They have changed the Internet, changed the system of Ukraine’s schools, and arrested hundreds who have tried to refuse. Russia is trying to make Ukraine a part of them.
Russians are attempting to make Ukrainians adapt to their way of life. They are willing to use violence to make this happen. “We are one people,” The blue and white Russian Billboards read, “We are with Russia.”
Analysts in Moscow and Ukraine say that this could mean that Putin is officially declaring Ukraine as Russian territory. Surrounded by Russian troops and nuclear weapons, this will make Kyiv’s future attempts of getting Ukraine back much more challenging.
Vladmir Konstanitnov, the speaker of the Russian imposed Crimean Parliament said in a phone interview, “Carrying out a referendum is not hard at all,” he added, “They will ask: Take us under your guardianship, under your development, under your security.”
“Russia is beginning to roll out what you could call an annexation playbook,” John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said. “Annexation by force will be a gross violation of the U.N. Charter and we will not let it go unchallenged or unpunished.”
For local Ukrainian citizens, this Russian accompaniment brings many hardships including lack of food, cash, and medicine. Russians are trying to exploit this situation by handing out “humanitarian aid.”
“There’s no money in Kherson, there’s no work in Kherson,” Said Andrei, 33. He was a car dealer and was forced to leave with his wife and small child. He moved to western Ukraine.
He says, “Kherson has gone back to the 1900’s when only vodka, beer, and cigarettes were for sale.”
Russians have also changed the way children learn, and the social networks. They have cut off access to Ukrainian cellular service and limited the use of YouTube and a popular messaging app, Viber.
They have changed the school along with this rule to the way Russian school works, which has been increasingly trying to match children’s view of the world with Putin’s.
One of the top priorities seems to be to get Ukrainians to start watching Russian TV.
Russian broadcasting in Crimea were deployed to Ukraine to start a show called “Kherson and Zaporizhizhia 24.” These were distributed to locals for free, and sometimes even delivered to the doorstep if they couldn’t pick it up.
Ihor Kolykhaiev, the mayor of Kherson said that he in changed a small number of the citizen’s thinking about Russia, mostly people with low-income jobs and pensioners.
“I think that something is changing in relationships, probably in people’s habits,” he said. Kolykhaiev thinks that around 5 to 10 percent of his citizens have changed their mind because of the fake information Russians have been feeding them.
He added, “This is an irreversible process that will happen in the future, and that’s what I’m really worried about. Then in will be almost impossible to restore it.”
“People still go out at night and paint Ukrainian Flags,” said a citizen. “In yellow and blue letters they paint, ‘We Believe In Ukrainian Armed Forces.’”
Russians are attempting to make Ukrainians adapt to their way of life. They are willing to use violence to make this happen. “We are one people,” The blue and white Russian Billboards read, “We are with Russia.”
Analysts in Moscow and Ukraine say that this could mean that Putin is officially declaring Ukraine as Russian territory. Surrounded by Russian troops and nuclear weapons, this will make Kyiv’s future attempts of getting Ukraine back much more challenging.
Vladmir Konstanitnov, the speaker of the Russian imposed Crimean Parliament said in a phone interview, “Carrying out a referendum is not hard at all,” he added, “They will ask: Take us under your guardianship, under your development, under your security.”
“Russia is beginning to roll out what you could call an annexation playbook,” John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said. “Annexation by force will be a gross violation of the U.N. Charter and we will not let it go unchallenged or unpunished.”
For local Ukrainian citizens, this Russian accompaniment brings many hardships including lack of food, cash, and medicine. Russians are trying to exploit this situation by handing out “humanitarian aid.”
“There’s no money in Kherson, there’s no work in Kherson,” Said Andrei, 33. He was a car dealer and was forced to leave with his wife and small child. He moved to western Ukraine.
He says, “Kherson has gone back to the 1900’s when only vodka, beer, and cigarettes were for sale.”
Russians have also changed the way children learn, and the social networks. They have cut off access to Ukrainian cellular service and limited the use of YouTube and a popular messaging app, Viber.
They have changed the school along with this rule to the way Russian school works, which has been increasingly trying to match children’s view of the world with Putin’s.
One of the top priorities seems to be to get Ukrainians to start watching Russian TV.
Russian broadcasting in Crimea were deployed to Ukraine to start a show called “Kherson and Zaporizhizhia 24.” These were distributed to locals for free, and sometimes even delivered to the doorstep if they couldn’t pick it up.
Ihor Kolykhaiev, the mayor of Kherson said that he in changed a small number of the citizen’s thinking about Russia, mostly people with low-income jobs and pensioners.
“I think that something is changing in relationships, probably in people’s habits,” he said. Kolykhaiev thinks that around 5 to 10 percent of his citizens have changed their mind because of the fake information Russians have been feeding them.
He added, “This is an irreversible process that will happen in the future, and that’s what I’m really worried about. Then in will be almost impossible to restore it.”
“People still go out at night and paint Ukrainian Flags,” said a citizen. “In yellow and blue letters they paint, ‘We Believe In Ukrainian Armed Forces.’”
