For almost two years, Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol in southern Ukraine, has been trying to keep in touch with his constituents despite the Russian occupation. His town was taken over by the Russians 48 hours after the start of the invasion in February 2022. He himself was kidnapped for five days on March 11. His telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president after his release has remained in people's memories. "Thank you for not letting me down," he told Volodymyr Zelensky. "Are you kidding? We don't let our people down," replied the head of state.

Fedorov has since moved to Zaporizhzhia, in the sector controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. For the past two years, through information gathered remotely, he has seen his city transformed by the occupation. "It's very hard," he explained to Le Monde. "Local pseudo-authorities have been set up, any resistance is harshly repressed and the demographic composition itself has changed with the arrival of thousands of Russians." These are gradually replacing the 60,000 or so inhabitants (out of 150,000) who fled Melitopol after the large-scale offensive.

In this city, as elsewhere in the occupied Ukrainian territories, Moscow has been applying a meticulous, coordinated policy aimed at imposing its legitimacy and reinforcing the integration of these regions within Russia. A report published in January by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, an official body created by the special forces, gave an alarming assessment of the situation, two years after the start of the invasion. Destruction of Ukrainian identity, sham elections, propaganda, population transfers, humanitarian crisis, unemployment, forced mobilization to swell the ranks of Russian troops and increased repression: Moscow is using all available means to try to legalize its power in these regions, organize the war effort and pave the way for the Russian presidential election in March.

In July 2023, the creation of a "Council for the Integration of the New Regions" was announced to harmonize the process. Russification is proceeding apace in all areas. At school, new history books – presenting the invasion in its Russian version and denying the existence of the Ukrainian state – have replaced those that children have been using until now. At the same time, memorial sites dedicated to the victims of Soviet repression and the Holodomor are being systematically destroyed. On the judicial front, 410 courts were opened in the annexed territories in 2022.

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