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 for secession of territories and marking the national flag. symbol of death “. “It simply came to our notice then [the Russian invasion of Ukraine] very. “I’m sorry. I have already changed my mind,” said Victor, 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 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the February 24 invasion of Russia.

Severe penalties for associates

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. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was seen speaking at a recent press conference in Kyiv, said “accountability for co-operation is inevitable.” (Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press)
“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 Russian 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 co-operation. Zelensky has even stripped two SBU generals of their rank, accusing them of treason. A “register of collaborators” 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.

Pro-Russian political parties were banned

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. A member of Ukraine’s state emergency service is carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher Thursday after a Russian bombing raid on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP / Getty Images)
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,” Roman Dudin, head of the SBU branch in Kharkov, told 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.

A word with a loaded story

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 three million Ukrainians. Members of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) enter a building in Kharkov, Ukraine, during an operation to arrest suspected Russian accomplices earlier this month. (Felipe Dana / The Associated Press)
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 are aware of “dozens” of arrests of pro-Russian activists in Kyiv alone after the new laws were passed, but how many have been targeted nationally is unclear, said Volodymyr Yavorsky, co-ordinator at the Center for Civil Liberties. one of the largest human rights groups in Ukraine. “It simply came to our notice then [entire] “country, since everything is classified by the SBU,” Jaworski 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 considered unjustified by human rights defenders, but others “People’s lives were in danger.” 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.

The booking strategy carries risks

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.”