Russians replace over 35% of Crimea's population under occupation

Acting Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Olha Kurishko, shared the information with Ukrainskyi Tyzhden.

According to a sociological study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on the cognitive de-occupation of Crimea, the ethnic composition of Crimea’s population has significantly changed since the Russian annexation. Russian authorities organized large-scale resettlement of Russian citizens to the peninsula and, after 2022, forced relocations from newly occupied regions of Ukraine, Kurishko noted.

“The number of newcomers is estimated at around one million. Meanwhile, thousands of Ukrainian citizens were forced to leave their homes due to regular persecution, repression by the Russian occupiers, militarization, rejection of the occupation, and unwillingness to live under it. For a region with a population of about 2.5 million, this means that over a decade of Russian occupation, more than 35% of the population has been replaced, even by the most conservative estimates,” Kurishko explained.

• Denys Chystikov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, reported that 5,500 residents of occupied Crimea were drafted into the Russian military in 2024.