Manipulation of Innocence
Coercive Russian Tactics and the Fate of Civilian Population in Temporarily Occupied Ukrainian Territories during the 2023 Ukrainian Counteroffensive.
Regardless of their actions’ ethical and humanitarian consequences, the Russian Federation stands firmly behind Machiavelli’s old adage, “The end justifies the means”1. Today the Russian armed forces in Ukraine have two intertwined modus operandi. The first is the forceful displacement of Ukrainian civilians, especially children, to Russia. The second is the possible use of civilians who remain in the temporarily occupied territories as human shields during the Ukrainian counteroffensive. In both cases, the innocent are manipulated to gain a strategic advantage on the military, political, and demographic battlefields by the Russian armed forces.
I. Forceful Displacement of Children
Although the forced displacement of individuals from Ukraine to Russia affects a broad range of civilians, we find children at the forefront of these relocation efforts. This is something the Russian Federation began doing in the Russo-Ukrainian War of 20142. Personally, I believe this “de-Ukrainization” process resumed the year Ukraine gained its independence back in 1991, before which numerous generations of Ukrainians also suffered spanning from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Regime.
Nonetheless, the timeless tactics employed by our neighbor in subduing the ethnic groups of present-day Ukrainian territory persist even today. This becomes particularly evident in the full-scale invasion of 2022, in which a forced displacement of civilians follows a carefully premeditated plan, exposed in the following paragraphs through a real case study. I gathered the information from the statements made by Save Ukraine, a Ukrainian organization whose main mission is to return illegally deported Ukrainian children from Russia3.
As a matter of fact, Save Ukraine's impactful work has reached a level where Russia feels compelled to resort to propaganda to silence the noble cause of the organization and suppress the truth about their own illegal deportation of civilians. The Russian media resorted to accusing the organization of "stealing Russian children" and "selling them" in Germany. This incident unfolded on the 30th of May when a Ukrainian woman, supposedly working for Save Ukraine, was detained on the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory for allegedly attempting to have children deported to Kyiv and later to Germany for financial gain4. However, Save Ukraine swiftly refuted these claims, labeling them as propaganda. They clarified that the woman, Olga Gurulia, was actually going to the occupied area to reunite with her godson, who had family eagerly waiting for him in Ukraine and other children that desired to return back to their country5. The situation becomes evident when considering that Olga was coerced into recording a video in a Russian detention center where she was instructed to "tell the truth." In this video, she "confessed" to not knowing the children she was sent to retrieve (that is, her own godson). This strongly suggests that she was compelled to memorize a fabricated narrative and present it for the benefit of Russian media.
Now, I would like to share some of the evidence Save Ukraine gathered from the parents and children they managed to return to Ukraine. They were able to notice a pattern forming in the way Ukrainian kids would end up in Russia, which revealed a process Russian authorities follow to deport and later convert, as legally as possible, Ukrainian children into Russian citizens.
Before delving into the case study, it is crucial to provide an explanation of the four main methods through which Ukrainian children are deported. According to Mykola Kuleba, CEO of Save Ukraine, the first approach involves manipulation, pressure, and threats. Among these tactics, the deprivation of parental rights or the direct removal of children is commonly employed when individuals fail to comply with the occupiers' orders. On the other hand, the civilian population, especially children, is subjected to constant pressure to leave Ukraine, fueled by the false notion that "evil Ukrainians" will pose a threat to their lives. It is within this context that our case study unfolds, focusing on a girl named Alina, who, influenced by her neighbor who also was a Russian collaborator, became frightened and voluntarily sought refuge in Russia.
Furthermore, another method of deportation is carried out under the guise of "evacuation," "salvation," or "rescue." This entails the Russian forces coercively relocating the Ukrainian civilian population, either to Russian territory or to temporarily occupied regions. Prior to these displacements, the occupiers deliberately create inhumane conditions in the occupied areas, including ongoing threats, arbitrary arrests, a lack of humanitarian and medical assistance, a lack of electricity and water supply, and the complete absence of opportunities to escape to areas under Ukrainian control.
