Nearly 200 people in Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia in 2022 have been convicted on charges of espionage or treason by Moscow-backed courts in the last three years, including teens and members of the same families, a report has said.
An investigation carried out by independent Russian news website Important Stories found that Russian-installed occupation authorities convicted 190 people of charges relating to alleged espionage, treason or cooperating with a foreign state.
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The cases took place in Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which Russia unilaterally annexed after holding sham referendums in September 2022 despite not having full military control of the areas following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The report from Important Stories says that the 190 convictions were identified using available public records and that the true number is likely much higher.
Teens and families convicted
Two-thirds of the convictions were meted out for charges of espionage, which apply to non-Russian nationals, the publication said, while treason convictions are reserved for Russian citizens.
Some people who hold dual Ukrainian-Russian citizenship were sentenced under both types of charges, according to the report.
The average sentence length for the convictions identified by Important Stories is just over 13 years, with the publication also citing at least two known cases of life sentences.
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More than a quarter of those convicted were women, and eight people aged 19 or younger were also reportedly sentenced.
The investigation also identified five people who died while in Russian custody, and at least three cases where members of the same family – including a man and his two parents – were found guilty of treason or espionage.
‘Make Ukrainians fight against each other’
Following Russia’s annexation of the four regions, Kremlin-backed occupation authorities began pressuring Ukrainian nationals to take up Russian citizenship, reportedly making it a condition for access to basic services such as healthcare and education.
In a move widely condemned by the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in March that required the millions of Ukrainians living in the annexed areas to “legalize” their residency by becoming Russian citizens or face deportation. The deadline for this passed in September.
Experts say that Ukrainians who become naturalized Russian citizens are at risk of becoming subject to conscription into the Russian armed forces.
“The main goal of the Russian Federation is to make Ukrainians fight against each other,” Kateryna Rashevska from the Regional Center for Human Rights, a Kyiv-based rights organization, told TVP World last week.
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