After liberating Crimea, Ukraine expects to prosecute 10,000 collaborators

After the liberation of Crimea, Ukraine expects to bring to justice around 10,000 individuals who collaborated with the Russian authorities, but will not punish those whom it considers "victims" of the occupation.

Source: Tamila Tasheva, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Crimean Autonomous Republic, in an interview with Newsweek

Details: Tasheva suggested that many collaborators would flee Crimea before Ukraine’s Armed Forces enter the peninsula.

At the same time, she says, Ukraine is already communicating with various departments and its citizens in Crimea, urging them to leave the peninsula if possible so as not to cooperate with the invaders.

Quote: "But if you stay and participate in the illegal occupation and the war crimes committed by the Russians, you will be held to account. This won't be an easy process, which is why we are already developing the legal framework for future proceedings, including the lustration of former officials who are Ukrainian citizens that collaborated with the occupying administrations...

They will be banned from holding government or official roles for a number of years, at least.

Many will be held to account, but it won't be millions or even hundreds of thousands. It will be maybe 10,000."

Details: At the same time, Tasheva noted that citizens of Ukraine who were under occupation and did not cooperate with the Russians would be considered victims of the occupation, and Ukraine will do everything to protect their rights.

"And there can be extenuating circumstances—many of them were victims of Russian propaganda, of intimidation and threats, of the Russian legal system, and even the Russian culture and language. All of that needs to be taken into consideration," she added.

At the same time, according to Tasheva, the issue of amnesty cannot be seriously discussed while the "hot phase" of the war continues.

"There is a huge demand for justice against those who led or took part in persecution of civilians, who killed and pillaged our cities, who attacked the minorities like the Crimean Tatars, and we need to satisfy that demand," she said.

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