Additionally, another pretext is based on the absence of legal guardians for certain children, which is then used as a justification to displace them to Russia and "save" them. In cases where parents have passed away, been hospitalized, injured, placed in camps, arrested, or gone missing, the occupying forces categorize these children as “children who arrived in Russia without a legal guardian”
Finally, an additional instance of deportation involves children who were enrolled in boarding schools. It is important to note that these children cannot be simply classified as orphans since most of them have biological parents. Prior to the occupation, these boarding schools operated under their own deans and directors. When the Russian forces took control, they replaced the existing leaders with their own appointed individuals, changing the school's administration. These newly appointed authorities now make unlawful decisions regarding the healthcare of the children, which serves as a pretext for their relocation. They then submit applications on behalf of these children for their transfer to Russia based on these medical reasons and so it begins.
This reminds me of a story I learned during my trip, that of a young boy from Kherson oblast whose age I do not recall, who prior to being displaced to Russia had quite a psychological trauma due to the events he and his family went through while the city was being occupied. Eventually, he was forcefully relocated to Crimea, where he remained for several months until his parents managed to rescue him and brought him back to Ukraine. Despite the promises for better healthcare in Russia, the reality proved to be starkly different. The boy's condition deteriorated further, and his mother attested that he was in a worse state than when she saw him last before his deportation. This heartbreaking account sheds light on the hollowness of the healthcare pretext used by the Russian authorities, exposing their lack of genuine concern for the well-being of innocent children. Similar cases were also reported by Save Ukraine during their press conference.
Case study: Alina, the rescued girl from Russia
Now I will start with the illustrative case of Alina, a 15-year-old girl who was rescued from Mordovia, Russia. Utilizing the documentation Alina brought with her from her time in Russia, Save Ukraine’s lawyer, Myroslava Kharchenko, shed light on the process of "Russification" that takes place when a Ukrainian child is illegally deported, outlining the specific steps involved6.
For starters, most of the deported children that end up in Russia aren’t accompanied by their parents or legal guardians. This deliberate separation is precisely what the Russian authorities desire, as it grants them unrestricted control over the fate of these vulnerable children. The first thing they do, is issue a document that officially establishes temporary guardianship of the child7, which allows this new guardian to make all the decisions they consider pertinent in the child’s “best interest”. In Alina’s case, this was issued on the 11th of November 2022.
Secondly and something only possible after obtaining the temporary guardianship document, on the same date Alina was already enrolled in a school, with all the necessary documents, printed and signed. Almost seems as if it was all already planned and ready for Alina’s arrival. The documentation shown in the video reveals, among other information, her school records, and the subjects she will be studying8.
Thirdly, on the 15th of December 2022, her fingerprints were taken to facilitate the process of obtaining Russian citizenship9.
Lastly, following the latter document, issued to Alina on the 2nd of March 2023 in Crimea was a new certificate of birth, now following a Russian structure. After that, Alina was brought back to Ukraine by her mother and the Save Ukraine organization, just in time before she got issued a Russian passport, which would make the process of rescue far more complicated10.
Throughout Alina's stay in Russia, her mother was unaware of her whereabouts and had no means of contacting her. After months of persistent efforts, they eventually managed to reach out through Facebook to the neighbor-collaborator who had initially taken Alina to Russia. With the assistance of Save Ukraine, they successfully repatriated the child and brought her back home. But not all parents have the same luck.
According to Mykola’s statement about the children Save Ukraine managed to bring back to Ukraine, not once the Russian side made the effort of contacting or looking for these deported children’s parents or any other family members. Not even when the territory Russians took the children from, like Kharkiv, was de-occupied and safe to return to. This statement contradicts the assertions made by the Russian side, who repeatedly assured that they made every effort to establish contact with the families of these children.
