Human Rights Protection in Occupied Territories

The chapter discusses the protection mechanisms of human rights in occupied territories, namely it concerns the issue of application of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in occupied territories. The author gives detailed information about the main system for administration of occupied territories, in particular about the conventional and customary law, as well as secondary resources such as court decisions and UN resolutions. The chapter analyses international treaties, customary law, and case law to identify the main problems related to human rights protection in occupied territories, the positive obligations of states to protect population living in occupied territories, and the relevance of existing legal norms with the state practice.

Steppe Eagle in the Republic of Kalmykia (Russia): Results of the 2021 Survey

The article presents the results of the Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) study in the Republic of Kalmykia. 135 breeding territories of eagles were examined and 155 birds were observed during summer registrations and counts. The average distribution density of the occupied breeding territories in 2021 in the main part of the area was 2.15 (1.54–2.99)/100 km², in the zone of the large number of food resources – 5.72 (4.45–7.35)/100 km². The percentage of occupied breeding territories was 71%, and 43% of the occupied territories were successful. The number of nestlings in broods ranged from 1 to 3, averaging 1.81±0.69 per successful nest (n=43) and 0.73±0.95 per occupied nest (n=105). The percentage of nests with dead clutches and nestlings was high at all surveyed plots. The main diet of eagles during the breeding period included the Little Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus pygmaeus) (44%) and several additional prey items. A preliminary assessment of habitat suitability for the Steppe Eagle in terms of food conditions was carried out using GIS methods. Based on the registration data and clarification of the breeding range borders (47086.7 km²), the number of the Steppe Eagle in Kalmykia was re-estimated at 789 (587–1059) pairs. The signs indicating a negative trend in the population intensified: the percentage of immature birds in breeding pairs was 27%, the percentage of abandoned breeding territories was 19%. There is a consolidation of breeding groups in the population nucleus with a simultaneous decrease in breeding density at the periphery. Among the negative anthropogenic factors in 2021 there were the following: mass mortality on power lines, destruction of the food potential by the locals, disturbance during breeding, probable taking away of nestlings from nests.

SOVIET REPRESSION AGAINST REFUGEE JEWS FROM THE TERRITORY OF POLAND AND CZECH-SLOVAKIA BEFORE AND AT THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II

Purpose: to analyze a set of documents stored in the funds of the State Archives of Kherson region – cases of repressed refugees from Poland and Czechoslovakia in 1938-1941. Based on historiographical and source studies on this topic, to outline the general grounds for arrest and persecution of refugees by Soviet authorities and to find out why Jews – former citizens of Poland and Czechoslovakia – found themselves in the focus of repression. Research methodology. The main research methods were general and special-historical, as well as methods of archival heuristics and scientific criticism of sources. Scientific novelty. Previously unpublished documents are introduced into scientific circulation: cases of repressed refugees from Poland and Czechoslovakia, analysis of the Soviet government's policy towards Jews who tried to escape from the Nazis in the USSR and the Union Republics in southern Ukraine, including Kherson. The forms of repression applied by the NKVD to refugee Jews are analyzed, and the consequences of such a policy for the German government's policy of genocide in the occupied territories are examined. Conclusions. The study found that the formal reason for the persecution of Jewish refugees was the illegal crossing of the border with the USSR, since the Soviet Union, like many countries in the world, refused to accept Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution. The Soviet government motivated this by the fact that refugee Jews spread mood of defeat and panic, spied for Germany, Britain, and Poland, had anti-Soviet views, and conducted anti-Soviet campaigning. As a result of the arrests and deportations of Jewish refugees, the Jewish population, particularly in southern Ukraine, was unaware of the persecution of Jews in lands occupied by Nazi Germany. In fact, the Jewish refugees sent to the concentration camps, along with the Germans of Ukraine and the Volga region, were the only groups of people thus "evacuated" by the Soviet authorities on ethnic grounds. However, due to the enemy's rapid offensive, refugees who did not fall into the hands of the NKVD shared the tragic fate of Ukrainian Jews during the Holocaust.

