The biggest mistake is to assume that Russia's actions are accidental or sporadic

Since 2014, Ukrainian researchers, public activists and scholars have usually avoided any detailed analysis of actions taken by the Russian Federation targeting the destruction of Ukrainian identity in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. However, today, when about 20% of Ukraine’s territory is under the occupation, and Russia launches large scale de-Ukrainization in all seized territories, we cannot stand aside. The simplest step to take would be to document the episodes occurring in the TOTs, and outline RF’s approach to destroying all things Ukrainian. This report is the first attempt to provide the most detailed overview possible for the cultural policy of the occupying government in the so-called LPR and DPR. Moreover, we intend to describe the “Crimean scenario” of cultural occupation which is currently under way in the seized parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.

The team of the Civil Network OPORA is telling about the life of de-occupied communities: what Russians left behind, and what issues local authorities need to address in the first place to be able to bring back people and normal life. This time, the story is about Snihurivka (Mykolayiv Oblast) that has been under the occupation for eight months. Russians used Snihurivka to continue their advance to Mykolayiv. That is why the de-occupation of the place was a precondition for the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian army, last November. 

This autumn, Russians plan to hold the so-called “elections” for 79 municipal associations and “legislative bodies” (occupation administrations) in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, and also the “by-elections” to the “state duma” in the occupied Crimea.

According to research carried out by Civil Network OPORA, 76.6% of Ukrainians perceive residents of the occupied territories as victims of circumstances and hostages of the occupation forces. This applies to residents of territories that were occupied after February 24, 2022, as well as residents of Crimea and certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that have been under Russian occupation since 2014. OPORA’s analysts Anatoliy Bondarchuk and Dmytro Bashtovyi delivered a presentation of research results at Ukraine Media Center - Ukrinform press event held on August 23, 2023.