Russia Sends Ukraine Locals To ‘Filtration Camps’ For Refusing To Cooperate, Receive Russian Passport

Ukrainian citizens who are refusing to cooperate with the Russian army or accept Russian passports are being sent to “filtration camps,” according to an intelligence report.

The measures are reportedly targeting Ukrainian civilians, particularly those who worked in public institutions, in Novotroits’ke in the region of Kherson.

“In Novotroits’ke (Kherson oblast), the occupiers are subjecting civilians to filtration measures. First of all, the measures concern those who had worked in Ukrainian public institutions and has been refusing to cooperate with the russian occupation administration and reporting for work,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) wrote in an intelligence report on Facebook on Wednesday.

In addition, the UAF General Staff also accused the Russian army of forcing Ukrainian locals in Novotroits’ke to receive Russian passports by threatening to send them to filtration camps if they fail to do so by March.

The UAF General Staff’s reporting is similar to a report published Monday by the National Resistance Center, an organization run by Ukraine’s Special Forces, that accused Russian troops of forcing Ukrainian teachers in the occupied areas of Luhansk Oblast to receive Russian passports.

The National Resistance Center added that the teachers working in the area would be fired if they do not write an application to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship and obtain Russian passports, as translated via Google Translate.

The Russian army is also imposing similar measures in temporarily occupied areas in Donetsk Oblast. In the city of Horlivka, in particular, Ukrainian residents are forcibly taken to get Russian drivers’ licenses, which are not issued until they have a Russian passport.

The Russian army had also set a deadline of May 1, 2023, for employees of transport enterprises to obtain Russian drivers’ licenses and passports. Failure to do so by the deadline will result in them being fired from their jobs.

The reporting comes as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine extends into its 12th month. Since the war began in February last year, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded a total of 7,155 deaths and 11,662 injuries among Ukrainian civilians.