Why is the population removed from Kherson? Ethnic cleansing, fear… |
Ukraine as his forces advance toward Kherson, hundreds of townspeople take their most important possessions and board boats to leave the city. Kherson, captured by Russia in February, is the only regional center currently under occupation.
“Government” appointed by Moscow to Kherson Ukraine the territory of the forces free said that he wants to evacuate up to 60 thousand people from the city and region before doing so. They called this step a “humanitarian step”. Russia also tries to spread fear by saying that Kiev will take revenge on the local population without showing any evidence.
Ukraine officials and Western experts say that Russia, which continues to bomb civilian targets, including energy infrastructure, has many ulterior motives, from changing the ethnic makeup of the region to concerns about guerrilla sabotage.
While some of those fleeing the area do so voluntarily, others are intimidated or coerced. Among those who left voluntarily were those who supported the Russian occupation, and those who were later sent to Kherson by the Russians.
Deputy head of the occupation administration of Russia in Kherson Kirill Stremousov of October 20said in “Telegram” that up to 15 thousand people were relocated from the area. This number cannot be independently verified.
Buses sent to collect people from villages around the city of Kherson returned mostly empty. Because the residents were afraid and hid. Report this information to “Nastoyasheye Vremya”. 20It was given by Oleh Baturin, a journalist living in Kherson. He said that the “government” insisted a lot, but he did not hear anything about forcing people to move.
Analysts attribute the Kremlin’s decision to relocate such large numbers of people to a desire to harm Ukraine rather than help Russia or the local population.
“Russia does not seem to benefit economically from reluctantly moving tens of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia. This means that the goal of these transfers is both those who regain their territory of Ukraine harming its long-term economic recovery and, more importantly, supporting Russia’s campaign of ethnic cleansing. Russia Ukraine is trying to wipe out its ethnos and culture from the face of the earth”, – he said USAThe Institute of War Studies, located in , writes in its report released on October 19.
Russian army It occupied the city of Kherson, located on the west bank of the Dnieper River, in the first weeks after the start of the offensive, moving north from the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014.
However, over the past few months, Ukrainian forces have continued to use Western weapons to crush Russian forces in the region, destroy their ammunition depots, and destroy the bridges carrying manpower to Kherson.
Now the Russian forces in the city are facing the danger of being surrounded by the Ukrainians. Some Western experts say that they will move towards the east bank of the river in the coming weeks, which could deal a serious blow to Putin’s campaign.
However, on October 21, the Ukrainian army said that Russia had sent up to 2,000 newly mobilized Russians to the Kherson region. Russia has not responded to this claim.
Director of the Kennan Institute affiliated with the Wilson Center in Washington William Pomeranz He said the Russian military is already facing serious supply and capability problems elsewhere. He noted that Moscow, as he said, will receive about 300,000 new soldiers. food and has difficulty providing training.
“If they are having problems with housing the people they have mobilized, then they will have problems with finding shelter for those displaced from Kherson.” – he said.
Moscow has already relocated tens of thousands of Ukrainians from the occupied territories to the east of Russia, including the liberated regions such as the Far East.
Ukraine called this process “deportation”. Many Ukrainians were transferred to Russia against their will and under duress. The transfer of children has led to serious criticism and accusations of genocide.
Pomeranz says that the relocation of people is the responsibility of Russian forces of Ukraine can cause it to get stuck inside and block the roads. According to him, Russian forces can use Ukrainian citizens as “human shields” to protect themselves from the Ukrainian army.
Shortly before the Russian-appointed local “leaders” began to evacuate Putin Kherson and of Ukraine In three more regions that Russia unjustifiably calls its territory military announced the situation. Under Russian law, the proclamation gives occupation officials formal authority to relocate citizens and conscript them into the army.
USAAnalyst of the “RAND Corporation” think tank operating in William Courtney says that Russia may try to recruit Ukrainian men transferred from Kherson into its army. Russia’s recent setbacks are largely due to lack of manpower.
But Moscow’s fears that the local population could help the Ukrainian army have a more serious motive. It is reported that in other regions of Ukraine previously occupied by Russia, local residents passed important information on the location of the occupying forces to the Ukrainian army.
“The Russians don’t want Ukrainian citizens there because they think they could all be potential spies or saboteurs working for Ukraine,” – says Courtney.
President During George W. Bush’s time National He was an expert on Russia at the Security Council and is currently a researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations based in New York Thomas Graham says that the fewer people left to meet the Ukrainian army if the Ukrainians take back Kherson, the easier it will be for the Russians to claim that the referendum was not fake. At this time, the Kremlin will say that those who tried to greet the Ukrainian soldiers are “waste” and “traitors” who stayed there.