Deportations of Ukrainians in the 1920s
The deportation history of Ukrainians to Russia began with the colonization of the Cossack lands in the late 18th century and lasts to this day. There were several stages associated with...
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Interview
To flee to the Ukraine-controlled territory from Mariupol in Spring 2022 was impossible. Russian troops surrendered the city and frequently shelled evacuation routes. They only allowed to leave Mariupol to Russia controlled territories, but most often organized forcible deportation to Russia, calling it “evacuation”. Kateryna with her boyfriend and a cat had no choice, they sat in a bus heading to Taganrog, Russia. This was the only way to save their lives — to become victims of forcible deportation, captives in the aggressor’s country.
Kateryna and her boyfriend went through filtration at the Russian border. They were interrogated for 8 hours; their phones were closely inspected; they were asked for names and contacts. Then Kateryna and her boyfriend were taken to a temporary accommodation centre, a former sports school. The staff there very actively offered them to go somewhere to Nyzhnyi Novgorod because there were more places for the resettlement of the deportees; otherwise they would be taken somewhere to the north or the far east of Russia. Kateryna recalls that it was basically impossible to get out without relatives there or the help of volunteers. Deportees are left without money because hryvnias are not exchanged for rubles. Credit cards are not accepted. People can exchange money, but only if they accept a temporary protection status. This is dangerous.
People without contacts with volunteers or relatives had only the option of taking temporary protection status to get a job and earn money for a ticket back to Ukraine. Kateryna met her friend’s younger sister in the temporary accommodation centre in Tagangor. She had to accept that option and find a job to escape from Russia.
Kateryna was fortunate to have distant relatives in Russia. She contacted them and asked for help. They gave the woman some money for tickets to the Estonian border. That’s how they got there. They were once interrogated by the Russians at the border. Kateryna, her boyfriend and their cat eventually crossed it and entered EU territory. It was a relief, she recalls, to be finally away from Russia.
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The deportation history of Ukrainians to Russia began with the colonization of the Cossack lands in the late 18th century and lasts to this day. There were several stages associated with...
Vlad was forcibly deported to Taganrog from Mariupol at the beginning of March 2022. All his documents, stuff, and money burned in his apartment after a shelling.
By launching the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia also began forcibly deporting Ukrainians from occupied territories to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. Such actions, which count as a crime against humanity, a war crime, and bare signs of genocide, were prepared beforehand by the Russian leadership.