ISW: Putin likely creating conditions for further repressions in occupied territories

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's recent comments on "terrorism" and threats to Russian security are likely meant to set the conditions for further repressions in occupied territories of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.

During a meeting with the Russian National Security Council on April 5, Putin framed Russia's efforts to consolidate its control over Ukraine's occupied territories "as a matter of internal security and rule of law," the ISW said.

"Putin called for the continued economic, legal, and social integration of occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts into the Russian Federation and emphasized the importance of Russian “restoration” efforts in occupied areas in facilitating the integration process," the update read.

He also accused Ukraine of "threatening civilians in occupied areas" and spoke of recent "terrorist attacks" against Russian collaborators in occupied territories, referring to Ukrainian partisan actions.

Recently on April 3, a car bomb that went off in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast seriously wounded local collaborator Maksym Zubariev. According to Russian state-controlled media, Ukrainian partisans also targeted Serhii Skovyrk, a Melitopol collaborator responsible for policing, on March 23.

In response to Ukrainian partisan activities, Putin called on local Ukrainian citizens to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, "explicitly encouraging collaborators and informants in occupied areas," the ISW wrote.

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