Russia Seeks To 'Change Demographics' of Occupied Ukraine

Authorities in a Ukrainian region that was illegally annexed are seeking to alter the demographics of the area by displacing the local population with Russian citizens, according to a Kyiv official.

The development was reported by Ivan Fedorov, who was the mayor of the city of Melitopol in occupied Zaporizhzhia, before it came under Russian control in March 2022.

Four regions of Ukraine—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia—were illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fall of 2022 following referendums that were illegal under international law and condemned by the United Nations. Russia is not fully in control of any of the regions, and foreign governments, including the United States, said the move was illegitimate.

Speaking on national television, Fedorov said the Kremlin intends to relocate citizens of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to occupied Zaporizhzhia.

"The enemy has approved a new program called 'Zaporizhzhia's virgin land'—they are trying to carry out mass resettlement of Russian citizens to the temporarily occupied territory," said Fedorov, Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported.

"And not only citizens of the Russian Federation—now they are looking for people from different parts of the Russian Federation, citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, so they can come to the temporarily occupied territory," he said.

Fedorov added that by doing so, the Kremlin hopes to "calm down the resistance that continues to persist in the temporary occupation, to replace the gene pool, replace the [Ukrainian] population."

The exiled mayor said Russia has a "huge shortage of personnel in the temporarily occupied territory" because "our residents do not agree to cooperate with the enemy en masse."

Fedorov highlighted a shortage of doctors and builders in Zaporizhzhia.

"Therefore, they are ready to 'buy' personnel to move to the temporarily occupied territory, settle in our occupied apartments and houses, and thus solve their demographic problems," he said.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Russia for comment by email.

Gyunduz Mamedov, a former deputy prosecutor-general of Ukraine, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Moscow's actions constitute a war crime.

"[Russian] authorities plan to conduct a massive resettlement of citizens of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia, and they trying to forcibly change the demographic composition of the region, according to [Ivan Fedorov]," wrote Mamedov.

"This is accompanied by deportation and persecution of [Ukrainian] citizens. #WarCrimes," he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is aiming to "ensure the security" of the occupied Ukrainian regions as quickly as possible. In September, Putin marked the anniversary of the illegal annexation of the four regions, saying they "made their choice—to be with their Fatherland."

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