Since 2014, around 800,000 Russians have illegally moved to the occupied Crimea by Russia, while approximately 100,000 Ukrainians have left the peninsula, according to information from the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU).
The UHHRU pointed out that one of Russia's crimes against Ukraine is the alteration of the demographic composition of the population in the occupied territories. This is considered a violation of Article 49 of the Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which states: "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
"Moreover, mass resettlement of Russians to Crimea and deportation of Ukrainians from there can possibly be considered a war crime under Article 8 (2) (a) (vii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a crime against humanity under Article 7 (1) (d)," noted the UHHRU.
The UHHRU revealed that since 2014, approximately 800,000 Russian citizens have illegally arrived in Crimea, while about 100,000 Ukrainians have left the peninsula.
According to the UHHRU, Russians are currently implementing a similar policy in the occupied territories after the start of the full-scale invasion. However, it is not as successful as in Crimea because "the intensity of hostilities does not allow motivating civilian Russians to move massively to the occupied territories."
"Some exceptions may include large occupied cities in Ukraine, which are relatively far from the front line and can be considered by Russians as 'rear' areas, such as Mariupol," added the UHHRU.
