CrimeaSOS: “military commissars” in Crimea make money on the bodies of those killed in the war against Ukraine

“russian military commissars” in the occupied Crimea make money on the bodies of those killed in russia’s war against Ukraine. CrimeaSOS learned about this from its own sources.

According to available information, “russian military commissars” bring the bodies of those killed on the battlefield to the morgue of the city of Simferopol. However, they inform the relatives that the body has just been found in the places of active hostilities, and it would be transported to Crimea. Relatives are offered to pay approximately RUB 100-150 thousand for the services of the carriers for the alleged transportation of the body to the peninsula. The “commissars” justify such an amount by the fact that the body is in an inconvenient place, its further transportation would be problematic, and thus relatives would have to wait for a long time for the body. Currently, we know about at least three or four such cases of extortion of money from relatives.

“russian military commissars” are war criminals who have been illegally conscripting and mobilizing local residents into the russian army since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula. This is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (Art. 51, Art. 147) and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Art. 8 (2)(a)(v)). All war crimes do not have a statute of limitations, and liability can come even in tens of years after its commission.

Earlier, CrimeaSOS updated the register of “russian military commissars”, who are responsible for the recruitment and mobilization of Crimean residents into the russian army. 20 people can be prosecuted for this war crime in Ukrainian courts, the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the courts of foreign states within the limits of universal jurisdiction.