Influence of outpatient treatment newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis on the development of familial tuberculosis (epidemic situation)

The incidence of tuberculosis in our country, according to statistics, seems to be declining. However, it should be remembered that the figures of the Crimean Autonomous Republic and the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts are excluded from the digital data. Of particular concern are the significant worldwide morbidity and infant mortality rate of 700 people per day.The problem’s urgency is due to the data and the increase in the number of patients with common and destructive forms of pulmonary tuberculosis. The leading factor is the constant increase in the number of patients with multidrug­resistant conditions, the effectiveness of treatment of which does not reach 50%. In comparison, the WHO considers the critical limit for stabilizing the epidemic situation «effective treatment» at 85 %. Objective — to study the features of familial tuberculosis on the background of outpatient treatment of patients with newly diagnosed tuberculosis. Materials and methods. We observed 157 families with various forms of pulmonary tuberculosis. Radiation, bacteriological, immuno­genetic methods were used in the examination. Family members were examined every six months. Results and discussion. Among the TB contacts after this period, tuberculosis was found in 162 people. Sources of tuberculosis (157) were bacillary in 49.7 %, TB contacts — in 43.8 %. Among patients in the group of heads of tuberculosis, there were 28 (35.9 %) people on MRTB, and in the group of TB contacts — 32 (45.1 %), р < 0.05. Thus, tuberculosis’s cause in TB contacts was not isolated from the family of patients with newly diagnosed tuberculosis. Conclusions. Based on the results obtained, it is safe to say that if at least fixed bacillary patients were hospitalized, there could be no family TB contact patients. Comparing all sources of tuberculosis patients (157), it can be imagined that cases of familial tuberculosis (162) could be avoided. Nature «responded» to ignoring one part of the epidemic process (transmission of infection that increases with contact) by increasing the number of patients with familial tuberculosis by 5 people. We note: it was only about the Sumy region and only for a limited time.

Effective Models of Reintegration for De-occupied Territories

The article aims to reveal the essence of the reintegration process of the occupied and de-occupied territories, determining the current state and characterizing the conflict in the East of Ukraine. Its components and implementation tools are analyzed, and foreign models of reintegration of the occupied and de-occupied territories are presented and evaluated; there is also determined the degree of their conformity for Ukraine. In this research, there was made an attempt to find the most effective model for the reintegration of Donbas, which would not only contribute to the demilitarization and restoration of state control in these territories, but also prevent the emergence of separatist movements, stimulate the process of returning, and integration of citizens to the social, cultural, economic and political life of their country of origin. It was stressed that the Ukrainian model for restoring the territorial integrity and reintegration of Donbas should be based on compromise and key issues that have a positive international grounding for which the government has a public support, combined with a strong national, international, and military one. There is a greater chance for working out a mutual standpoint of Ukraine and its international partners which would allow the conflict with Russia to be solved. It is noted that the problem remains since there is no consensus among citizens on the optimal way of restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine. That is why there is an urgent need to create a comprehensive strategy to restore the territorial integrity and reintegration of Donbas. It will have a necessary impact on all the parties of the conflict, and result in a publicly supported compromise. This can be achieved despite the current domestic and international peculiarities of the process; help can be expected from international experience in restoring peace as well as from the government’s approach to the process of reintegration and shaping up a unified state.

TRANSNISTRIAN SETTLEMENT: UKRAINE’S CONTRIBUTION AND EXPERIENCE FOR DEOCUPATION OF DONBAS

The article addresses the role of Ukraine in the Transnistrian settlement. The author analyses its peacekeeping experience and plans for further steps in the light of Ukraine's national interests in the context of Russia's ongoing aggression. Other countries’ roles as participants in the peace process are also considered. This conflict should not be classified as an interethnic or interfaith one, just as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it is a geopolitical confrontation with a minor ethnic component. The positions of the parties do not differ fundamentally on ethnic or confessional grounds, but consist in worldview differences, geopolitical orientation of elites and the population of the two banks of the Dniester. Russia, which had been a de facto participant in the hot phase of the conflict, managed to take over the role of the mediator. Ukraine and Moldova agreed on the legal personality of the Transnistrian occupation authorities. Countries where separatist conflicts have been provoked by external forces cannot agree to negotiate directly with the occupation administrations of the ‘separatist’ areas. They should negotiate directly with the independent players who have provoked, provided this conflict and are able to make decisions. It is important to conduct an effective awareness-rising campaign in Transnistria and the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, create highly professional alternative media and a high-quality information product. Russia's continued military presence in Transnistria is becoming an additional security threat to Ukraine and the Black Sea region. The ‘peacekeeping’ mechanism needs to be reformatted and internationalized by withdrawing the Russian contingent and deploying the International Civilian Observer Mission. Such operations should be carried out either with the participation of contingents of exclusively neutral countries, or with multinational contingents if possible, which will guarantee their impartiality. Findings of the present study may be used as the groundwork for formulating Ukraine’s strategy of countering the Russian aggression and retrieving the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The sentiments of the population in Vladimir Region during the Great Patriotic War

