‘We’ve seen this somewhere in history before, haven’t we?’ Inside Russia’s plan to resettle 114,000 of its people in occupied Ukraine.
Over the next 20 years, Russian authorities plan to resettle nearly 114,000 Russians in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Despite the grim circumstances, some people really are moving there. The independent journalists’ cooperative Bereg took Melitopol as its example — a city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region that Russian troops entered as early as February 25, 2022 — to understand what kind of…
The Russian government has an ambitious plan to resettle nearly 114,000 Russians in the Ukrainian territories that it has occupied. Despite the dire situation, some individuals are indeed moving to these seized regions. The independent journalists’ cooperative Bereg investigated this phenomenon, focusing on Melitopol, a city in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region that Russian troops captured as early as February 25, 2022.
They spoke with Russians who have resettled there, lifelong Melitopol residents, and members of the Ukrainian nonviolent resistance movement Zla Mavka (“Angry Mavka”). Lyudmila Plachkova, a 34-year-old born and raised in Melitopol, left for Bulgaria when the occupation began, as her parents were abducted by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers.
The Plachkovas had a café business that thrived over the years, but after the invasion, they decided to leave. Lyudmila and her family endured a harrowing filtration process to escape, with her mother being beaten by FSB officers during questioning. The story highlights the profound impact of the occupation on the lives of ordinary Russians and Ukrainians, as well as the challenges of adapting to life under foreign rule.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
