After a Russian victory, there will be no Ukrainian people left

Ukraine needs our help more than ever. Those who no longer wish to help must understand what the future holds for the entire Ukrainian people: they will suffer the same fate as the Ukrainian people in the Ukrainian regions annexed and occupied by Russia.

Children at a nursery school in Luhansk form a ‘Z’ – Russia’s symbol for its war of aggression against Ukraine.

Apart from the almost daily changes in the front lines since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, Russia controls about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. This includes the separatist areas of the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the southwestern oblasts (districts) of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson bordering the Sea of Azov. On 30 September 2022, Russia declared these four administrative regions – although not completely occupied – to be part of its territory following sham referendums. According to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, approximately 2.9 million people from the original population have left the occupied territories since the invasion began. The IGFM estimates that around 3.5 million people currently still live there.

Forced citizenship – no right to property, healthcare, state benefits and services without a Russian passport

Every Ukrainian in the occupied territories under martial law must undergo ‘forced filtration’. Only those who ‘pass’ can apply for a Russian passport. Since the beginning of 2025, anyone without a Russian passport has become a foreigner. They can be expelled and denied entry. As foreigners, they cannot hold a Russian bank account and have no access to healthcare or similar state benefits and services. They cannot even obtain a SIM card, as mobile communications are under Russian control. As part of a ‘general inventory’, all real estate, companies and land, for example, are placed under Russian law. Anyone who cannot identify themselves with a Russian passport will have their property transferred to Russian state ownership. In this way, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are currently losing all their possessions.

The compulsion to become a Russian citizen does not even stop at maternity wards: the IGFM has information that Ukrainian mothers in maternity wards have been threatened with having their babies taken away if at least one parent does not have Russian citizenship.

Forced Russification and militarisation

The use of the Ukrainian language has been banned in all Ukrainian educational institutions since the beginning of 2023. Education in Russian patriotism is a top priority. The ceremony of raising the Russian flag and singing the Russian anthem together is part of everyday school life, even for pre-school children. As part of the regular school activity ‘Letters to Soldiers,’ Ukrainian children must thank Russian army personnel for their service and heroism. School textbooks deny the existence of Ukraine. A common slogan in education policy is: ‘You are the future defenders of our motherland, Russia!’

Forced filtration, deportation

Ukrainian children in the occupied region of Luhansk sing Soviet songs from the Second World War and salute while wearing Soviet military uniforms. Photos: Propaganda telegram from the LuhanMedia broadcaster

‘Eradication’ of resistance through Russification: millions of Ukrainian war refugees in the occupied territories had to undergo an undignified examination – called ‘filtration’ – until summer 2022, during which men and women were separated. They had to strip naked and were examined for pro-Ukrainian tattoos or similar. All personal belongings and cars were searched, and mobile phone data was read. This was followed by lengthy, violent interrogations and the use of lie detectors.

According to the UNHCR, by October 2022, the majority of people living in these areas, namely 2.85 million, had been ‘evacuated’ to Russia. At least 20,000 children were deported to Russia, where they were given Russian names, raised to be Russian patriots and released for adoption to Russian parents.

Ukrainian civilians in illegal Russian detention

Particularly horrific for the families affected is the abduction of civilians to Russia and their detention there. So far, the whereabouts of 10,291 people have been officially identified. There is no trace of over 50,000 civilians. In letters that released fellow prisoners were able to smuggle to relatives, the abductees report that, without having committed any specific crime, they were indiscriminately ‘imprisoned for resisting the SVO’. SVO is the Russian term for ‘special operation’. There is no access whatsoever to any of the detention facilities, neither for Ukrainian authorities nor for relatives, neither for the UN or OSCE, nor even for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). While 5,757 prisoners of war have been brought home in 65 prisoner exchanges since June 2025, civilian detainees are not covered by this prisoner of war exchange procedure.

Systematic abuse and torture

Around 95 per cent of all Ukrainians released from Russian captivity who were interviewed reported cruel abuse and torture, such as repeated beatings, electric shocks, threats of execution, prolonged stress positions and mock executions. More than half of them were subjected to sexual violence. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Edwards, stated as early as 2023:

“It is clear to me that torture is part of Russia’s war policy and war apparatus, both against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.”

The ISHR has been monitoring the human rights situation in Russia and Ukraine without interruption since its foundation in 1972. Humanitarian aid was added after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to Putin’s human rights-hostile rule and, in particular, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this region (which also includes Belarus and other former Soviet republics) has become even more central to the ISHR’s overall activities. The ISHR’s humanitarian aid for the victims of the Russian invasion has long since exceeded 1.5 million euros. In our reporting, at events and at our annual meetings, we give eyewitnesses a voice. We seek political sponsors who will support political prisoners in addition to the commitment of ISHR members and friends. We do not forget the Russian human rights defenders and active opponents of the war in Ukraine who have been sentenced to long prison terms for their courage. We are particularly mindful of the young political prisoners who have been punished with incredible severity and need our help – both financial and psychological – to get through their imprisonment through contact with their defenders and visits from close relatives. Please visit our website for more information: ishr.org

Our next humanitarian projects for Ukraine include:

• A mobile X-ray machine for Druzhkivka Hospital in the Donetsk region, which treats up to 200 wounded Ukrainian soldiers every day (cost approx. £35,000).
• 500 tailored relief packages (food, hygiene items, medicines) for elderly people displaced by frontline shifts (estimated cost approx. €10,000).
• Transport of a major donation in kind (100,000 surgical instruments) to the hospital in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region (logistics cost approx. €2,600).

These projects show both the urgency and the scale of what ISHR support makes possible. From essential hospital equipment to basic supplies for displaced communities, our work responds directly to needs on the ground.

As Father Jaroslaw Kaschuk from Caritas Lviv wrote to us on 4 August 2025:

“Your voluntary work – collecting, delivering and transporting relief supplies – is a significant contribution in this difficult time for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

This is the reality of ISHR’s humanitarian engagement: help where it is most needed, with concrete costs and measurable impact.

Additional information in the ticker at the bottom of the page

‘The horror in my house’ – research by ISHR consultant Dr Carmen Krusch-Grün, 22 pages, with maps of the regions currently occupied by Russia and all source references, available free of charge by email: info@igfm.de