Five times faster than in Crimea: how Russia captures occupied Ukraine

Traces of ideological and political violence

Russia is expanding the activities of its political parties and plans to hold elections in September 2023 in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. The Kremlin believes that this will legalize the process of occupation. Ukrainians who remained to live and work in the occupied territories are forced to obtain Russian passports, which also contributes to their integration into Russian society. In addition, in order to change the demographic composition of Ukrainian regions, the Russian authorities encourage their citizens to move to live in the newly captured regions, promising them cheap mortgages.

Also, Russia plans to complete the process of integration of regions into its own legal field five times faster than in Crimea. Russian standards are already being imposed there in education, medicine and taxation.

Below we tell what Russia has already done and how Ukraine can counter it.

Russia plans to hold elections in the annexed territories to legitimize the occupation process

At the beginning of February, the head of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, said that elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories would be held on September 10, 2023, and preparations for them are already underway. This date was not chosen by chance — it is then that Russia holds the "single voting day", that is, elections to various authorities. According to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, almost 60 election processes will be held in parallel in September, they will be mainly for the parliaments of the republics and legislative bodies of Russian cities. In particular, elections to the "parliaments" of the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions are planned.

According to British intelligence, Russia wants to use these elections to justify itself and legitimize the occupation. Pavlo Romaniuk, legal advisor of the OPORA Civic Network, shares this opinion. He believes that these elections are designed to create the illusion of democratic processes in the occupied territories and drag local residents into the Russian electoral field in order to weaken their connection with Ukraine.

According to him, if Russia holds elections in the occupied territories, it will not change anything for Ukraine, because, according to the norms of international law, no elections in the occupied territories legalize annexation.

However, the lawyer believes that Ukraine should oppose such "elections." Of course, the best option would be to liberate these territories, but while this process continues, other tools can be used. First of all, Ukraine should continue to advocate increasing international pressure on Russia. It is necessary to achieve recognition of such elections as illegitimate at the level of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and other international institutions.

In addition, according to Pavlo Romaniuk, our country should use the tools available in its national jurisdiction. It is about bringing to criminal responsibility people who participate in the organization of illegal elections or publicly call for them to be held. "What should be done for this? First of all, to inform the local population that Ukraine will soon liberate the occupied territories and that they should not participate in the organization of these illegal elections in any way, because responsibility is provided for this," the lawyer believes.

Apart from that, the lawyer adds that experts and people's deputies discuss initiatives to revise the composition of criminal offenses related to collaborative activities. According to him, it is necessary to ensure that not only the organizers of such "elections" but also other people involved in that process can be effectively brought to justice.

Since the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation is preparing to hold elections on Ukrainian territories, the political parties of the aggressor country also continue to act. They are building their networks in the occupied regions with a focus on the upcoming elections. For example, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, which is formally in opposition but fully supports Vladimir Putin's aggressive policy, opened its district offices in several cities of Donetsk region.

However, the most serious work in this direction is carried out by the pro-government "United Russia" party. The party has already registered its representative offices in all four occupied Ukrainian regions. Key Ukrainian state traitors were given important positions in them. This means that the "United Russia" party is set to win these elections, if Russia does manage to hold them.

In Donetsk region, the leader of the "Donetsk People's Republic" Denys Pushylin became the secretary of the regional branch, in Luhansk — the head of the pseudo-parliament of the "Luhansk People's Republic" Denys Miroshnychenko, in Zaporizhia — the head of the occupational administration of Melitopol, Halyna Danylchenko. As for the Kherson region, Ihor Kostyukevych, the deputy chairman of the "United Russia" faction in the State Duma, became its secretary, and Volodymyr Saldo, the head of the occupational administration of the region, joined the political council of the party branch.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers suspect all these people of treason. After Ukraine frees the occupied territories, the traitors will spend at least 15 next years in prison, where they will have time to rethink their actions.

Russia continues to forcibly issue passports and provides preferential mortgages to its citizens in some occupied territories

Another element of integration is the forced issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens who remained in the occupied territories. However, this process is characterized by certain differences in different territories. In some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which were occupied in 2014, Russian passports began to be distributed in 2019. Since then, according to various data, more than 600,000 Ukrainian citizens have received them.

Instead, forced issuance of passports in Kherson and Zaporizhia regions began in May 2022, when Putin signed a decree on simplified granting of Russian citizenship to residents of these regions of Ukraine. In addition, the State Duma recently registered a draft law that simplifies the procedure for leaving Ukrainian citizenship. If it is approved, in order to obtain a Russian passport, it will only be necessary to submit an application to the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation — for example, online through the Government Services portal.

Despite all the efforts of the Russians, the voluntary issuance of passports on Ukrainian territories is not going according to plan, so the occupiers resort to intimidation and pressure. State employees became the first victims of forced issuance of passports — teachers and doctors are threatened with dismissal if they do not take a Russian passport. Such cases occurred, for example, in Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

In addition to state employees, ordinary residents and entrepreneurs were under pressure. Thus, since the beginning of March, the occupiers have threatened to evict all Ukrainian citizens who do not receive Russian passports in Kherson region. Collaborator Volodymyr Saldo said that everyone should receive Russian passports in the occupied region before the "elections" begin. On the other hand, entrepreneurs who do not receive Russian passports will not be able to work in Mariupol from March 1.

