Russians borrow from Nazi playbook with forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians

Clutching bags of possessions, dazed children and confused pets, the passengers stepped down from the train. Until recently they had been caught in the devastation of the city of Mariupol. Now they were disembarking hundreds of miles away, in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, north of Moscow.

Russian authorities said the trainload of more than 480 Ukrainians were being rescued and state media broadcast clips of them thanking Russian forces for their liberation.

Yet the Ukrainian government on Sunday instead said they were among thousands of Mariupol residents “forcibly taken” across the border to remote Russian cities as the Kremlin’s forces strengthened their grip on the besieged port.

Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol’s mayor, alleged the deportations echoed historic transportations.

“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people,” he said in a statement.

“It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century, people can be forcibly taken to another country.” …,

America’s ambassador to the United Nations said reports of the deportations were “horrific” and “unconscionable” if true. 

Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “To force people from Ukraine to go into Russia is absolutely unacceptable; it’s unconscionable. And again, it’s something we need to confirm, but I don’t put it past the Russians to take such a horrific action.

“Certainly, that would be another escalation, but not beyond the realm of possibility given how the Russians have tried to put pressure on the Ukrainian people.”