Kazakhstan facilitated the deportation of a Ukrainian citizen to Russia. The Russian investigative project "First Department", which specializes in analyzing politically motivated criminal cases, reported on February 1 that Kazakh authorities detained 25-year-old Ukrainian Alexander Kachurkin for two minor fabricated administrative offenses on January 23.
This was warned by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
"First Department" noted that Kazakh authorities immediately began proceedings to deport Kachurkin to Russia, after which Russian authorities arrested Kachurkin on the plane.
Kachurkin faces 12 to 20 years in prison, or life imprisonment, for treason, based on allegations that he sent money to the Ukrainian army.
Kachurkin was born in Crimea and was forced to accept a Russian passport after Russia's illegal invasion and annexation in 2014, after which he moved to Kazakhstan.
Russian lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov told "First Department" that Kachurkin's case is an example of how Russian security services are co-opting the Kazakh legal system and law enforcement agencies to conduct politically motivated prosecutions.
Kachurkin's case is also notable because it illustrates the long-term consequences of Russia's campaign to forced issuance of passports - Russian authorities could have likely used his Russian passport to identify him and facilitate his deportation, on the grounds that he is a Russian citizen subject to Russian law.
Kachurkin faces a potential life sentence on charges of treason and is likely to be subjected to inhuman and cruel conditions while in a Russian prison.
A Russian military court recently handed down harsh and illegal sentences against nine deported residents of the Kherson region.
The Kremlin news agency RIA Novosti reported on January 30 that the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don had charged nine men from the Kherson region with terrorism and sentenced them to 14 to 20 years in prison on charges that they planned attacks on members of the region's occupation administration in 2022. Kherson.
Ukrainian sources refer to the men as the "Kherson Nine" but note that Russian claims that they were part of an organized terrorist group are fabricated, as most of the men did not know each other before their arrests in 2022.
The Kherson Nine includes several local businessmen, a Red Cross volunteer, former Kherson city council employees, and a serving Ukrainian serviceman.
The Southern District Military Court refused to recognize and try the Ukrainian soldier as a prisoner of war and instead tried and convicted him under Russian domestic law, which is likely in violation of international humanitarian law.
The Russian Investigative Committee (Sledkom) has institutionalized its presence in schools in occupied Ukraine to prepare Ukrainian children for future service in the Russian military law enforcement apparatus.
Russian military personnel continue to visit schools in occupied Ukraine and communicate with children and youth on the topic of military service.
Russian occupation administrations are stepping up their efforts to formalize the militarization of schools in occupied Ukraine.
Thus, they are imposing the mandatory Russian curriculum "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland".
The occupation administration of the Luhansk region appears to be setting conditions for large-scale appropriation of agricultural land.
According to reports, the President of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, continues to try to derive personal benefit from Russia's occupation of Ukraine.
Russian companies are actively investing in resource extraction projects in occupied Ukraine.
Russia continues its efforts to formalize its control over the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, creating conditions for the resumption of electricity production at the plant and its connection to the Russian power grid.
The Russian federal United Institute for Spatial Planning appears to be increasing its direct influence on development projects in occupied Ukraine.