On March 15-17, presidential “elections” are held in Russia. “Balloting” has been going on for three weeks in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The current “election campaign” in the TOT (temporarily occupied territories) is accompanied by the mobilization of the local population and the creation of a propaganda image of the people’s love for Putin. The key task of the Kremlin is a high turnout, which should prove high confidence not only in Putin, but also in Russia in general. So, the regime stretched the “balloting” over time and is conducting a large-scale campaign to “encourage” Ukrainians using coercion and intimidation. For example, special “mobile groups” visit every house, which makes it almost impossible to avoid participating in the “balloting” for locals who previously could simply not go to the polling station and thus express their protest against the occupation.

At the same time, in the foreign information space and on various discussion platforms in democratic countries all over the world, messages are shared on a rolling basis, trying to pressure Ukraine to hold elections in conditions of war. This position is supported by the fact that Russia is holding its "elections." Therefore, we need to explain why the Russian elections have nothing to do with a genuine democratic vote, and therefore, they do not lead to the formation of legitimate authorities not only in the occupied territories but also throughout Russia. With this in view, we need to focus on three key points.

The Russian army spared no resources — from October 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023, more than 700 missiles of various types and more than 400 Shahed 131/136 drones were fired at Ukraine, which caused serious damage to the electric power system. These attacks became one of the reasons for the mass and often permanent migration of Ukrainians abroad in the fall and winter of 2022-2023 and for significant population movement within the country.

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 Center for Assistance in War Crimes Documentation is a safe space arranged by the Civil Network OPORA in Warsaw. Here, Ukrainian people who have witnessed or been victims of Russian war crimes can share their stories to make sure that international courts bring the perpetrators to justice in the future.

Messaging service Telegram’s marketing strategy is to present itself as a platform for total freedom of speech in response to the moderation policies of other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Telegram professes to consider content moderation as a philosophical question of ethics and morale, as if any interference has the exclusive function of “disciplining” users. However, this philosophical issue has quite tangible consequences in practice. For example, the findings of an independent impact assessment of Facebook on human rights in Myanmar showed(opens in a new tab) that under-moderation of content in Myanmar language contributed(opens in a new tab) to the act of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.