However, according to some Ukrainian parents, when they attempted to reach out to Russian authorities to look for their kids, they were directly turned down. Concurrently, Russian authorities persistently informed these children that they would not be returned to Ukraine, their parents would no longer acknowledge them, and either new Russian families would be assigned to them, or they would be placed in orphanages.
And talking about Russian orphanages, apparently Ukrainian children are given preference over Russian orphans, even when prospective adoptive parents from the same Russian city express their desire to adopt a local child. Kateryna Rashevka, a lawyer at the Regional Center of Human Rights and participant in Save Ukraine’s conference recounted an incident involving a woman from Novosibirsk who had expressed her desire to adopt a Russian child from her own city. However, she was unexpectedly asked to adopt two Ukrainian children instead. Feeling “a moral obligation”, she agreed to the proposition. Consequently, the Russian child in Novosibirsk remains in an orphanage, still awaiting a loving family.
Unveiling Russia's Motives
Some valuable reasons stand behind the illegal mass deportation of Ukrainian children into Russia. For instance, re-educating children is far easier than adults, primarily due to the malleability and adaptability of their young minds, making them more receptive to new ideologies and cultural influences. Alina, when asked during the press conference about the education she was given, tells the following: “We went to school, where they made us transcribe a text from a book [in Russian], that’s all we did every day”11.
Linked to this, another reason is the so-called “demographic engineering”, which operates on two different levels in the Russo-Ukrainian war. First, following its full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has further exacerbated its already critical demographic crisis. Notably, a 2023 report by CSIS reveals that the Russian military has experienced more casualties in Ukraine since 2022 than in all previous conflicts Russia participated in combined, spanning from the Second World War onwards12. Because of the way they employ their military personnel (that is, as cannon fodder), they must replace the endless dead with “fresh meat”. After all, quantity over quality seems to be the eternal Soviet way, and what better way to both get more men without sacrificing Russian citizens and kill Ukrainians if not make Ukrainians die fighting against their own people?
An illustrative example of this is a more recent press conference given by Save Ukraine on the 30th of May 202313, which featured a 17-years old boy from Kherson, Vladyslav. After presenting himself, he said, “[the occupied forces imply that] you must study in a military academy, or you will be in trouble. On the 7th of October [2022] they called my house and told me I need to pack my things, mentioning I have about 15 minutes to think it through. In the end, on the 8th, a car came by the house, and they took me with them. I was told they would take me only for 10 days”. After this, journalists in the public asked him where exactly he was taken, to which he answered, “to Crimea, to the camp “Druzhba”. After this, he mentions, “I stayed there for two months, after which the Naval Academy came by and took us with them, where I stayed for another six months”. “Each morning we would wake up early, to the Russian hymn and a Russian flag waving and [I was told] I must sing the Russian hymn with everybody else”. Vladyslav mentioned he never gave up his Ukrainian passport.
From left to right: Vladyslav Rudenko, Mykola Kuleba, and Tatyana Rudenko, Vladyslav’s mother.
However, the rapid decrease in the Russian population cannot solely be attributed to military activities. According to the article by The Moscow Times, “Russia’s population has declined for the past four years in a row and dropped by half a million people last year alone, standing at 146.45 million people at the start of 2023”, a big contributor to this is Russians constantly displacing abroad. Moving people from Ukraine to Russia would alter the demographic composition of certain Russian regions, which, if linked to their “Russification of the youth” plan, could potentially influence forthcoming political dynamics and territorial proclamations.
On the other hand, demographic engineering is also used by Russia on Ukrainian land to secure the seized territories, simply by swapping Ukrainian citizens for Russian citizens, which then forces the remaining locals to stay low, keep their mouths shut and, over time, accept their fate under the new leadership. This also contributes greatly to avoiding any possible insurrections by the remaining locals, since the new citizens prevail in number. This reminded me of Machiavelli once again, who recommended employing that same method when talking about getting hold of newly conquered territories: “Another good solution is to establish colonies in one or two places. These work rather like chains to bind the captured state to your own. If you don’t do this you’ll have to keep large numbers of infantry and cavalry in the territory. Colonies don’t cost a great deal. You can send and maintain them very cheaply and they only arouse the hostility of the people whose houses and land are expropriated to give to the colonists. Since that will only be a very small proportion of the population, and since these people will now be poor and will have fled to different places, they can hardly cause much trouble. Everyone else will be unaffected (hence prone to keep quiet) and at the same time frightened of stepping out of line for fear of having their own houses and land taken away. In conclusion, colonies are cheap, more loyal, provoke less hostility among your new subjects, and, as I’ve said, those few who are provoked can’t fight back since they’ll be dispossessed refugees”14.
