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Russian Occupation Extends to 20% of Ukraine, Deploys Children, Cossacks, and Property Seizures

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Occupation Covers Roughly One‑Fifth of Ukraine, Affecting Millions Russian authorities now control about 20 % of Ukraine’s territory, encompassing Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and subjecting an estimated 3‑5 million residents to Russian citizenship and language mandates; by spring 2025, roughly 3.5 million people held Russian passports, a prerequisite for health care and other services[2]. The annexation has been accompanied by systematic “filtration” checks, door‑to‑door searches, and mass detentions of civilians, journalists, teachers and officials, with at least 16 000 illegal arrests documented by human‑rights groups[2].

Fifty Donetsk Children Deported to Russian Sanatorium for Indoctrination In January 2026, DNR leader Denis Pushilin announced the transfer of 50 children from Khartsyzk to a sanatorium in Kislovodsk, where they met Russian veterans and participated in a military‑patriotic program, illustrating a broader pattern of using health resorts to indoctrinate Ukrainian youth[1]. The operation was reported by United Russia and corroborated by TASS, highlighting the coordinated effort to remove children from occupied areas and embed Russian narratives[1].

New Cossack District and Drone League Institutionalize Militarization On 26 February 2026, occupation officials created a Cossack district in occupied Zaporizhia, electing Anatoly Bas as ataman; All‑Russian Cossack Society head Vitaly Kuznetsov praised the expansion, which adds to existing districts that supervise civil society and provide military training[1]. Simultaneously, the Luhansk Information Center launched a drone‑racing championship at Vladimir Dahl University, selecting participants for a national contest and establishing a “Drone League” for schoolchildren, a clear strategy to embed drone expertise among the occupied population[1].

Mass Property Seizures and Collapsed Utilities Deepen Humanitarian Crisis Occupation administrations announced the transfer of about 16 000 apartments in the LNR and 400 in Mariupol to municipal ownership, invoking a December 15 2025 Russian law that codifies seizure of “ownerless” assets for loyalists[1]. Essential services have deteriorated sharply: over half of Alchevsk’s homes lacked heat for two months, Donetsk relies on freezing water trucks, and Sievierodonetsk operates with a single ambulance crew for roughly 45 000 residents[2]. President Vladimir Putin acknowledged these “pressing, urgent problems” on the third anniversary of the regions’ incorporation and pledged a large‑scale development program to address water, health‑care and socioeconomic needs[2].

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Timeline

Apr 2017 – Russia bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, creating a legal basis for later crackdowns on the faith in occupied Crimea, where courts later sentence believers to long penal colonies [2].

Mar 2022 – Inna Vnukova flees her besieged village in Kudriashivka, hides in a damp basement, drives through mortar fire to Starobilsk, then travels through Russia before resettling in Estonia, where she works in a printing house and her husband becomes an electrician [1].

Sep 2022 – Russia holds referendums and formally annexes Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, establishing the legal framework for imposing Russian citizenship, language and administration on the occupied population [1].

Jul 2024 – Jun 2025 – A UN report documents systematic repression in the occupied territories, recording beatings, electric shocks and sexual violence against 57 detainees and confirming at least 16,000 illegal civilian detentions [1].

Spring 2025 – About 3.5 million residents of the annexed regions receive Russian passports, a prerequisite for accessing health‑care, education and other basic services [1].

First half 2025 – Occupied Mariupol authorities label 12,191 flats “ownerless” and plan to seize them, offering original owners a one‑time $1,300 compensation for destroyed homes [1].

Sep 30 2025 – President Vladimir Putin marks the third anniversary of the annexation, calling the situation “pressing, urgent problems” and pledging a large‑scale development program to address water, health‑care and socioeconomic needs [1].

Nov 25 2025 – Russia signs a State National Policy decree mandating forced Russification of occupied Ukraine until 2036, requiring Russian language use and patriotic education across all four oblasts [6].

Dec 15 2025 – A Russian law codifies the seizure of “abandoned” properties, enabling occupation administrations to transfer tens of thousands of apartments to municipal ownership and to Russian citizens [2].

2025 – Biometric Russian passports, embedding fingerprints and voice data, begin issuance in Donetsk, starting with a four‑year‑old girl, expanding surveillance capabilities [6].

2025 – Residents of Pokrovsk receive Russian passports as part of evacuation and administrative integration efforts [6].

2025 – +7Telekom expands wired internet coverage to 40 % of occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia, integrating these areas into the Russian communications network [6].

2025 – Real‑estate developers promote occupied Kherson and Luhansk as investment hubs, offering 2 % mortgage rates to attract Russian buyers and alter local demographics [6].

