Russia intensifies militarization of TOT and depletes resources of Ukrainian territories - CNS
Kyiv • UNN
The Center of National Resistance published a report on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in the first half of 2025. Russia is militarizing the TOT, creating new military bases and depleting Ukrainian resources, which leads to a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Center for National Resistance presented a report on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine in the first half of 2025, which structures and summarizes information on how Russia is managing the seized Ukrainian lands, as well as people and property on them. This was reported by UNN with reference to the report.
Details
During the reporting period, the Russians continued the integration of the TOT into the legal, informational, and infrastructural field of the Russian Federation.
The Kremlin pays special attention to the development of military logistics and measures to encapsulate the information field and change the identification of Ukrainian youth. Meanwhile, the occupation administrations are not in a hurry to provide the captured regions with basic needs for life, thus putting the TOT on the verge of economic and humanitarian catastrophe.
The consequence of the occupation of the TOT was the absence of any open political struggle, competition of ideas and views, and grassroots civic activity of residents, which is inherent in Russia itself.
At the same time, restrictions in the TOT of Ukraine are harsher than in the territory of the Russian Federation. The internal struggle for resources in the TOT of Ukraine is weaker due to the destruction of the territory and stronger direct control from Moscow. Various "elections" and "actions" take on the features of an even greater farce for the same reasons.
In 2025, the Kremlin continues to turn the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into an outpost of the Russian military machine. Russia is militarizing the occupied territories. Two new military bases have been created in Mariupol. The large-scale embezzlement of the remnants of Ukrainian industry continues.
As of spring 2025, there are over 620,000 Russian servicemen in Ukraine and the border Kursk region. This is 40,000 more than as of December 2024.
Despite the loud and "victorious" rhetoric of the Kremlin, 2025 became a year of stagnation for the Russian army. In five months, the Russian troops managed to advance by 0.15% of the territory of Ukraine. In fact, as cynical as it may sound, this is a pittance against the backdrop of ambitious statements about full control over the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions by the end of the year.
Recruitment for conscription and subsequent signing of a contract with the Russian army is actively carried out in the TOT, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. According to the Eastern Human Rights Group of Ukraine, at least 300 people from the occupied territories were conscripted into the Russian army during the previous conscription campaign.