Institute for the Study of War:  Russia erases Ukrainian language in occupied 

Russian Occupation Update 

Key Takeaways

1. The Russian “Movement of the First” civic youth organization continues to play a key role in Russia’s efforts to indoctrinate and militarize Ukrainian youth by forcibly removing children from occupied territories of Ukraine to Russian re-education and militarization camps.
2. Russia is escalating its Russification efforts in occupied Ukraine by physically erasing Ukrainian language from public life.
3. Russia is coming close to completing the full integration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) into the Russian energy grid.
4. Russia is creating a cadre of future nuclear scientists and operators to supplement its efforts to consolidate control of the ZNPP.
5. Russian occupation administrations are pursuing cooperation agreements with Russia-friendly states in an effort to legitimize Russia’s occupation of Ukraine within the Russia-aligned global coalition.
6. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) may be participating in the illegal export of stolen Ukrainian goods from ports in occupied Crimea.
7. Russia continues to tighten its control over the information space in occupied Ukraine by restricting access to all but Russian-approved media and information streams.
8. Russia continues efforts to attract Russian citizens to occupied Ukraine as part of a larger resettlement campaign aimed in part at addressing labor shortages resulting from the full-scale invasion.

Deportation and Forcible Transfer of Ukrainian Citizens, Including Children

The Russian “Movement of the First” civic youth organization continues to play a key role in Russia’s efforts to indoctrinate and militarize Ukrainian youth by forcibly removing children from occupied territories of Ukraine to Russian re-education and militarization camps. Kremlin newswire TASS reported on September 22 that Movement of the First is planning to organize a trip for 150 Ukrainian children from Kherson Oblast to attend a youth camp in occupied Crimea by the end of October 2025.[1] Movement of the First is a Russian youth organization aimed at propagating military-patriotic education in Russia and occupied Ukraine.[2] The Crimea camp will teach tactical and first aid skills to Ukrainian children.[3] Chairman of the Kherson Oblast Movement of the First branch Alexey Lavrentyev told TASS that Movement of the First plans to “recruit” additional children from remote regions of occupied Kherson Oblast to attend such camps.[4] Russia’s removal of these children to camps intended to indoctrinate and militarize them likely constitutes an instance of forcible removal, regardless of the duration of stay at the camp. ISW differentiates between “forcible transfer/removal” and “deportation” of occupied populations according to international legal definitions.[5] Forcible removal refers to occasions when the occupying power forcibly removes certain populations from their homes to other areas within national borders – for example, Russian occupation authorities removing Ukrainian citizens from occupied Kherson Oblast to occupied Crimea. Deportation refers to the case in which the occupying power deports residents of the occupied areas across de jure international borders. Both are prohibited under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which both Ukraine and Russia are signatories.[6] Movement of the First continues to support Russia’s efforts to indoctrinate and militarize children in occupied territories of Ukraine by forcibly removing Ukrainian children from their homes to attend Russian re-education camps.

Sociocultural Control

Russia is escalating its Russification efforts in occupied Ukraine by physically erasing Ukrainian language from public life. Kakhovka occupation head Pavlo Filipchuk reported on September 22 that the Russian occupation administration is replacing signs in Kakhovka and surrounding villages in Kherson Oblast with Russian language signs or signs listing their Soviet-era names.[7] Filipchuk stated that Kherson Oblast occupation head Vladimir Saldo ordered all signs in Ukrainian to be taken down in accordance with the Law on the Protection of the Russian Language.[8] Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the most recent amendment to the Law on the Protection of the Russian Language on June 24, 2025. The amendment requires that starting in March 2026, all consumer-facing text (including shop signs and product descriptions) be in Russian, and the Latin alphabet will be prohibited from appearing in residential complexes’ names.[9] The amendment states that any foreign language words must be accompanied by an equivalent Russian translation in the same size, font, and placement as the foreign text.[10] Russian occupation authorities are using this language law to erase the display of Ukrainian language in occupied areas. Filipchuk stated that both Russian occupation authorities and Ukrainian citizens are responsible for removing Ukrainian signs.[11] ISW has previously reported on Russia’s efforts to erase Ukrainian language from public life by imposing Ukrainian-language education restrictions.[12] Imposing the Russian language in occupied territories of Ukraine is an element of the Kremlin’s broader effort to erase Ukrainian identity, language, and culture through Russification.[13]

Administrative and Bureaucratic Control

Russia is coming close to completing the full integration of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) into the Russian energy grid. ZNPP occupation director Yuri Chernichuk stated on September 22 that the ZNPP has officially certified all its employees under Russian regulations and that the ZNPP will work in accordance with Russian legislation.[14] Chernichuk stated that this certification process includes the recruitment and registration of the plant’s “core staff” and the finalization of its personnel structure. Chernichuk claimed that the integration of the ZNPP into Russia is now in its “final stages.”[15] ISW recently assessed that Russia would soon be able to connect the ZNPP to the Russian power grid following discussions by Russian officials on restarting power generation at the plant in early September.[16] Russia’s eventual integration of the ZNPP into the Russian power grid will pose significant risks to nuclear security at the plant and allow Russia to seize Ukrainian energy generation assets for its own benefit.[17]