I would like to mention one more motive behind this practice: psychological warfare. In addition to the trauma it creates for the deported children and their families and, ultimately, whole Ukrainian communities, this also results in a low blow to Ukrainian morale. And, as a Ukrainian, believe me when I tell you it works. To give some historical examples, mass deportation of Ukrainians already took place from the 1920s to the late 1930s, as soon as the Soviet regime was established. During that time, Ukrainian intellectuals and politicians, also known as “The Executed Renaissance” were massively persecuted, deported to remote locations and, in some cases, executed during the Great Purge15. The goal was to eradicate all Ukrainian culture and prevent it from growing. Another example is from 1940, in today’s Poland, when in three significant waves, approximately 250,000 Poles, along with thousands of Ukrainians and Belarusians, were forcefully displaced to Siberia, as well as Central and Far Eastern Asia16. Lastly and especially in the context of this war, it’s important to mention the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, mostly women, children, and the older generations, where about 151,42417 (although other sources estimate higher numbers) Crimean Tatars were forcedly displaced into Soviet Uzbekistan. Crimea, then, would be resettled with people from the Soviet Union. And yes, this is the same technique described by Machiavelli mentioned in the previous paragraph. And these are just some examples. The issue is, none of these mass deportations, half of each ended up in death for the prisoners, were ever addressed internationally and the architects behind them were never held accountable. It’s a wound that never really heals. It’s sad to admit that Ukrainians are used to expecting the Russian Federation, based on not-so-old history, to get away with nearly anything with little to no consequences in the international, political, and legal arena. It may seem like history, yet again, is repeating itself, and this inevitably creates a sensation of helplessness among Ukrainians, watching our future generations, the sole glimpse of a brighter future for our country, being taken away from us.
However, today’s problem lies in the fact that the West itself has been involved in numerous unjustified wars and committed a series of war crimes over the past two decades, yet it has neither admitted nor faced legal consequences for its actions. Drawing a parallel and as an example, the Iraq War bears resemblances to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, blurring the distinction between the actions of the United States and the Russian Federation. In both cases, the motives were far from the truth: inexistent weapons of mass destruction and the inexistent evil Nazi regime that was just about to attack all of Russia. In both cases, national support was needed to deliver the first strike, so, long, and well-thought-through propaganda campaigns were employed. And finally, in both cases, the true goal would be either geopolitical dominance, political influence, or money. Or all of it. Iraq? Full of oil. Ukraine? Precisely Donbas is the region with the most oil and gas in all of Ukraine18. And the timing of the war was also interesting: In January and then again in November 2013, Kyiv signed shale gas deals with Shell and Chevron (US), which would drastically reduce Ukrainian dependence on Russian gas19. But it’s not only oil or gas Ukraine has to offer, roughly half of the global supply of semiconductor-grade neon, a crucial component to produce chips, is sourced from Ukraine, specifically the Ukrainian companies Ingas and Cryoin. What’s also interesting is, Ingas is based in Mariupol, a city that is now under complete Russian control20. And when it comes to southern occupied areas and, specifically, Crimea, I suppose the reader understands the crucial strategic value of having access to the main ports in the Black Sea region.