The article examines the mood of home front workers during the Great Patriotic War based on the materials of Vladimir region, a region that had its own specific features. The author draws attention to the change in the rear position of this territorial unit during the war. The sources for the analysis were archival documents, some of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, as well as documents of a memoir and epistolary nature. The study of Soviet propaganda during the indicated period draws attention to the transition from predominantly internationalist to patriotic slogans - a process that started at the very beginning of the war, with some precedents already in the last pre-war year. In the course of the study, the author identifies the ambiguous sentiments of the population in the rear in relation to the war and their living conditions. Attention is drawn to the fact that citizens had a negative perception of a number of actions of the authorities in the initial period of the war. The article tells the difficult situation in the rear during the battle for Moscow, a victory which to a large extent caused a turn in the mood of the majority of the population. An analysis of the letters of front-line soldiers and home front workers clearly reveals the fatalism of most of them, and their submissive adherence to their prescribed fate. At the same time, their letters show the hope for a quick victory over Nazism and the belief that their closest descendants would be able to build a bright future. Despite the predominantly patriotic statements, the example of the Vladimir region shows a critical attitude towards the Soviet government, not only on regional but also on central level. Still, one cannot but confirm that Soviet propaganda was very successful in consolidating the people during the war, which was of course facilitated by the policy of Nazi Germany both at the front and in the temporarily occupied territories.

Understanding and Responding to Substance Use and Abuse in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon Prior to and During COVID-19 Times

Due to its geographical proximity to the Syrian conflict and the occupied territories, Lebanon has experienced an influx of refugees in recent times. Palestinian refugees are an identified key vulnerable population, with displaced communities increasingly experiencing camp insecurity, vulnerability to drug use and related health harms. A qualitative study consisting of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) was undertaken as part of a regional exercise investigating Palestinian community experiences of substance and drug use in refugee camps. Thematic analysis triangulated the perspectives of 11 professional stakeholders representing United Nations, human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and eight Palestinian community members. Emerging themes centered on the interplay between socio-economic instability, lack of law enforcement and camp governance contributing to concerning levels of familial, drug and camp violence, trafficking and availability of drugs. Transactional sex and the exploitation of women and children in drug dealing, diversification toward drug manufacture and dealing of drugs with the outside community were described. There is a lack of harm reduction and rehabilitation supports for those in need. This study highlights the complexities in tackling drug dealing and related criminal activity within refugee camps and humanitarian settings, and the vulnerabilities of those living within to harmful drug use.

Political and legal aspects of the information warfare

This article describes the technological features of information warfare and possible lawful mechanisms to counter information attacks. The aim of the article is to analyse the political and legal features of information warfare. The tactics of the aggressor state’s behaviour in a hybrid war was substantiated using the case of the information war between Russia and Ukraine. The channels of information dissemination, which are most often used for disintegration and disinformation purposes, were studied. Problematic issues of the domestic public space that most often appear in the perspective of disinformation attacks on the Internet are determined: the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, reforms in Ukrainian society, temporarily occupied territories and annexed Crimea, corruption in Ukraine. The tactics of confrontation between countries in the information space was analysed — attempts to establish their “security belt” from other actors in international relations and to maintain their own dominant influence in certain regions by spreading misinformation. Promising areas of further research will be the analysis of the peculiarities of the national legal systems’ development in order to counter misinformation in the context of the continuous development of democracy in the world.