EBU investigation exposes brutal Russification in occupied Ukraine
An investigation by the EBU Investigative Journalism Network
In an extensive investigation spanning several months, the EBU Investigative Journalism Network has exposed the harsh reality of Russia’s aggressive policy of assimilation of territories it has illegally annexed in east Ukraine.
While the two countries continue to fight a war of attrition on the frontlines, millions of people in the Russian-controlled areas between Crimea and Luhansk live a life where Moscow rules apply. Breaking or ignoring those rules can make it hard to survive, but adhering to them could mean prosecution for collaboration by the Ukrainian state.
Cut off from the world and trapped between the chaos of frontline fighting and the Russian borders, the inhabitants of Donetsk, Luhansk and areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia grapple with a nightmarish existence. Eyewitness and expert accounts reveal incidences of torture, coercion, deportation, cultural erasure, and military indoctrination, contravening international law and in some cases amounting to possible war crimes.
In the shadows of these occupied territories, individuals like ‘Ludmila’ (a pseudonym) share chilling stories of life under occupation: “You live like a spider in a jar... Forbidden to speak about Ukraine; Ukrainian symbols are banned. If you hear something or say something they think is wrong, they grab you and put you in a basement. You worry that the night will fall and they will come for you.”
Survival can hinge on submitting to Moscow’s rule. Access to basic services – food, education, jobs, healthcare, life-saving medicines, pensions, property – demand accepting Russian passports and swearing allegiance to Russia. But this coerced Russification can also expose individuals to accusations of collaboration with the enemy under Ukrainian law – legislation that has raised concerns among international and Ukrainian organizations.