British Defense Ministry: Russia extends ‘Russification’ in occupied Ukraine through education, personnel training
Moscow is launching a master's program to train personnel for government roles in the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson & Zaporizhzhia oblasts, likely aimed at creating a new administrative 'elite.'
The British Defense Ministry reported on 28 March that the Russian government continues to integrate the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into its legal and administrative systems.
Such multifaceted Russification campaigns in occupied Ukraine aim to destroy Ukrainian identity.
According to the British Defense Ministry, the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration “is launching a master’s degree in ‘State and municipal management.’
It’s reportedly will provide graduates with skills to work at all levels of government, including in the “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics,” as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
The UK intel reported that this likely aims “to overcome the shortage of willing and skilled personnel in Russian government roles in the occupied territories of Ukraine.”
It can be “linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to create a new administrative elite as indicated in his State of the Nation address last month and the issuing of a presidential decree in January 2024 on the establishment of a new personnel reserve.”
Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko announced that “Russia has established 58 federal penitentiaries across the occupied territories in Ukraine.”
These measures represent “further evidence of Russification measures to align the legal and political frameworks of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the British Defense Ministry reported.
Previous Russification steps in the occupied areas, according to the reports, include “extending the Russian justice system, imposing a Russian education curriculum, issuing Russian passports, and building Russian telecommunications infrastructure.”
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