There is a lesson in it all. Realistically, can we truly expect Russia or any of its supporters to adhere to any agreements? The ongoing hypocrisy exhibited by the Western nations, especially the US, who continue to dictate how others should behave based on democratic values they themselves have not consistently upheld, has left the world weary and disillusioned. Either no one is above the law, or everyone can do as they please. Perhaps it’s time for the West to start leading by example. Admit your mistakes, come forward, and accept responsibility for your actions. All war crimes must be addressed and the responsible people – put behind bars. Only by doing so can we hope to foster a more promising future, free (at least, to some extent) from the grip of corrupt politics.
Lastly and going back to the forceful displacement of civilians, in order to reinforce the legal framework that will facilitate further deportation, a new law was signed on May 24th, 2023 by the Russian Federation regarding forced deportations of the civilian population within the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories (followed by the allowance of elections in the said regions). Keep in mind, Russia has taken deliberate legal steps to facilitate these deportations since 201821. This clearly contributes to Russia’s efforts to further control the narrative, maintain territorial dominance, and suppress resistance in the occupied territories. Simultaneously, in connection to the second part of this article, this displacement of civilians also serves a strategic purpose: employing the innocent and unarmed civilian population as human shields.
II. The use of civilians as Human Shields
The illegal deportation of Ukrainian civilians within temporarily occupied territories comes with a dark connotation: rather than “saving” them from war, the Russian armed forces, I believe, plan on employing them as human shields once the Ukrainian counteroffensive begins22. But let’s take it step by step.
In the realm of international law governing armed conflicts, deliberately using civilians as human shields is considered a violation of multiple treaties and conventions23. In reality, due to the difficulty of proof and further legal action (especially when the guilty party “wins” the war) these rules of war are constantly bent by parties engaged in conflict, and more often than not, completely dismissed.
It's not, however, an uncommon practice24, and it also proves to be highly effective against the enemy on several levels. For instance, it can notably impede opposing forces’ progress, particularly when they have moral constraints regarding civilian casualties. Moreover, if the opposing party’s actions inadvertently lead to civilian deaths, a drastic decline in international support must be expected (if occurred during the counteroffensive, would benefit deeply the Russian armed forces). This compels the said party to reassess the feasibility of launching a direct attack considering the associated risks, obliging them to change or abandon tactics altogether, and giving valuable time to the counterparty to pursue their political or/and military goals. Using human shields also allows the employing party to gather crucial intelligence about the enemy without risking their own forces' casualties.
The Russian armed forces have used this and similar tactics in multiple conflicts they were engaged in, such as the Chechnya Wars25, the war in Syria26, and Ukraine itself27. In all those cases and with the upcoming counteroffensive, the animus for Russia when employing the human shields tactic remains unaltered: to gain a military and political advantage over Ukraine.
During my last days in Ukraine, we met with a few soldiers to gain firsthand insights in relation to the upcoming counteroffensive, allowing us to form a more comprehensive understanding of the situation on the ground. The objectives of the Ukrainian counteroffensive remain quite clear: the temporally occupied southern areas, starting the advance towards Melitopol and moving west, Crimea remaining the end target. The specifics of these plans are already known to Russians (which, by the way, tells a lot about the sad level of operation security in Ukraine), making one raise an eyebrow at the forceful displacement of civilians by Russian armed forces from the southern occupied areas to, precisely, Crimea, during these past months. The pretext, of course, is to “save” these civilians from the evil bloodthirsty Ukrainians that keep firing artillery into the frontline of the southern areas, but why would they move part of the civilian population to Crimea, the ultimate and main target of the Ukrainian counteroffensive operation? Mariupol, for example, east of the southern occupied areas, would be a much easier route to take from Melitopol, which allows further, far easier deportation of civilians to Russian territory… that is if the goal was to truly save them. In some cases, to be fair, the occupied forces do take the eastern routes for evacuations, although only to Berdyansk and as the final destination28.
Ukraine Control Map on 10th June 2023
To give a few examples, on the 28th of February 2023, a document from the illegally appointed Russian government of Krasnoperekopsk (located right at the entrance to the Crimean Peninsula) was obtained by Ukraine Now. It revealed a request sent to various enterprises and organizations in the city, urging them to provide a comprehensive list of their employees and their respective family members for the purpose of evacuation.
