Forced deportation of hundreds of Ukrainians from Mariupol to Russia by women narrated by women

Russian forces are sending Ukrainian citizens to “filter camps” before being forcibly transferred to Russia, according to an account by two women who say they were transferred to Russian territory from the besieged city of Mariupol last month.

“On March 15, Russian troops invaded our shelter and ordered all women and children to leave. “It was not a choice,” said a woman who had been hiding with her family in a suburb of Mariupol since early March. People need to know the truth: that Ukrainians are moving to Russia, a country that we occupy.

Ukrainian authorities accuse the Russian army of taking several thousand residents of Mariupol to “filter camps” and then forcibly taking them to Russia via the self-proclaimed Russian-controlled republics of eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations, saying “such information is false.” Earlier, Russian officials said 420,000 people had been voluntarily evacuated to Russia “from the dangerous regions of Ukraine and the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.”

The women demanded anonymity because they care about the safety of their relatives who are still staying in a city that is under heavy bombardment. Their reports, along with similar stories published by the Washington Post and the BBC, and reports by human rights groups, contradict Russia’s claim that Ukrainians were not forcibly transferred to Russia.

The southern port of Mariupol fell victim to heavy bombardment by Russian forces shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Many families took refuge in shelters. Since then, Russian troops have taken control of large areas of the devastated city.

From Novoazovsky to Rostov

The first woman said that after leaving the shelter, she was taken by bus with “other 200 to 300” people to the border town of Novoazovsk, which is in the Russian-controlled territory of eastern Ukraine. “When we got to the stop, we had to wait for hours on the bus until we were ordered to pass through a large tent complex, which everyone called the ‘filter camp.’

A photo taken last week by a satellite of the American company Maxar Technologies shows tent camps set up in the Russian-controlled town of Besimen, near Novoazovsk. Representatives of the two self-proclaimed republics of Donbass say they have set up “30 tents” for Mariupol residents, which can accommodate up to 450 people.

From the article Rossiyskaya GazetaThe Russian government-owned newspaper says 5,000 Ukrainians were processed and inspected at the Beziman camp to prevent the infiltration of disguised Ukrainian nationalists into Russia to avoid punishment.

The woman says that a photo and a fingerprint were taken once in the camp. He was then “interrogated in detail” by men posing as members of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). “They checked my phone and asked me if I knew anything about the Ukrainian army, if I had any friends in the army,” he said. “They also asked me what I thought about Ukraine, Putin and the conflict. It was very humiliating. ”

According to the woman, after passing the “filter camp”, which took several hours, the group was finally transferred to Rostov, a city located 130 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border. After they were told that their final destination would be Vladimir, a town 100 miles east of Moscow.

But in Rostov the woman decided to separate from the main group and told the Russian border guards that she had a family. “They released me without much difficulty. “But for many, going was simply not an option,” he said.

The woman said many of those on the bus complained that they were only given a few minutes to collect items and that in many cases they did not have the money or official documents, which would make it difficult for them to leave Russia later. .

After leaving the group, the woman first traveled to Moscow by bus and then by train to St. Petersburg. He says it is now safe to cross the border on foot in any EU country.

Human rights groups warn

The scale of the forced deportations by Russia remains unclear. The Heling to Leave Foundation, a Russian group that responds to the needs of people displaced from Ukraine to Russia, says it has received about 200 applications from deported Ukrainians seeking help.

“Each of these demands usually comes from the whole family, so the real number of deportees is higher,” said Maria Ivanova, a spokeswoman for the group. Ivanova says the team has seen an increase in demand for assistance since March 28 and has heard the first reports of “long queues” in “filter camps”.

The widespread deportation has caused concern in international human rights groups. “These people were not allowed to evacuate to a safe place in Ukraine. “Many found themselves in a situation where their only option was to go to Russia or die, as the bombing intensified,” said Tatiana Lokshina, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch.

“For international human rights law, being forcibly relocated or relocated does not necessarily mean that people were forced into a car at gunpoint, but that they found themselves in a situation that left them with no other choice,” he explains. Lokshina refers to the Geneva Conventions, which state that “the forced transfer of individuals or masses, as well as the deportation of protected persons from the Occupied Territories, is prohibited regardless of their motives.”

The second woman with whom Guardian The conversation offers a similar account of his forced transfer from Mariupol through Novoazovsky’s “Filter Camp.” “I was never asked to take him. “Filter camps and travel were very traumatic,” said a woman who left the city by bus on March 16. He is currently in Rostov and is planning to leave the country.

Russian officials have spoken openly about their efforts to deport what they call “temporarily displaced Ukrainians.” The Russian Ministry of Defense publishes almost daily the attempts to evacuate the Ukrainian civilian population trapped in Mariupol. The governor of Vladimir told local media that his city had received more than 1,000 “refugees” from areas “liberated” by Russia, including Mariupol.

“I’m glad I’m safe”

Not everyone says he is not happy to be transferred from Ukraine to Russia. “I wanted to go to Russia; I’m glad I’m safe. “And my family lives here, so I was looking for ways to get there,” said Vladimera, a third woman from Mariupol. Guardian And who has since moved to Rostov with relatives.

Mariupol is only 60 kilometers from the Russian border and many of its residents have relatives on the border. Although the invasion has drastically reduced pro-Russian sentiment in the city, Vladimir says he is grateful for the security that the transfer to Russia provides.

He also confirms that he went through “filter camps” but says he did not care because he was just “glad he was in the woods”.

“Of course, there is a group of people taken out of Mariupol who will not mind being in Russia, who will stay there,” said Helping to Leave’s Ivanova. “But we know of hundreds who were taken against their will. That fact must be taken into account. ”

Translated by Julian Knochaert