Institute for the Study of War: Russian proxies continue consolidating administrative control of occupied areas, enforcing ruble payments.
The U.S. think tank cited Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) on Aug. 14 by saying that Kherson city occupation authorities are pressuring local ambulance workers to sign forms consenting to work for the new occupation government and receive payments in rubles rather than hryvnias. GUR also stated that Russian occupation authorities are continuing to collect personal passport data from recipients of humanitarian aid, civilians who contact the occupation government, and customers of Russian mobile phone services. The experts identify that "occupation authorities can leverage financial incentives and personal information to coerce Ukrainian civilians into cooperating with the occupation government," including coercion to vote in favor of the referenda.
