Russia’s Colonization of Eastern Ukraine Shifts Into High Gear
Moscow wants to control as much territory as possible from its four “annexed” provinces before the war ends—and is willing to pay a heavy price.
Russia persists in its attempts to integrate captured Ukrainian territory.
New legislation in effect in the territory captured by the Russian forces has given the local civilians a choice: become Russian, or leave.
The Russification of Eastern Ukraine
“On 20 March 2025 Russian President [Vladimir] Putin signed a decree that mandated Ukrainian nationals living in Russia, or in sovereign Ukrainian territory illegally occupied by Russia, to ‘settle their legal status’ by 10 September 2025, or leave the territory,” the British Ministry of Defence assessed in its latest intelligence estimate.
The new legislation comes at a point in the three-year conflict when the prospect of a ceasefire, followed by something more permanent, is increasingly likely. As such, the Kremlin’s effort to “Russify” the captured territory is an attempt to consolidate its hold over it.
“Putin’s decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian nationals who refuse to accept Russian passports and citizenship. Putin and the Russian senior leadership continue to prosecute a Russification policy in illegally occupied Ukrainian territory, as part of longstanding efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood,” the British Ministry of Defence added.
This is not the first time the Kremlin has done something similar in its attempt to absorb Ukrainian land. In 2014, disguised Russian paramilitary mercenaries and special operations forces—the so-called “little green men”—spearheaded the Kremlin’s invasion of Crimea. Soon thereafter, Moscow held a questionable referendum legitimizing the invasion and officially annexing Crimea into Russia. Although the international community has not recognized the annexation, it is a concrete reality: Ukraine’s failure to make progress towards recapturing the peninsula in its 2023 counteroffensive effectively sealed its fate.
Racing Against Time to Capture More Land
Interestingly, the Russian forces do not fully control the territories the Kremlin seeks to incorporate. Although Crimea has been under firm Russian control since 2014, significant portions of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts remain under Ukrainian hold.
“Russia erroneously and illegally defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, as well as Crimea, as being part of the Russian Federation,” the British Ministry of Defence stated.
That is the main reason why the Russian military is pushing so hard for several months to capture as much territory as possible in eastern Ukraine. To an outsider, the Kremlin’s drive to sacrifice literally hundreds of thousands of troops in exchange for some square miles of territory without any significant urban center might seem odd—but Moscow wants to control as much territory as possible from these four provinces before the war ends.
“This is in direct contradiction with Russia’s own stated recognition of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as broader international recognition of Ukraine,” the British Ministry of Defence concluded.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Shutterstock / evan_huang.