They are taken to an unknown destination: residents of which territories are most at risk of deportation to Russia
The occupiers continue to illegally deport Ukrainians from the occupied territories. The fate of many people who were taken to Russia by the invaders remains unknown.
Oleksandr Pavlichenko, executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights, said this. According to him, the Russians started deporting Ukrainians from the beginning of the full-scale war.
In particular, since the beginning of March 2022, the occupiers have been mass-deporting people from Mariupol.
“Those who hoped to escape from the conflict zone had no chance to go to Ukraine. Even then, the number of people who were taken to the territory of Russia was counted in thousands,” Pavlichenko said.
The occupiers deported tens of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia
According to the human rights defender, it is very difficult to establish the exact number of people the occupiers deported to Russia.
“All the figures are quite conditional, as it was also possible to go abroad through the territory of Russia, and then return to Ukraine. Ukrainians left Russia through Georgia and the Baltic states,” said Pavlichenko.
However, the number of people deported by Russia is huge. As the human rights defender noted, we are talking about tens of thousands of people.
In Mariupol alone, there were tens of thousands of people who either died or were deported. And then there is no information about where these people are – in Russia or on the territory of other states, Pavlichenko noted.
He added that Ukraine should launch a program to identify and search for all persons who are partially included in the database of those who have disappeared.
Oleksandr Pavlichenko talked about the deportation of Ukrainians
The invaders force the men to fight on the side of Russia.
The executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights reported that the invaders are trying to use the population of the occupied territories for their own purposes.
Russia is recruiting the male population into the ranks of its so-called “defense”, involving them in technical work and forcing them to dig trenches. Or recruits people to his army, Pavlichenko said.
He added that the Russian occupiers are also taking to Russia those people who were sentenced to imprisonment before February 24, 2022.
According to Pavlichenko, the invaders deported more than 2,500 people from colonies and pre-trial detention centers in the occupied territories.
“They are in Russia. Those who are released from prison are offered Russian citizenship together with a passport and a military ticket. In other words, they are actually being prepared for joining the occupation army,” said the human rights activist.
Russia is evacuating people from the territories that the Armed Forces of Ukraine may liberate in the near future
According to Pavlichenko, the occupiers are particularly actively deporting Ukrainians from those territories that may be liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the near future.
We are talking about the left bank of the Kherson region and the Zaporizhzhia region. Even Mariupol is in the zone of focus of the offensive of the Armed Forces. Russia understands this. And for the local population there is a great threat of deportation, – noted the human rights defender.
Deportation of the population in Donetsk region and Luhansk region is also actively underway. Pavlichenko added that even at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the occupiers took a large number of people even from the territory of the quasi-republics in Donbas.
“In fact, Russia was preparing to create a kind of buffer zone. From the beginning of the war, they talked about 1 million displaced people, which was connected precisely with such actions of Russia,” said Pavlichenko.
Since November 20, Russian strikes have killed 74 residents of the city. The Russian army is actively attacking the city of Kherson from the air after it was liberated from the occupiers last November. This was reported by the Kherson City Council in its Telegram channel.
“The Russians continue to bombard the Kherson urban territorial community… A total of 1,739 arrivals have been recorded since November 20, 2022,” the report says.
According to the city council, during this time 74 people (including 1 child) were killed by Russian strikes, 207 residents were injured (including 5 children).
We will remind you that the Armed Forces of Ukraine entered Kherson on November 11, 2022.
Since then, the enemy has not stopped shelling the city and the entire Kherson region. Only on Tuesday, January 31, areas of Berislav, Odradokamyanka, Tokarivka, Lviv, Ivanivka, Antonivka, Kherson, Pervomaiske, Berehove and Veletenske areas were shelled by anti-aircraft guns, barrel artillery and mortars. During the day, there were no injured or dead.
Shelling in populated areas of the Holoprystan community does not stop. Thus, explosions damaged a civilian object in the city of Gola Prystan. No casualties. Occupants continue to loot houses whose owners have left.
According to available information, the Russian occupiers forbid schoolchildren to study online using the Ukrainian program in local schools in the settlements of the Kakhovsky District.
Local teachers refuse to teach children according to the Russian curriculum. 84 people were evacuated from the liberated Kherson region, 18 of them children.
Russia destroyed more than 75,000 buildings in Ukraine, including hospitals, schools and other civil infrastructure facilities.
This was stated by Yaroslav Brysiuk, Deputy Head of the Mission at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington.
“The Russian Federation does not stop shelling Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, destroying the historical and cultural heritage of Ukraine. The Russians destroyed more than 75,000 buildings, including residential buildings, hospitals and schools,” the diplomat said during an event at the German Embassy in Washington.
And he added that more than 50% of the Ukrainian energy system was destroyed by Russian missiles and Iranian drones.