The European Union has denounced forced military conscription of residents in the Russian-occupied Crimea region and called on Moscow to "stop all violations of international law" in the peninsula.
"This is part of continued efforts to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, with further attempts to forcibly integrate the illegally-annexed Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on October 15.
The spokesman, Peter Stano, said the EU "does not, and will not" recognize the annexation and expects Russia to "stop all violations of international law" in the peninsula.
Russia occupied and seized Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in Ukraine's east, where some 13,200 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict.
The EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on individuals and entities accused of undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
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