2025 – Nearly 600 children from Kherson are transferred to the “Lan” camp in the Adygea Republic, with additional summer‑camp transfers planned for 2026 [5].

2025 – 318 Crimean‑born children die fighting for Russia, and over 1,800 Ukrainians from Crimea perish serving in the Russian military [5].

Jan 15 – Feb 13 2026 – The Russian Ministry of Agriculture raises its occupied‑zone budget by 25 % to 8.5 bn rubles and funds a 1 bn‑ruble loan program; during this period the cargo ship KAPITAN YAVKOLEV loads 4,078.5 t of wheat at Sevastopol and sails to Cyprus, illustrating export of seized grain [3].

Jan 2026 – Kremlin officials tout 5,000 preferential housing loans and 29 reconstruction projects, yet Mariupol families still wait three years for promised homes, highlighting a gap between propaganda and reality [5].

Jan 2026 – Occupation courts impose harsh treason sentences, including 12.5‑year, 14‑year and 12‑year terms for residents of Melitopol and Crimea, underscoring intensified legal repression [5].

Feb 9‑10 2026 – Roskomnadzor throttles Telegram in Melitopol, Nova Kakhovka and occupied Luhansk, forcing users toward the Russian‑state messenger MAX, which ISW alleges functions as spyware forwarding personal data to Russian security services [4].

Feb 11 2026 – A large‑scale Russian base for the 291st Motorized Rifle Regiment begins construction near Myrne, Zaporizhia, including a field training camp and drone‑operator grounds, expanding military infrastructure deep in occupied territory [4].

Feb 12 2026 – Governor Aleksandr Gusev meets Russian Children’s Fund chairman Dmitry Likhachev to plan medical examinations for children in frontline Luhansk communities, a step that can justify forced transfers without parental consent [3].

Feb 12 2026 – The “Path of a Nuclear Worker. Enerhodar 2026” career forum brings 100 10th‑ and 11th‑grade students to Sevastopol State University for three days of nuclear training, aiming to build a talent pipeline for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant [3].

Feb 13 2026 – Crimea’s occupation head announces the final “Unmanned Technologies Cup” with 48 children competing, describing Crimea as the only Russian region with a “full cycle” of drone‑operator talent from schoolchildren to industry specialists [3].

Feb 12‑13 2026 – Drone competitions launch across occupied regions, including a racing championship at Vladimir Dahl University that selects participants for a national Russian contest and the creation of a new “Drone League” for schoolchildren, signaling a push to embed drone expertise among the occupied youth [2].

Feb 17 2026 – Temporary accommodation centers in newly occupied settlements of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia receive 160 residents, functioning as filtration points that likely issue Russian passports and force transfers [3].

Feb 17 2026 – The Donetsk People’s Republic issues its first “Resident Card” to a teacher in Volnovakha, linking access to social services and banking to state‑owned Promsvyazbank, tightening Russian citizenship ties [3].

Early Feb 2026 – Sevastopol begins the second module of the “City of Heroes” program, placing war veterans in municipal posts as a local copy of Putin’s “Time of Heroes” scheme, further militarising local governance [4].

Feb 26 2026 – United Russia transports 50 children from Khartsyzk, Donetsk, to a Russian sanatorium in Kislovodsk, where they meet veterans as part of a military‑patriotic campaign announced by DNR head Denis Pushilin in January 2026 [2].

Feb 26 2026 – Occupation authorities create a new Cossack district in occupied Zaporizhia, elect Anatoly Bas as ataman, and All‑Russian Cossack Society leader Vitaly Kuznetsov praises the move as expanding militia reach and civil‑society oversight [2].

Feb 26 2026 – Occupation officials force kindergarteners in Mariupol to march in uniforms and swear allegiance to the Yunarmia cadet movement on Defenders of the Fatherland Day, illustrating intensified indoctrination of children [2].

Feb 26 2026 – A Russian court in occupied Crimea sentences Jehovah’s Witness Vitaliy Buryk to six years in a penal colony, continuing the crackdown rooted in the 2017 ban on the faith [2].

Mar 1 2026 – The Kherson occupation ministry’s deadline forces guardians of children with pre‑Sept 2022 adoption papers to re‑register under Russian law, threatening loss of legal status for thousands of Ukrainian children [4].

Spring 2026 – The “Battle of the Drones” festival is slated for the Artek camp in Crimea, extending the “Drone League” pipeline and normalising drone technology among occupied youth [3].

Jul 1 2026 – The deadline for re‑registering Ukrainian‑style property with Rosreestr moves forward, meaning owners without Russian citizenship risk having their homes declared “abandoned” and transferred to state or municipal hands [4].

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