“Forward to the times of the Russian Empire! The invaders are dragging the occupied Ukrainian territories into the past in an expedited manner. For ‘utmost integration’ into the Russian Federation, the occupiers plan to return Kherson region the coat of arms of the time when it was part of the Russian Empire,” Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova posted on Facebook.
Moreover, according to Denisova, the Russians are going to grant locals the right to obtain Russian citizenship.
In addition, Russia tries to introduce the settlements in Russian ruble on the occupied lands, as well as to restore rail connections with the temporarily occupied Crimea.
The residents of Kherson region who disagree with the "expedited integration" are tortured by Russians in basements.
Thus, in Kherson, Henichesk, and Novooleksiyivka, invaders’ "administrations" or the military of the Russian Federation make lists of activists who took part in the civil blockade of Crimea in 2015, or those who served in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. These people are taken from home at gunpoint.
According to the Commissioner, 500 people are held in torture chambers set up by Russians in Kherson region and are brutally tortured.
Denisova underscored that such actions by Russians in the temporarily occupied territories are a war crime under the Charter of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and are a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
The Commissioner calls on the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to take into account these facts of war crimes and violations.
As reported, invaders and collaborators try to create a system of regional departments in Kherson region.
