Anna Hartz
Russia Revives Stalin-Era Deportations in Occupied Ukraine
In October 1947, tens of thousands of Ukrainians were taken from their homes in the west of the country.
Families were pulled from their beds, loaded onto trains, and sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan. It was called Operation “Zahid,” one of the largest Soviet deportations in Ukraine.
Deportation as A Weapon
Seventy-eight years later, history seems to be repeating itself. Russia is again using deportation as a weapon.
This time there are no cattle cars or Stalin’s signatures. There are buses, planes, and so-called “social programs”, according to Digi24.
Operation “Zahid”
Operation “Zahid” began just after midnight on October 21, 1947. Armed troops surrounded villages across western Ukraine.
Within minutes, doors were kicked open and people were ordered to pack a few belongings. Children cried.
Elderly parents were carried out. Families were separated. Within a single day, more than 77,000 people were gone.
Destroying National Identity
The goal was to destroy support for the Ukrainian resistance and erase national identity.
Many died on the way east, unable to survive the cold and hunger. Those who lived faced years in exile.
Many Similarities
Today, the logic is frighteningly similar. In occupied areas such as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Russia is deporting Ukrainians under different names. Those who refuse Russian citizenship are called “foreigners” and expelled.
Some are detained in holding centers. Others are sent across checkpoints into Russia or the Caucasus.
A second tactic is the so-called “voluntary resettlement.” People are told they can move to other regions of Russia for a better life. In reality, it scatters the Ukrainian population and breaks communities apart.
The Same Old System
Meanwhile, Russia is moving its own citizens into occupied towns. New teachers, judges, and officials arrive to replace Ukrainians who have fled or been expelled. Homes left behind are seized and given to newcomers.
It is the same old system dressed in new language. The trains of 1947 have become buses and planes.
The aim is unchanged — to weaken Ukraine by taking away its people and replacing them with others loyal to Moscow.
This article is made and published by Anna Hartz, which may have used AI in the preparation
