Russia massively resettle residents of its most remote regions to Ukraine's temporarily occupied areas - Ukrainian MoD

This was reported by Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar.

"The aggressor country is trying to influence the change in the ethnic composition of the population of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. The most active measures are being taken in the Luhansk region," the military wrote.

The Kremlin has organised "a large-scale resettlement of people of different nationalities from remote regions of the Russian Federation," mostly low-income people.

"Immigrants from Russia in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine are strongly supported by local Russian occupation administrations, which provide immediate accommodation for the families of the newcomers, employment, affordable (preferential) loans for housing, business development," Maliar says.

The Deputy Minister of Defense emphasizes that Ukrainian citizens in the TOT, in particular those suspected of having a pro-Ukrainian position, continue to be deported to Russia by the Russian forces under various pretexts.

"In this way, the enemy seeks to destroy Ukrainian statehood and the national identity of society in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories," Maliar added.

• On March 18, Ukrainian Security Service Head Vasyl Malyuk said that law enforcement was investigating 16,000 cases of deportation of Ukrainian children. In early March, experts noted that Russia had deported about 730,000 Ukrainian children.
• The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Russia's human rights violations in Ukraine, including the deportation of children from the temporarily occupied territories.
• Russia continues to abuse the powers and privileges of a permanent member of the UN Security Council to spread disinformation about the large-scale abduction and illegal forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children.   
• The Russian Federation illegally detained 4396 orphans from Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories and has illegally transferred them to Russian territory, but an international coalition is already forming to return them.