Victor appeared nervous as masked Ukrainian security officers, fully equipped with riot gear, camouflage and weapons, pushed into his messy apartment in the northern city of Kharkov. His hands trembled and he tried to cover his face. The middle-aged man came to the attention of the Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, after his posts on social media praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for “fighting the Nazis”, calling on the regions to secede and marking the national flag. symbol of death “. “Yes, I strongly supported (the Russian invasion of Ukraine). Sorry. “I have already changed my mind,” said Victor, with his trembling voice clearly showing signs of pressure in the presence of Ukrainian security officers. “Take your things and get dressed,” said a police officer before escorting him out of the apartment. The SBU did not disclose Victor’s last name, citing their investigation. Victor was one of nearly 400 people detained in the Kharkiv region alone under anti-cooperation laws promptly approved by Ukraine’s parliament and signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky following Russia’s February 24 invasion. The perpetrators face up to 15 years in prison for collaborating with Russian forces, for public denials of Russian aggression, or for supporting Moscow. Anyone whose actions lead to death can face life imprisonment. “Accountability for co-operation is inevitable and whether it will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is another question,” Zelensky said. “The most important thing is that justice will inevitably be done.” Although the Zelensky government has widespread support, even among many Russian-speakers, not all Ukrainians oppose the invasion. Support for Moscow is more common among some Russian-speaking residents of Donbas, an industrial area to the east. An eight-year conflict there between Moscow-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces had killed more than 14,000 people even before this year’s invasion. Some businessmen, politicians and government officials and members of the military are among those who have gone to the Russian side, and the State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine has reported that more than 200 criminal cases have been opened for cooperation. Zelensky has even stripped two SBU generals of their rank, accusing them of treason. A “register of partners” is being prepared and will be made public, said Oleksiy Danilov, head of the Security Council of Ukraine. He declined to say how many people have been targeted nationally. By martial law, authorities banned 11 pro-Russian political parties, including the largest with 25 seats in the 450-member parliament – the Opposition Platform for Life, founded by Viktor Medvedchuk, a jailed oligarch you put in. Authorities say pro-Russian activists in southeastern Ukraine, the site of active fighting, are helping the invaders act as observers to direct the bombings. “One of our main goals is not to stab our armed forces in the back,” said Roman Dudin, head of the SBU branch in Kharkov, in an interview with the Associated Press. He spoke in a dark basement where the SBU had to relocate after the bombing of its building in central Kharkov. The Kharkiv branch holds people who support the invasion, call for secession and claim that Ukrainian forces are bombing their cities. Allegations of cooperation with the enemy have a strong historical impact in Ukraine. During World War II, some in the region welcomed and even collaborated with invading forces from Nazi Germany after years of Stalinist repression involving the “Holodomor” – a man-made famine that is believed to have killed more than 3 million Ukrainians. Years later, Soviet authorities cited the cooperation of some Ukrainian nationalists with the Nazis as a reason to demonize Ukraine’s current democratically elected leaders. Human rights activists have known “dozens” of arrests of pro-Russian activists in Kyiv alone since the new laws were passed, but how many have been targeted nationally is unclear, said Volodymyr Yavorskyy, a co-ordinator at the Center for Civil Liberties. one of the largest human rights groups in Ukraine. “There are no complete data for (the whole) country, as they are all classified by the SBU,” Yavorskyy told the AP. “The Ukrainian authorities are actively using the practice of Western countries, especially the United Kingdom, which has imposed severe restrictions on civil liberties in war-torn Northern Ireland. “Some of these restrictions were deemed unjustified by human rights defenders, but others were justified when people’s lives were in danger,” he said. A person in Ukraine can be detained for up to 30 days without a court order, he said, and martial law under martial law allows authorities not to inform defense attorneys about detaining their clients. “In fact, these people are disappearing and for 30 days there is no access to them,” Yavorskyy said. “In fact, (law enforcement authorities) have the power to take anyone.” The Ukrainian government is aware of the consequences of detaining people for their views, including that it risks playing on Moscow’s line that Kyiv is cracking down on Russian-speaking people. But in times of war, officials say, freedom of speech is only part of the equation. “The debate on the balance of national security and ensuring freedom of speech is endless,” Foreign Minister Dmitro Kouleba told the AP. In the city of Bucha, which has become a symbol of horrific violence during the war, Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said there were associates who gave the invading troops the names and addresses of pro-Ukrainian activists and officials in the city outside Kyiv, with hundreds of citizens. they were shot to death with their hands tied behind their backs or their bodies burned by Russian forces. “I saw these execution lists, which were dictated by the traitors – the Russians knew in advance who they were going to, where they were going and who was staying there,” said Fedoruk, who found his name on one of the lists. “Of course, the Ukrainian authorities will look for and punish these people.” In the besieged port city of Mariupol, officials accused accomplices of helping the Russian army cut off electricity, running water, gas and communications in much of the city within days. “I now understand very well why the Russians carried out such precise, coordinated strikes on critical objects, knew all the locations and even the hours when Ukrainian buses had to leave to evacuate refugees,” said Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boichenko. Political analysts say the invasion and barbarity of Russian troops against civilians has deterred many Russian supporters. However, many Moscow supporters remain. “Russian propaganda has taken deep roots and many Easterners watching Russian television believe that the Ukrainians are the ones bombarding them with other myths,” Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta Center think tank told the Associated Press. “Obviously, the Ukrainian authorities in the southeast are afraid of being stabbed in the back and are forced to step up security measures.” Unlike Viktor, whose apartment in Kharkov was raided, 86-year-old Volodymir Radnenko was not surprised when Ukrainian security arrived at his apartment on Saturday to investigate after arresting his son, Ihor. The army said the son was suspected of helping the Russians bomb the city – some of which occurred in Radenko’s neighborhood about 15 minutes before officers arrived and smelled smoke in the area. At least two people were killed and 19 others were injured in the area. “He is accustomed to believing that Russia is the only one that exists,” Radenko told the Associated Press after the officers left. “I ask him: ‘So who is bombing us?’ “They are not ours (the people), they are your fascists.” And he only gets angry with that. “ Our Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
