Seminar on Russia’s Occupation Policy

Russia’s occupation policy is a topic often underreported in the media, and the event brought together a group of experts to shed light on different aspects of the Russian occupation regimes. 

The seminar focused on how Russia, across various domains, exercises control over the Ukrainian population in the occupied territories — and how Ukrainians resist and fight back. We heard from: 

• Karolina Hird, Russia Team Deputy Lead and analyst at the Institute for the Study of War 

• Jaroslava Barbieri, doctoral research fellow at the University of Birmingham 

• Illia Riepin, political scientist and columnist in political philosophy & AI. Riepin is currently working with Dr Jade McGlynn on a comprehensive report on Ukrainian resistance movements in occupied territories 

Barbieri gave an overview of developments within the political, economic, cultural, and military domains of the occupation policy, using the example of how Ukrainians are forced to acquire Russian citizenship to access basic things such as healthcare.

Riepin highlighted how Russia’s strategy includes both political and informational isolation, and how people in the occupied territories have responded with both violent and non-violent forms of resistance.

Hird focused in her presentation on how Russia systematically deports Ukrainian children — and the consequences of this practice.

Programme

with time stamps

00:00:10 Welcome and introduction by Kjell Inge Bjerga, Director of the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) at the Norwegian Defence University College

00:08:06 Jaroslava Barbieri: The evolution of Russia’s occupation policy

00:29:52 Illia Riepin: Ukrainian resistance in temporarily occupied territories

00:50:20 Karolina Hird: Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children 

01:09:15 Conversation chaired by Håvard Bækken, Associate Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies and the Norwegian School of Language and Intelligence, both at the Norwegian Defence University College