04/10/2024
After part of the territory of our country was occupied by Russian invaders, both Ukrainians who actually became hostages and those who were looking forward to the arrival of the Russian Federation remained to live there. The latter quickly rushed to obtain citizenship of the aggressor state and get rid of Ukrainian documents. However, not all. After a while, some of the collaborators ended up disguised as Ukrainian patriots in Poland, Germany, Canada and even the USA. And now this flight is gaining momentum.
Read more about this in the OBOZ.UA material.
Expectations VS reality
The first to experience all the “delights” of life under the control of the occupiers were residents of parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It was these regions that were occupied by the “ichtamnets” back in 2014. But if the Crimeans, before the full-scale invasion, had no particular idea what shelling was, then the residents of Donbass have long experienced the war.
Donetsk became one of the outposts (including ideological ones) for the Russian occupiers. “Zhdunov” from the so-called “DPR” was fed by Moscow for a very long time with promises to “make it Russia” and was led by the nose for years. And after the “annexation” did happen, the traitors of Ukraine counted on quick “mega-changes”.
For example, Donetsk residents are fed up with the fact that the city has turned from a handsome million-plus city into an impoverished “poor relative.” With looted factories, collapsing infrastructure, lack of normal work and very low wages. Those who were so looking forward to the “Russian world” believed that now everything would change and there would be “real Russia”. However, it turned out differently.
“Before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the occupiers carried out a violent mobilization: then there were brutal raids on the streets and raids on houses. They scooped up almost all the men, and then threw them to the front with a Mosin rifle. For more than two years of war, there were a lot of dead, yes and life has worsened. Yes, for the elderly, frankly speaking, it has become a little better – Russian pensions are higher than those in the DPR, but for the vast majority, the working-age population, not at all. Plus, many men have switched to an illegal position, that is, they are hiding from mobilization. Some were able to leave abroad,” shared OBOZ.UA’s interlocutor in the occupied regional center.
According to him, it is a mistake to think that they are all opponents of Russia: “They simply don’t want to fight and don’t want to die. Some of them, alone or with their families, went to the Russian Federation, because there was no other way, and then to others countries – where they were not threatened with mobilization. It was dangerous to remain in Russia.”
This was the first wave of refugees from the occupied territories, mainly to European countries.
Disguise as patriots
The collaborators figured out the trick of pretending to be patriots of Ukraine very quickly. In 2022, many countries rushed to help Ukraine, refugees were provided with free housing, clothing, the most necessary things and, most importantly, they paid benefits. Residents of the occupied part of Donbass could only dream of such amounts in euros. And this turned out to be their chance, which they took advantage of.
OBOZ.UA’s interlocutor in Ukrainian intelligence claims that even the wives and children of those serving in the Russian occupation forces traveled.
“These are the most cunning ones. Women did not shine on social networks; at most they posted flowers and congratulations on the holidays. That is, their pro-Russian views are not visible. And since women were left practically without a livelihood after their husbands went to serve, then found such a way out. However, this is a small percentage of collaborators, the majority are still afraid to leave,” says the officer.
Those who left the occupied territory, fearing problems, suddenly turned into patriots of Ukraine. And even ignorance of the Ukrainian language did not become an obstacle – in the same Baltic countries they are well aware that Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk regions are predominantly Russian-speaking.
Moreover, it got to the point that even those who directly worked for the occupation authorities were leaving. For example, Crimean collaborator Maxim Donenko . Until 2014, he worked at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. And when Russia captured the peninsula, he continued to work in the field of education, but for the occupiers, who entrusted him with a fairly high position.
Donenko headed the “Center for Assessment and Monitoring of Education Quality” in Simferopol. In fact, the same center that organized and controlled the passing of exams by schoolchildren according to the Russian program. Where “Crimea is Russia”, where “Ukraine as a state never existed”, etc.
Like many collaborators, Maxim still has Ukrainian documents. Most likely, it was because of them that he went to Canada under the guise of a refugee along with his wife and daughter. They now live in Winnipeg.
But the collaborators mostly traveled (and continue to travel) to Europe – to those countries where, in their opinion, the conditions are the most favorable for Ukrainian refugees. And despite the fact that in 2024 the situation changed in some countries, aid began to be cut, now a new wave of “exodus” has begun from the occupied territory of Ukraine.
According to an OBOZ.UA interlocutor in occupied Melitopol, due to the proximity of hostilities, some local collaborators are now preparing to move to EU countries.
“Of course, they will leave through Russia, but they don’t want to stay there, lest they be sent to fight. After all, they all received Russian passports. Some are not going to stay abroad forever – they plan to sit it out,” says the woman.
According to her, there are no special problems with leaving: “Except that the road will be long. But otherwise, everything is real. There is no isolation, as someone might think. Comfortable minibuses run in different directions every day. The main thing is that you have Ukrainian documents, as well as money – and you can go anywhere.”
According to OBOZ.UA sources, travel has now intensified from the occupied part of the Donetsk region, where hot battles are taking place, as well as from Crimea – the peninsula is becoming increasingly restless.
As of today, more than four million Ukrainian citizens enjoy temporary protection in the EU. How many of them really need help, and are not masquerading as patriots, no one can say.
The danger is that among the collaborators who moved abroad there may be agents of the Russian special services. According to our intelligence interlocutor, there is a high probability that after a while they will begin to carry out certain enemy tasks to collect information – for example, about routes for supplying military aid to Ukraine and so on. And this adds headaches to the European intelligence services, which are now working closely on this problem together with the Ukrainian ones.
There should be no problems with Ukrainian collaborators being in the West. Because, there should no Ukrainian males between the ages of 18 and 60 outside of Ukraine. So, what’s up with that? Of course, most European countries will not eject them back into Ukraine because of a false sense of humanity. This causes only problems. But, the Europeans are good at creating their own problems and then sitting around with their thumbs up their asses, not knowing what to do about them.