30 October 2025
The “Liberation” Narrative as a Means of Legitimizing Aggression and Advancing Russia’s Totalitarian Agenda.
On 28 October, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the occupation administrations and their controlled media actively used the occasion of the so-called “Day of Ukraine’s Liberation from Fascist Invaders” to spread their own anti-Ukrainian propaganda narratives. The Kremlin cynically exploits the historical memory of Ukrainians to legitimize its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
In the 20th century, during World War II, Ukraine experienced Nazi occupation followed by liberation. In the 21st century, however, the Russian Federation once again revealed its imperial nature, destroying the peaceful lives of millions of Ukrainians by committing acts of violence, deportation, torture, and murder in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The so-called “liberation” by the Russian Federation has resulted in numerous crimes and human rights violations as of 2025:
- Over 20% of Ukraine’s territory — more than 120,000 square kilometers — remains under Russian occupation.
- Since 2022, Russia has deported over 19,000 Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Many of these children have been forcibly transferred to Russian families or placed in so-called “re-education camps.”
- Over 27,000 Ukrainian civilians have been held in filtration camps and illegal detention facilities, where systematic torture, sexual violence, psychological abuse, and coercion to collaborate with the occupiers have been documented.
- As of today, 223 individuals, including 133 Crimean Tatars, are political prisoners illegally held by Russia and its occupation administrations in Crimea. Among them are journalists, activists, public figures, and other citizens of Ukraine.
- The occupation administrations are carrying out mass “nationalization” of Ukrainian property, including homes, businesses, and land plots.
- Russian forces conduct forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories, coercing them to fight against their own country under the threat of imprisonment.
- Families of political prisoners face ongoing persecution, including searches, fines, and intimidation. Documented cases include abductions, harassment, and violence against women—targeted for their pro-Ukrainian stance, civic activity, or family ties to political prisoners or members of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
- There have been 1,602 recorded cases under Article 20.3.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses, concerning alleged “discrediting of the Russian Armed Forces,” in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea alone. People are persecuted for social media comments or posts, listening to Ukrainian songs, or even wearing blue and yellow clothing.
- Occupation “courts” continue to hand down illegal sentences to Ukrainian citizens based on fabricated criminal charges—often of “espionage,” “terrorism,” or “treason.” Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, at least 654 Ukrainian civilians have been unlawfully sentenced to lengthy prison terms without due process, often following abductions or forced disappearances.
Under the false pretext of “fighting Nazism,” Russia pursues a policy of systematic destruction of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar language, culture, history, identity, and collective memory.
Only the complete restoration of control over the temporarily occupied territories and victory over the aggressor will restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and mark a new stage in strengthening its independence, European path, and democratic development.
The true heroes are the defenders of Ukraine who stand every day for our freedom against the imposed concept of the so-called “Russian world.”
Crimea, like other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, will be free!