139 Crimeans died in the war against Ukraine, 22 Crimeans more are in captivity. This was stated by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Oleksandr Kyrylenko at the hearing on the de-occupation of Crimea in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Human Rights, De-occupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the CHRG reports.
“For the Russian army, Crimea has become a large logistical center for an offensive on our territory: the transportation of ammunition, the evacuation of the wounded, repairs and restoration, the creation of bases and warehouses. This has a significant impact on Russia’s offensive capabilities in the southern direction. In addition, Russia is actively involving the population of Crimea in its armed forces. To date, the capture of 22 and the death of 139 military personnel of the Russian Federation registered in Crimea have been confirmed. Some of these military were traitors to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014,” Oleksandr Kyrylenko pointed out.
The Russian authorities are trying to hide information about the real number of dead and wounded from the Russian Federation.
Since February 24, 2022, the Crimean Human Rights Group has been collecting data on the dead and POWs of the Russian Federation military assigned to military units in Crimea. Some of them were forcibly drafted into the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces and then sent to participate in hostilities in another part of the territory of Ukraine. Information about captured soldiers from Crimea has been also accumulating. As of September 23, 2022, the CHRG verified at least 74 dead and 19 captured Crimeans.
To remind: since February 24, Crimea has become the base used by the Russian Federation to strike at Ukrainian cities. A few weeks before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (in February 2022), the Russian Armed Forces began to massively move from the Russian territory to the occupied Crimea across the Kerch bridge. From the territory of the occupied Crimea and the Black Sea, the Russian Federation launches missile strikes and airstrikes on many civilian targets in Ukraine causing deaths and injuries of the civilians.
