Russians threaten residents of Kherson region with imprisonment for not recognizing the occupation as “legitimate”

The Russian military is threatening residents of the Kherson region with up to 5 years in prison for posting content in social networks that “violates Russian legislation.”

The “Kherson Oblast administration” under the control of the occupiers posted a message and a video with warnings about illegal posts on social networks.

The message states that for some posts, citizens of the Russian Federation, for which the Russians also include residents of occupied territories, may be punished even with imprisonment for a term of up to 5 years.

Among the violations are “speech against the territorial integrity of the country.” That is, if a person calls Crimea occupied by Russians or the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as Ukrainian lands and if he lives in the Russian Federation or in these territories, he can be detained and punished for spreading reliable information.

Residents of the occupied part of the Kherson region were once again clearly hinted at what awaits them if they do not recognize the occupied Ukrainian territory as “Russian”.

In addition, people are reminded that the Russians are responsible for “calling for extremist activity”, “justifying terrorism” and “inciting enmity”. These “violations” can include any statements in support of Ukraine posted on social networks and any condemnation of the actions of the occupiers. At the same time, the Russians note that even the removal of an “illegal” post or comment will not save a person from repression. It turns out that there is a possibility that the Russians will fabricate such cases by creating “deleted” posts or comments.

That is, it can be assumed that the residents of the occupied part of the Kherson region should expect increased repression, and why, “on legal grounds.” Of course, “legality” and “illegality” will be determined by the Russians.