As the world prepares for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many are now expecting to see a new push for negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. While Trump has yet to clarify his vision for a potential settlement in Ukraine, allies including vice president-elect JD Vance have suggested that any agreement would involve freezing the war along the current front lines and allowing Russia to maintain control over approximately 20 percent of Ukraine.
Supporters of this approach typically claim that it is the only realistic option. This argument reflects the current battlefield dynamics of the war, with Russia steadily advancing and the overstretched Ukrainian military seemingly in no position to retake areas seized by Moscow since 2022. Crucially, however, advocates of a front line freeze tend to conveniently overlook the fact that any agreement involving territorial concessions would also mean condemning millions of Ukrainians to the horrors of permanent Russian occupation.
Since the very first weeks of the invasion, it has been clear that one of Russia’s key war aims is the destruction of Ukrainian national identity. For those currently living under Russian occupation, this means everything from large-scale abductions and mass deportations to ideological indoctrination and blanket Russification.
With occupied areas of Ukraine largely cut off from the outside world, accurate information regarding the scale of the human rights abuses currently taking place remains limited. However, the available evidence indicates that a systematic campaign is underway to silence any potential dissent and impose a reign of terror on the Ukrainian civilian population. “Kremlin-occupied Ukraine is now a totalitarian hell,” Britain’s The Economist reported in early November.
Voice of Ukraine 