ISW: Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine hold preliminary voting for United Russia party

Russian-installed governments on occupied territories of Ukraine are holding preliminary voting for the ruling United Russia party and making efforts to integrate educational institutions with Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

These developments suggest that Russian occupation authorities are actively working to forcibly integrate Ukrainian civilians into Russian sociocultural, economic, military, and governance systems in the annexed areas, as stated by ISW.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast occupation official Vladimir Rogov announced the start of preliminary voting on 22 May, which will continue until May 28. Similar voting parameters have been announced in the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts.

In addition to the voting process, ISW states that Kherson Oblast occupation authorities are working to integrate occupied educational institutes with Russia, which may facilitate the forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The Kherson Oblast occupation administration announced an agreement with Crimean occupation authorities on 23 May to simplify the admissions process for Kherson Oblast students applying to universities in the illegally annexed Crimea and resolve issues concerning Kherson Oblast children residing at Crimean educational institutions.

Furthermore, the occupation administration announced the distribution of a new Russian journalism textbook in occupied Kherson Oblast higher educational institutions, further demonstrating their efforts to integrate the region’s education system with Russia’s.

What people on the Russian-occupied territories face

Russian retrain Ukrainian language teachers in the occupied Luhansk Oblast to teach Russian instead. They replace Ukrainian literature with Russian, introduce curricula that denies the legitimacy of Ukrainian sovereignty and identity and promote propaganda at school events where children are taught to view Russia as a liberator and Ukraine as the enemy.

Russians forced Ukrainian women in occupied territories to attend a forum organized by the Russian Orthodox Church that taught women obedience and encouraged them to give birth to as many children as possible.

Russians imposed lessons on “moral foundations of family life” to instill Russian values and traditional gender roles in children. According to the Center for National Resistance, these lessons emphasize that women should bear children and men should defend the “fatherland”.

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• Torture and abuse: Grim reality for civilians in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine

• Ukrainian volunteers help family escape Russian occupation in Kherson Oblast

• ​​Ukrainian NGO repatriates six more children from Russian occupation

• Russians teach Ukrainian children “Russian values” in occupied territories