian Army along the front lines, but also propaganda.
Author: Yuliia Kanzeba
