JRL NEWSWATCH: “In Crimea, Pro-Ukraine Feelings Prompt a Russian Crackdown” – WSJ
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“Amid increasingly frequent strikes by Kyiv’s forces, some Crimeans show new faith in a return to Ukrainian rule.”
“Every few days, Russian occupation authorities on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula parade newly caught ‘traitors’ …. For some, the crime consisted of playing Ukrainian songs in public, running a pro-Ukrainian social-media account or tying yellow cloth strips, a sign of resistance to Russian rule, to fences and trees. Other detainees include shopkeepers and gas-station attendants who had refused service to Russian soldiers. Still others stand accused of more-serious acts of resistance: blowing up railroad tracks or gathering intelligence for Ukrainian missile and drone strikes. … [T]his crackdown is meant to cow pro-Ukraine residents of Crimea into submission[.] [I]t also highlights a worrying fact for Russian occupation authorities: Despite their claims … that the people of Crimea solidly stand with Moscow, many Crimeans openly yearn for a return to Ukrainian rule. …”