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The original was posted on /r/ukraine by /u/Ukrainer_UA on 2025-07-28 02:32:02+00:00.
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Since 2014, Crimea has remained under illegal Russian occupation. During this time, the peninsula has been viewed by much of the world as a “disputed territory” or even a potential bargaining chip in the peace process. However, with the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, it became clear that Crimea serves not only as a military base but also as a platform for committing war crimes, carrying out systematic repressions, and executing strategic manipulations.
Crimea as a military launchpad for invasion
Since the beginning of the occupation in 2014, Russia has turned Crimea into a strategic military base. Shortly after its illegal annexation, the peninsula became a key hub for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and a center of regional militarisation: military infrastructure expanded rapidly, with new missile systems, aviation units, air defense systems, and more deployed. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of fall 2019, Russia had stationed 40 tanks, 583 armored vehicles, 162 heavy artillery systems, 122 combat aircraft, 62 helicopters, and 12 multiple rocket launch systems in Crimea. Additionally, 34 Russian warships and seven submarines were already operating in the region.
It was from occupied Crimea that Russia launched its offensive against southern Ukraine in the early days of the full-scale invasion. The peninsula was used as a launchpad, allowing the Kremlin to coordinate attacks on ground targets, firing missiles at civilian and military sites, and using both aviation and naval forces. After the initial assault has stalled, the peninsula continues to serve as a launch point for strikes on the surrounding Ukrainian regions: Bessarabia, Prychornomoria, Tavria, Pryazovia, Podniprovia and Zaporizhzhia.
Russia uses Crimea actively for several reasons. First, its convenient rail and road connections allow quick delivery of troops, fuel, equipment, and ammunition, which are then moved to the front lines stretching nearby. Second, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol after Crimea’s 2014 occupation, uses the peninsula as both a staging area and a launching platform for missile strikes and maritime reconnaissance. Third, Crimea’s proximity to the front makes it a convenient base for launching drones and rockets. Since the distance from Crimea is shorter, missiles reach their targets faster, which also gives the Ukrainian forces less time to react.
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Deployment of Russia’s military equipment to Crimea
Due to its convenient logistical location, Crimea has become a main route for transporting weapons, troops, and supplies to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Before military equipment is sent to the front, it often needs to be serviced or repaired. For this, Russia has built the necessary infrastructure in Crimea — repair bases, technical stations, and workshops. Old farms, factories, and industrial buildings have been widely repurposed into storage sites for ammunition, fuel, and other military supplies. In 2018, journalists from the Ukrainian media Crimea.Realities discovered abandoned cowsheds in the area. By 2019–2020, a large military facility had already been constructed there — a storage base intended for use in the event of a full-scale war. This is not an isolated example; Russia began constructing such bases long before the full-scale invasion.
Additionally, the peninsula has become a key center for conducting military exercises, with many military units and barracks built after 2014 to accommodate Russian troops and civilians from Crimea who have been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army. In 2015 alone, two out of six planned dormitories were completed for the 126th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade and the 8th Artillery Regiment of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to quarter up to 1,800 occupying troops. According to multiple reports, over 10,000 apartments were built between 2014 and 2021 across different parts of the peninsula to house Russian servicemen and their families. In 2023, the Russian government passed a law guaranteeing housing for soldiers fighting in the war against Ukraine. These servicemen were also granted simplified procedures for registering ownership of these homes.
How Russia violates international treaties on the militarisation of occupied territories
The militarisation of Crimea clearly shows Russia’s disregard for the safety and well-being of the local population. Many Crimean residents understand that their lives have become hostage to war — the peninsula has been turned into a massive military base, and people are effectively used as a resource to serve the needs of the occupying forces. Moreover, Russian forces deliberately integrate civilian infrastructure into their military strategy, constructing facilities near residential areas to reduce the likelihood of Ukrainian strikes. The coordinator of the Yellow Ribbon resistance movement reported that residents of Sevastopol — the administrative capital and the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet — have repeatedly complained about the construction of military sites close to their homes, significantly increasing the danger for civilians.
Note: "Yellow Ribbon" is a public resistance movement in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, created in April 2022 after the Russian military invasion. The goal of the movement is informational resistance to the Russian occupiers.
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Russia’s military presence on the peninsula also fuels the crackdowns on local activists, public society, and civilians loyal to Ukraine. Faced with the constant threat of forced mobilisation and repression, more than 200,000 residents have been forced to flee as of July 2024, as reported by the Permanent Representative of the President in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. This decision requires careful planning, as Russian occupation forces strictly monitor and control departures from the peninsula.
Illegal mobilisation of Crimeans into the Russian army
Forced mobilisation of Crimean residents began immediately after the 2014 occupation of the peninsula, but the most active waves started following the full-scale invasion in 2022. Forcing civilians in occupied territories to serve in the occupying power’s military is a violation of Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. According to the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, up to 25,000 draft notices were issued, with 90% of them handed specifically to Crimean Tatars.
Note: The Mejlis is the sole supreme representative and executive body of the Crimean Tatar people. It was established in 1991.
Many Crimean residents initially refused to accept Russian citizenship. However, due to severe restrictions, such as denial of access to medical care, education, employment, pensions, and direct threats, they were forced to obtain it. Holding a Russian passport automatically makes every man eligible for military service and, consequently, for mobilisation. Procedural violations often accompany the draft. Military enlistment offices routinely reject medical certificates, while officials often ignore or destroy deferral and exemption documents on the spot. Occupation authorities also dismiss religious beliefs as valid grounds for exemption, despite their prior recognition under Ukrainian law.
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Open sources also report repeated cases of men being detained in the streets directly after work by enlistment officers, often being taken immediately to enlistment offices. Detainees are not informed of their whereabouts or what will happen next; occupying forces instruct them to turn off their phones and deny any contact with their families. Under physical and psychological pressure, many are coerced into signing “voluntary” applications to join the Russian army.
Former Presidential Representative in Crimea Tamila Tasheva reported that in 2023, approximately 44,500 Crimean residents were conscripted into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Others try to avoid the draft by not staying at their registered address, hoping to keep away from the visits of military offices or security agents.
Those who ignore draft notices, avoid military offices, or skip medical check-ups face administrative fines that increase over time. Furthermore, police put such individuals on wanted lists. The occupying authorities track them using phone data, social media activity, and street surveillance. Men who try to leave the peninsula but fall under the mobilisation category are stopped at checkpoints and denied exit. Filing a legal complaint against such persecution is futile — most end up with penalties and forced enlistment anyway.
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**Join us tomorrow for Part 2, about human r...
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