Before this, the Russian occupation administration, in cooperation with the local FSB branch, raised the terrorist threat level to “high” in the town of Krasnoperekopsk, amongst others which are also located at the entrance of the Crimean Peninsula. Ukrainian authorities believe that this increased security measure could reflect the occupiers’ preparations for a potential operation by the Ukrainians to liberate Crimea: “It may also indicate the possibility of provocations by the Russian special services against the civilian population of the Peninsula, followed by shifting the responsibility onto Ukraine” they pointed out29. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine itself informed, as it did on numerous past occasions, about the transfer of civilians from the Zaporizhzhia region towards Crimea by the Russian occupiers.
Worth mentioning is the fact that, precisely on the 23rd of May 2023, Sergey Aksyonov, a Russian politician serving as the Head of the Russian-annexed Crimea, canceled all restrictions that were previously introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing unrestricted travel in all of Crimea30. By creating a dense civilian presence, it becomes easier for Russia to gather a larger number of civilians in Crimea to strategically position them as potential human shields. On the same note, on the 29th of May 2023, the press service of the Crimean summer camp “Artek” revealed their ambitious plans for this summer: to host over 1,000 children from around 50 countries and more than 13,000 children from diverse regions across Russia for a memorable "vacation" experience31.
The main question we should be asking ourselves considering these events is, why now? By the looks of it, all the mentioned connections demonstrate how apparently unrelated events and actions could actually contribute to the larger objective of using civilians as human shields in this anticipated conflict. But will the Russian Federation succeed? In desperate times, desperate measures, as they say. This reveals the worrying expectations of the occupying force regarding the approaching Ukrainian counteroffensive.
I would like to conclude with a personal note. It is a known phenomenon that it’s not easy to hold on to recently acquired territory, particularly when it is obtained by a longstanding enemy. Ukraine, although infested with Russian-soviet spies and influencers, particularly now in the southern occupied regions than ever, has deep and solid cultural and historic roots of its own, centuries old. The nation never felt or wanted to be part of any major empire, Reich, or country, and always sought one thing: its independence. The occupied forces since day one were warned to be hunted down, one by one, this being the reason why they never really felt “at home” in the occupied Ukrainian regions. Our partisans, for instance, are doing a marvelous job in the South by disrupting the enemy’s logistic lines, performing raids and assassinations on the enemy’s appointed political personnel, etc., perpetuating a state of constant alertness and apprehension among Russians, as they live in fear of becoming the next target. These Ukrainians are patiently waiting for the counteroffensive to begin, with some in Crimea having waited since 2014. I have, however, genuine concerns about the impact it could have on the civilian population, considering that they have not experienced a war of the scale witnessed in Donetsk, Luhansk, or Mariupol... But I do believe that, if planned meticulously, the Russian tactic of using human shields during the Ukrainian counteroffensive could backfire, leaving them caught between a rock and a hard place, with no other option but to surrender.
This paper's research became possible due to the financial support generously provided by the Fainting Robin Foundation.
“Sunflower”, the picture used as the social preview for this article, is a drawing by 11-year-old Serhii Koldin, who Save Ukraine team brought back to Ukraine from Russia. See the post about Serhii Koldin here.
M. Niccolò, “The Prince”, Italy, 1532. Translated by Tim Parks. Introduction, p. 22. See the book here.
For example, an extract from the UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Ukraine”, p. 6, paragraph 19, reads: “[…] On 12 June 2014, 16 institutionalized children and two accompanying persons had been abducted by armed representatives of the so-called Donetsk “peoples’ republic” and taken to the Russian Federation. All the children have been returned”. See the report here.
Save Ukraine Conference, May 11th, 2023. See press conference here.
“About the attempt by SBU to steal Russian children”, Rybar, Telegram. See the text here.
Save Ukraine via their Telegram channel. See the text here.
Op. cit., press conference, minute 25:30. Note that the press conference is in the Ukrainian language.
