The head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, the head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Eskender Bariiev, in an interview with Crimea.Realities, spoke about how the inhabitants of Crimea reacted to the so-called Russian partial mobilization on the peninsula.
“I divide Crimeans into three categories. The first is the pro-Ukrainian part of the population, and among which, of course, the majority are representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. The second is collaborators or indifferent, those Crimeans who began to support the so-called special operation in Ukraine. Well, the third ones are Russians who illegally arrived in Crimea”,- said Bariiev.
According to him, the first group of Crimeans tried to evade mobilization into the Russian army – "either hide or leave Crimea."
“Thousands of people ended up in Kazakhstan, hundreds of people in Uzbekistan, in European countries, in Turkey. Someone tried to get to Europe or Ukraine through Belarus. There are also many such cases. Of course, this all depends on the financial situation. Some people just couldn't get out. Because there began to line up, including corruption schemes. And in order to somehow advance at least to the border, it was necessary to give bribes there, etc. Sometimes people are still forced to return to Crimea, and what fate awaits them next is a very big question”,- he said.
As Bariiev noted, representatives of two other categories of Crimeans also tried to avoid mobilization.
“Well, returning to the second and third categories, when the mobilization began, a certain fear appeared and they also began to look for ways to evade the service. Because sitting in front of the TV, listening to Soloviov and supporting the Russian army is one thing. But when it comes to loved ones, it’s different”,- the expert added.