CEPA’s Behind the Lines project documents life inside Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. Its research examines Russia’s militarization of local populations, the indoctrination, and systematic attempts to Russify all aspects of life, all aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity and cultivating a loyal, pro-Russian population.
Behind the Lines: Ukraine’s Temporarily Occupied Territories
Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, it has controlled the peninsula, initiated hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and, following the full-scale invasion in 2022, occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In the process, Russia has worked systematically to rewrite Ukraine’s identity, silence its people, and tighten its grip.
Through research, reporting, and a growing database, Behind the Lines documents life inside Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 – including Crimea (annexed in 2014), and parts of south and eastern Ukraine, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. By amplifying voices from these areas, the project sheds light on the tools of both soft and aggressive occupation.
Behind the Lines keeps the focus on those living under Russian occupation and, therefore, the ongoing threats to security and human dignity for Ukraine and Europe as a whole.
Behind the Lines Tracker
The Behind the Lines Tracker delivers Ukraine watchers the most important events and updates in these regions, delving oblast by oblast into in-depth reporting on the economy, humanitarian crises, militarization, oppression, propaganda, resistance, and war crimes – all in a searchable, customizable tool. To learn more about the latest updates, scroll to the Behind the Lines tracker below.
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July 24, 2025
Behind the Lines: Crimean Tatars Battle to Save their Language
Suppression of language is a key part of Moscow’s drive to erase the Crimean Tatar identity as it seeks to colonize occupied Ukraine. Linguists are fighting back.
June 26, 2025
Behind the Lines: Russia Bribes Teachers to Work in Occupied Ukraine
Russia is offering cash handouts of as much a two million rubles ($22,000) to lure teachers and cultural workers to Russify occupied Ukraine and create a population loyal to the regime.
May 15, 2025
Behind the Lines: Russia Makes Ukrainians Foreigners in Their Own Country
Vladimir Putin has given Ukrainians until September to become Russian citizens or leave the occupied territories in his latest attempt to erase their identity.
February 20, 2025
Behind the Lines: Russia’s Struggle to Colonize Ukraine
Despite Russification programs, repression, population replacement, and forced identity changes, Moscow’s colonizing tactics have failed to break the spirit of Ukrainians.
January 23, 2025
Behind the Lines: Ethnic Cleansing by Home Loan
Russian banks are offering cheap mortgages for homes in the occupied territories as the invaders seek to colonize Ukraine and drive out local residents.
December 12, 2024
Behind the Lines: The Workaday Agents Resisting Russia
The Angry Mavka movement uses old techniques and new technology to undermine Ukraine’s occupiers and remind them they’re not welcome.
October 25, 2024
Behind the Lines: Russia’s Brutal War on Ukraine’s Journalists
Russia has imprisoned more than 30 Ukrainian journalists for reporting on the destruction of their homeland. Their colleagues want urgent action before any more die.
September 12, 2024
Behind the Lines: Echoes of Torture as Ukraine Fights to Free Doctors
Russia is holding Ukrainian combat medics, using them as bargaining chips and subjecting them to mistreatment and torture in breach of the Geneva conventions.
July 19, 2024
Behind the Lines: Russia Strips Ukrainians of Their Homes
The occupiers are forcing Ukrainian residents to obtain Russian passports and re-register property under Russian laws. But many lose their homes regardless.
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