The head of the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said that families who did not support the so-called “SVO” or “insulted” the Russian Federation, in particular the flag, anthem or the President of Russia, were subjected to repression.
The “governor” of the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, openly admitted that Russian authorities are forcibly deporting Ukrainian citizens who oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or “insult” the Russian Federation, and probably hinted at the execution of Ukrainians by the Russian Armed Forces. This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War in a report dated February 22.
According to analysts, in an interview published on February 20, Balitsky said that the Russian occupation authorities “expelled a large number of families who did not support the so-called “special military operation” or “insulted” the Russian Federation, in particular the Russian flag, anthem or the president Vladimir Putin.
Experts noted that Balitsky justified actions that could be classified as war crimes, arguing that the forced deportation of Ukrainian families was carried out for their own safety. He argued that the occupation authorities would have to “deal with” these families in an even more “harsh” way in the future, or they could be killed by other pro-Russian citizens.
According to Balitsky, the occupation authorities “gave (the deported families – ed.) the opportunity to leave,” but deported some by force, “giving them a bottle of water” at the border. Balitsky also said that the occupation authorities had to make “extremely tough decisions, which (he – ed.) will not talk about,” probably hinting at the Russian occupation forces carrying out executions of Ukrainian citizens without trial.
ISW has repeatedly reported that the aggressor country has forcibly deported Ukrainian citizens, including children, and continues to believe that the Kremlin is attempting to destroy Ukrainian language, culture, history, ethnicity and identity, including through activities that appear to violate the Convention on preventing and punishing the crime of genocide.
Analysts emphasized that Balitsky's corresponding statements about Russian deportations of Ukrainian citizens who criticize the Russian occupation indicate that the Russian Federation's deportation campaigns are partly aimed at Russifying the population in temporarily occupied territories through coercion and fear.
Experts note that Balitsky’s willingness to openly discuss and even defend the illegal treatment of Ukrainian citizens by the Russian occupation authorities in a publicly released interview underscores the extent to which such policies are supported and promoted by the Russian authorities.
Let us recall that earlier the chairman of the Zaporozhye regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, reported that 95% of the houses in the city of Orekhov in Zaporozhye were destroyed due to constant shelling by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.