The Kremlin is intensifying its efforts to consolidate control over Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories (TOT), despite persistent resistance from the local population.
Local residents continue to refuse cooperation with the occupation administrations or leave cities where the so-called “Russian world” has brought destruction and death. In 2024 alone, nearly 12,000 foreign nationals and stateless persons were registered in the occupied Luhansk region, a stark increase from approximately 3,800 at the end of 2023.
Data from the Eastern Human Rights Group reveals that, in the first 11 months of 2024, 109 applications for invitations to enter the Russian Federation were accepted, 101 visas of various categories were issued or extended, and 516 applications for residence permits were granted. However, these actions fail to resolve the region’s fundamental challenges, such as widespread distrust of the occupation authorities, deteriorating infrastructure, and a deepening personnel crisis.
Faced with continued resistance from the local population, the occupiers have resorted to a policy of ethnic replacement. As Ukrainians leave or are forcibly deported by Russia, migrants from Central Asia and Russians from economically depressed regions are being brought in to take their place.
You can stop the policy of the Russian invaders and their collaborators by publicizing their crimes and demanding their international prosecution.
You can also participate in rallies in support of Ukraine or donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
