Moscow is russifying occupied regions of Ukraine and building prisons
Russian authorities are putting forward new initiatives to govern the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, training officials and building prisons.
This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defense on X (Twitter).
As noted in the report, the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration is launching a master's program in State and Municipal Administration, which, according to a university representative, will give graduates the skills to work at all levels of government, including in the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
In addition, Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said that Russia has established 58 federal penitentiary institutions in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
According to British intelligence, it is likely that the creation of the master's program is partly aimed at overcoming the lack of willing and qualified personnel for Russian government positions in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
This may be related to Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to create a new administrative elite, as outlined in his address to the Federal Assembly last month, as well as the issuance of a presidential decree in January 2024 to create a new personnel reserve, the report said.
"This is further evidence of Russification measures to align the legal and political frameworks of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Other similar measures to date include extending the Russian justice system, imposing a Russian educational curriculum, issuing Russian passports, and building Russian telecommunications infrastructure," the British Ministry of Defense said.
