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Russia Plans “New Siberia” Temporarily Occupied Ukraine to Replace Local Population, Authorities Warn

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Photo of Ivan Khomenko
Ivan Khomenko
News Writer
A Russian military truck passes a “Mariupol” road sign repainted in the colors of the Russian flag, July 17, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)
A Russian military truck passes a “Mariupol” road sign repainted in the colors of the Russian flag, July 17, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia has introduced a large-scale migration program targeting the territories it occupies in Ukraine, under the pretext of “returning local residents.”

However, according to Ukraine’s National Resistance Center (CNS), the Kremlin’s actual goal is demographic replacement and long-term consolidation of control.

According to the CNS, Moscow’s updated migration policy calls for “creating conditions for the return of residents of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.”

In practice, this means bringing in Russian citizens from distant regions such as Yakutia and Buryatia, rather than repatriating displaced Ukrainians.

The center stated that this initiative effectively legalizes population substitution—removing the local Ukrainian population and replacing it with “new Russians.”

The move, it added, mirrors historical colonization methods used by imperial powers to cement dominance over conquered lands.

Under the new plan, incoming settlers will receive housing, financial incentives, and preferential access to jobs and administrative positions.

Russian official documents indicate that these “new residents” are expected to form the basis of local government, police, and public institutions—creating a parallel administrative structure fully loyal to Moscow.

While the Kremlin presents the program as part of “regional recovery,” analysts note that it serves as a form of demographic engineering designed to alter the ethnic composition of the territories and accelerate their integration into Russia’s political and social framework.

According to the National Resistance Center, this approach continues a long-standing pattern: Russia has simultaneously deported Ukrainian citizens from occupied areas while encouraging settlement by its own nationals.

The strategy, reminiscent of the “Siberian development” campaigns of past centuries, aims to secure lasting control through demographic transformation rather than military presence alone.

Earlier, Russia began classifying Ukrainians in occupied territories as “foreigners” if they refused Russian citizenship—stripping them of pensions, healthcare, and legal rights, and limiting their stay to 90 days per year, according to Human Rights in Ukraine.

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