Ibid., minute 27:10. Note that the documents shown on screen are in the Russian language. See the Russian article regulation here.
Ibid., minute 27:31.
Ibid., minute 27:58.
Ibid., minute 28:48.
Ibid., minute 19:30.
G. Jones S., McCabe R., Palmer A., “Ukrainian Innovation in a War of Attrition”, February 2023, page 6. See the analysis here.
Save Ukraine Conference, May 30th, 2023. See the news here. Full conference available on their Instagram page @saveukraine.center, accessible here.
M. Niccolò, op. cit., Mixed Monarchies, p. 10. See the book here.
To name a few Ukrainian figures who were executed:
Hryhorii Epik, a Ukrainian writer and journalist, shot during the Great Purge in 1937.
Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych, Ukrainian writer, dramatist. Ethnographer and considered the father of the modern bandura, in 1938 he was arrested and tortured by the Soviets and later that year he was sentenced to death and executed, with all his property confiscated by the Soviet Regime.
Mykola Kulish, Ukrainian prose writer, pedagogue, and veteran of the First World War, was considered to be one of the main leaders of the Executed Renaissance, he was shot in 1937 in Solovki with 289 other members of Ukrainian intellectuals, amongst which was also Les Kurbas, who was an important Ukrainian movie and theater director.
Valerian Pidmohylny, also one of the main figures of the Executed Renaissance and the author of the book “Misto”, was arrested and tortured, sentenced to a prison camp, and executed there in 1934.
Klym Polishchuk, a Ukrainian journalist, poet, and writer, was executed in 1937.
Mykhailo Yalovy, Ukrainian prose writer, poet, and playwright, also one of the leading figures of the Executed Renaissance, was executed with a bullet to the back of his head in front of a trench, in 1937.
Mykola Khvylovy, a Ukrainian novelist, poet, and political activist, committed suicide in 1933 in Kharkiv. His suicide note said: “Arrest of Yalovy – this is the murder of an entire generation ... For what? Because we were the most sincere Communists? I don't understand. The responsibility for the actions of Yalovy's generation lies with me, Khvylovy. Today is a beautiful sunny day. I love life - you can't even imagine how much. Today is the 13th. Remember I was in love with this number? Terribly painful. Long live communism. Long live the socialist construction. Long live the Communist Party”. After he died, his works were banned from the USSR. Vid. Where Are Our People?, “Deportation of Ukrainians in the 1920s”. See the article here.
Lebedeva, N. S., “The Deportation of the Polish Population to the USSR, 1939-1941,” in Rieber, Alfred J., Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950, London, 2000, pp. 28-46. See the book here. Vid. Aurélie C., “The Soviet Massive Deportations – A Chronology”, SciencesPro, France, 2007. See the article here.
Otto Pohl, J., in “The Loss, Retention, and Reacquisition of Social Capital by Special Settlers in the USSR, 1941-1960”, in Migration, Homeland, and Belonging in Eurasia, USA, 2008, p. 207. See the book here.
IEA, “Ukraine Energy Profile”, April 2020, p. 14. See the report here.
Polityuk, P., Balmforth, R., “Ukraine signes $10 billion shale gas deal with Chevron”, Reuters, November 2013. See the article here.
Alper, A., “Exclusive: Russia’s attack on Ukraine halts half of world’s neon output for chips”, Reuters, March 2022. See the article here.
In 2018, Putin was granted additional authority in matters of Russian citizenship, enabling him to selectively determine which foreigners can apply for a simplified process of acquiring it. One criterion for eligibility is residing in Russia for a certain period, while in some cases, merely holding Ukrainian nationality is sufficient. Another pathway to a simplified citizenship process is by passing a Russian language exam, which can be done without prior notice, especially for individuals from regions such as Kherson or Zaporizhia. Once the exam is successfully completed, applicants gain access to the simplified citizenship process.