However, the Russians are not limited to this alone. They force employees of state institutions who have already received Russian passports to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. For refusal, again, they are threatened with dismissal from work, although Russian legislation allows dual citizenship.

The Center of National Resistance of Ukraine explains such actions by the fact that Russia needs to renounce citizenship in order to "reinforce" its rights to the region by changing its demographic composition. The Center also adds that for the same purpose, the aggressor state creates favorable conditions for its citizens who want to move to the occupied territories. To encourage them, Russia is ready to provide the newcomers with preferential mortgage loans for the purchase of housing on the seized lands.

According to Pavlo Romaniuk, the forced acquisition of Russian citizenship by citizens of Ukraine living in the temporarily occupied territory is not recognized by our country and is not a reason to lose Ukrainian citizenship. Therefore, residents of the occupied territories remain citizens of Ukraine, even if they have to obtain Russian passports due to a threat to their safety.

"Our country does not recognize the forced issuance of passports by Russia, therefore our citizens are not liable for it," the lawyer emphasizes.

Meanwhile, the forced issuance of passports can be used to mobilize the local population into the ranks of the Russian army. Such mobilization violates the norms of international humanitarian law and is a war crime.

Russia promises to quickly integrate the occupied territories and distributes free hot lunches to elementary school students

At the same time, Russia is working to integrate the occupied Ukrainian regions into its legal, socio-economic, educational and cultural space. According to the head of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, it took five years to integrate Crimea into the unified legal field of Russia, but they plan to finally absorb the new territories in just one year.

For this purpose, the State Duma passed several new laws. In particular, Russia establishes control over legal entities in the occupied territories and introduces the Russian taxation system. In 2022, all entrepreneurs were entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and they, in return, must adapt their founding documents in accordance with the Russian legislation. Those who refuse will be banned from doing business.

In addition, Russia decided to create its judicial system in the occupied regions, establish a special procedure for executive proceedings there, and extend the norms of the Russian Criminal Procedure Code to those territories. The aggressor offers to carry out all the proceedings of the Ukrainian courts, for example, the collection of alimony, but there will be no punishment for people who committed crimes in the interests of the Russian Federation.

In February 2023, the State Duma established a moratorium on debt collection from citizens by banks and microfinance organizations until 2026. However, this will not apply to those who have debts for housing and utility services.

In addition, in order to further weaken the connection of the occupied territories with Ukraine, Russia plans to shift them to Moscow time.

As for the social sphere, from March 1, Russia plans to distribute rubles to vulnerable sections of the population: pensioners; unemployed; people with disabilities; families or pregnant women raising a child under 17 years of age; for women in connection with pregnancy and childbirth, as well as for the care of a child up to one and a half years old. However, not everything is so simple: for these payments, it is important to confirm a certain status in a specially created interdepartmental commission.

The aggressor does not forget the Soviet past either. The law on social security in the new territories mentions heroes of the Soviet Union, full cavaliers of the Order of Glory, heroes of socialist labor, participants of the World War II, persons irradiated at the "Mayak" industrial association and the Semipalatinsk training ground, etc.

On January 26, the Russian government allocated 1 billion rubles for the unemployed, and one and a half billion was allocated for preventive medical examinations of children. The State Duma also recognized the qualifications and licenses obtained by doctors and pharmacists in Ukraine, and until the end of 2025 allowed to provide medical care without taking into account clinical recommendations.

The crimes of the occupiers did not bypass the education system either. The State Duma obliged the educational institutions of the captured territories to study according to Russian educational programs and exempted teachers from certification until September 2024. The Russian Ministry of Education plans to establish a separate procedure for final exams for children, and all educational organizations will operate with temporary licenses.

However, this is not the worst thing. Russian teachers who came to the occupied territories impose the Kremlin's understanding of war on Ukrainian schoolchildren and force them to listen to the Russian national anthem. They do it before classes during the so-called class hour about important things, the attendance of which is mandatory. For example, such cases took place in occupied Tokmak of Zaporizhia region.

"In addition, teachers of the aggressor country force children to write letters of support to Russian soldiers. In case of refusal, "preventive conversations" are held with the children's parents. Teachers imported from Russia literally dictate what the child should write, and then check what is written," the Center of National Resistance of Ukraine reports.

However, we have bad news for Russian teachers: when Ukraine liberates the occupied territories, according to Mykola Havronyuk, professor and director of scientific development at the Center of Policy and Legal Reform, they, as foreigners, may be subject to arrest for up to six months or imprisonment for up to three years.

Russia also promises free hot meals and textbooks to elementary school students, and scholarships to students. To be honest, this compensation for the lives and fates of Ukrainian children and students destroyed by the war is not very significant, but the aggressor is not interested in this. Russians are building a "Russian world" where they were not asked or expected.

We hope that the full stop in these integration processes will be made by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will liberate all the territories of our country. It is not so important whether they will do it before the September "elections" or after. The main thing is the result, and it will certainly come.

Read this article in russian and Ukrainian.