The russian militarist machine is in a panic. A cursory analysis of terrorist attacks on the territory of russia since the beginning of the war shows that their perpetrators are mainly ethnic Ukrainians – natives of the so-called new territories that “became” part of the russian federation, as well as first-generation migrants who have relatives in Ukraine. There is a constant trend when well-known russian media characters who were born in Ukraine take an anti-russian position, and “Soviet Ukrainians” are often not at all loyal to russia and “special military operation”. At the same time, anti-russian views are often held by people with fairly distant Ukrainian roots. For example, the grandfather of the singer Yu. Shevchuk, an active opponent of russian aggression in Ukraine, was an officer of Petlura.
All these considerations in the brains of the kremlin authorities gradually resulted in the long-forgotten idea of introducing a settlement zone for the Jewish population, which existed in the russian empire. From 1791 to 1917, such territories of compact Jewish residence were introduced by the russian imperial government in order to prevent the penetration of Jews into the interior provinces and to protect local entrepreneurs from Jewish competition. Later, in Soviet times, Ukrainians who disagreed with collectivization and Crimean Tatars were forcibly resettled in remote regions of Siberia and Kazakhstan. And for Soviet Jews, the Jewish Autonomous region was created in the most remote area of russia.
So, in modern russia, they decided to follow the example of the russian empire, but already with regard to ethnic and especially “political” Ukrainians who have russian citizenship from birth, and “new” citizens of russia – natives of the “new” (occupied) territories of the russian federation. It is characteristic that the topic of creating territories for Ukrainians, such as reservations in the USA and Bantustans in the Republic of South Africa, began to be actively discussed, mainly in social networks. This is how the kremlin authorities, as always, study public opinion in order to reproduce it in the legal field. Currently, the blogger community is promoting ideas regarding the rules for compact living for this category of residents. Therefore, it is proposed that such Ukrainians live in the “joined” territories, but without the right to enter the “primitive” territories of the russian federation, and those who have long lived in the russian federation could be subject to “soft”, “civilized” deportation to “new” territories under the slogan of returning to the “historic homeland, where their grandfathers and fathers once lived.” Thus, it is proposed to deport to the “new” lands of the russian federation representatives of officially registered Ukrainian diasporas in large cities of russia, Ukrainian activists, citizens who have been observed in love with the Ukrainian language, culture, wearing national clothes, etc. It is planned to expel believers of the Greek Catholic Church and adherents of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate to the border of settlement, with the exception of those who voluntarily converted to “russian” Orthodoxy. Only those ethnic Ukrainians of the “new” or “old” territories who recognize russia as their “new homeland”, voluntarily russify and renounce the idea of Ukrainian statehood will not lose their rights.
According to kremlin strategists, this tactic will allow for the formation of a layer of russians of Ukrainian origin loyal to the aggressive policy of the russian federation, as well as to significantly curb terrorist and anti-russian activities in the places where they live compactly. The first step to the realization of criminal intentions is the filtering measures that the russian security forces continue to carry out in the occupied territories of the Kherson region, and the forced procedure of “personal identification” in the occupied territory of the Donetsk region.
How real are the kremlin’s intentions?
Of course, such ideas do not correspond to the norms of international legislation and even the constitution of the russian federation. However, this will in no way stop the attempts of the rashists to consolidate the “cleansing” of Ukrainians by amending the basic law and holding a national referendum on this issue. The facts of falsification of presidential elections and national referendums during putin’s rule are well known.
However, according to the data of the all-russian population census, more than 2.47 million people live in the russian federation who consider Ukraine their historical homeland, 135 thousand call themselves Ruthenians, 108 thousand – Hutsuls, 6 thousand – Lemkas, 2 thousand – Boykas, as well as 4 thousand Crimean Tatars. More than half of the Ukrainian diaspora lives in moscow and the moscow region, krasnodar region and rostov region, tyumen and primorye regions of russia.
An attempt to resettle such a large number of people will cause such chaos and an increase in terrorist manifestations in the russian federation and in the occupied territories that will destroy both putin’s power and russian statehood itself. In addition, such a step will provoke mass actions of disobedience by russians from other ethnic groups who disagree with the national policy of the kremlin.
❗️ Implementation of the kremlin plans is currently considered unlikely. However, the attack on the rights of the Ukrainian national minority in russia and Ukrainians in the occupied territories will continue.
