Putin’s martial law aims to hide “resettlement” of Ukrainians, Ukrainian official says
Oleksii Danilov is sure that Russia wants to change the ethnic composition of the occupied territories (Photo:Radio Liberty)
In declaring martial law across the Ukrainian regions he claims to have annexed, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is preparing for a mass abduction and resettlement of Ukrainians, National Security Council Secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, said in a Twitter post on Oct. 19.
“Putin’s martial law in ‘annexed’ Ukrainian regions amounts to preparation for mass deportations of the Ukrainian population to (economically) stagnant Russian regions, and attempts to alter the ethnic structure of (Russia-) occupied territories,” said Danilov.
“The UN ought to condemn this crime, as it repeats what Russia has previously done in occupied Crimea, and suffered no consequences for it.”
Earlier on Oct. 19, Putin declared martial law across occupied Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine – regions he claims to have recently annexed as parts of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian officials maintain the move changes nothing in how Kyiv intends to prosecute the war.
“Russia introducing martial law in occupied territories should be considered as nothing else but attempts to legitimize the looting and plundering of Ukrainian assets before another (Russian) withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
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