Seventeen participants in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident from the Luhansk region, who found themselves under occupation, were handed Russian-style liquidator certificates. In this way, the occupiers are destroying the legal ties of these citizens with Ukraine. Russia, in fact, erases any mention of the legal status of these people granted by Ukraine and forces them to recognize their affiliation with the aggressor state.
Thus, the people who risked their health and lives during the liquidation of the Chornobyl disaster are being forced to choose: either they submit to the new demands of the occupying power or they lose the status and social benefits they received for their merits.
The situation is also cynical because the Chornobyl accident is one of the largest man-made tragedies in human history. The Chornobyl tragedy also became a symbol of the failure of the Soviet political system, which the current Kremlin has fully inherited.
Forced passportization and replacement of documents is part of a broader policy of assimilation and control that Russia is trying to impose on Ukrainians in the occupied territories. By the end of 2024, the Kremlin plans to “passportize” all local residents over the age of 14 in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
We urge you to help the Ukrainian Defense Forces liberate Ukrainian lands from Kremlin criminals as soon as possible. You can help by sharing any information about Russian crimes in the TOT.
