Ukraine may punish up to 10,000 collaborators after de-occupation of Crimea - Tasheva

The Ukrainian president's permanent representative in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, said this in an interview with Newsweek, Ukrinform reports.

"If you stay and participate in the illegal occupation and the war crimes committed by the Russians, you will be held to account. This won't be an easy process, which is why we are already developing the legal framework for future proceedings, including the lustration of former officials who are Ukrainian citizens that collaborated with the occupying administrations. They will be banned from holding government or official roles for a number of years, at least. Many will be held to account, but it won't be millions or even hundreds of thousands. It will be maybe 10,000," she said.

Tasheva added that Kyiv is planning a systematic evaluation of those who stay behind.

For those who are Ukrainian citizens, they will be seen as such by us, whether or not they had gotten a Russian citizenship since 2014, voluntarily or under duress. We are not talking about deportation, but 'forced expulsion,' which will be deployed only against non-Ukraine citizens who crossed into the country illegally since the annexation. There will be no mass deportations, but we will tackle the issue on a case-by-case basis. We are already in communications across various departments and our citizens in Crimea, telling them to leave the peninsula, if possible, rather than collaborating with the occupiers," she said.

According to her, it is too early to talk about amnesty.

"With regards to amnesty, [this] cannot really be discussed in detail or in earnest while the 'hot phase' of the war is ongoing. Our people are being killed daily, our towns are shelled—this is not the time or place to discuss any future amnesty of the perpetrators," Tasheva said.