Between 2020 and 2022, additional simplified procedures for obtaining Russian citizenship were introduced. These procedures particularly benefitted children from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), and Ukrainian children, granting them access to an expedited process.
On February 18, 2022, a few days before the full-scale invasion, specific laws were enacted to address financial assistance for Ukrainians who had relocated from Ukraine to reside in Russia. For more, see Decree No. 330 of May 30, 2022, and No. 440 of July 11, 2022 “on the definition for humanitarian purposes of the categories of persons entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation in a simplified manner”, available here.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, member of the Lithuanian Parliament, pointed this out on his Facebook page on the 21st of May: “On Thursday, I warned that the Russian Federation in various countries of the world organizes groups of children who are invited to come for rest or to various cultural and educational events on the occupied Crimean Peninsula in the near future. This operation is carried out geographically in different places, for example, Kazakhstan, Israel, Belgium, Morocco, Tajikistan, Egypt, Armenia and other countries. The main goal of this operation is to bring as many "living shield" hostages as possible against the upcoming Ukrainian military counterattack operation”.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 82 (b)(xxiii): “For the purpose of this Statute, “war crimes” means: Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations”. See the article here.
For example, ISIL used human shields in Aleppo, Syria, back in 2016, available here, under the section “2017”, “Human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations in the Syrian Arab Republic, 21 July 2016- 28 February 2017”, p. 18, on the UN Human Rights Council website. Another example, Jaysh al-Islam also used human shields in Damascus, Syria, in 2016, available on page 15 of the report titled “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic”, dated 11 February 2016, available here on the UN Human Rights Council website.
“War Crimes and Politics of Terror in Chechnya 1994-2004”, in Medecins Sans Frontieres Speaking Out, September 14, p. 46: “During the shelling one of our teams saw Russian soldiers take away a lorry full of men and boys aged above 12 years and boys accused of being Chechen combatants simply because their hands had calluses and other “signs of being combatants”. When the fighting has finished whole families are tied to the armoured vehicles whilst these are paraded through the village. As the soldiers take part in the looting they push women and children before them as human shields”. For more testimonies and examples, see pages 47, 48, 51, and 75 here. Vid. Orlov, O.P., Cherkasov, A.V., “Behind their backs: Russian forces’ use of Civilians as Hostages and human shields during the Chechnya war”, available here.
There have been allegations and reports of various actors using human shields in the Syrian war, Russian Federation included, but this is not something the UN openly ever admitted. In the Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 21 October 2016, the UN “demands that all parties to the Syrian conflict, in particular the Syrian authorities and its allies, immediately comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law” (see the resolution). Note, since the onset of the Syrian conflict in 2015, Russia has provided direct military support to the administration of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, meaning, the UN is referring to the Russian Federation when mentioning “allies” of Syrian authorities. On another note, Amnesty International itself mentions the following on March 3, 2016: “Russian and Syrian government forces appear to have deliberately and systematically targeted hospitals and other medical facilities over the last three months to pave the way for ground forces to advance on northern Aleppo” (available here). For more on that topic, see Physicians for Human Rights’ Findings of Attacks on Health Care in Syria, available here.
Bowen, J., “Ukraine War: “Russian soldiers used us as human shields”, BBC, April 2022: “In multiple interviews in Obukhovychi, villagers say they were taken from their homes at gunpoint and held in a school by Russians trying to stop advancing Ukrainian forces. Local people also gave accounts of Russian troops shooting civilians and holding others captive in and around Ivankiv, the neighbouring town”. See the article here.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine on the 11th of May 2023 informed: “During the last three days, the Russian occupation administration "evacuated" about 300 local residents, in particular, children, from the temporarily captured territories of Zaporizhzhya region to Berdyansk”. See the article here.
Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, “GUR”, “Crimea’s Occupation Authority Preparing for Ukrainian Operation on Liberation of Peninsula”, February 2023. See the article here.
Vysl, V., “All restrictions in Crimea were lifted: what can tourists expect in the summer of 2023”, Pronedra, May 2023. See the article here.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, op. cit.