RF continues illegal settlement of Crimea with its citizens – Bariiev

The Head of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Eskender Bariiev, said in a commentary to the Crimea.Realities that the Russian Federation continues its illegal settlement of Crimea by its citizens. At the same time, the population that lived on the peninsula before the occupation is decreasing.

“The figures of population growth in Crimea are called different – from 500 thousand to one million. We looked at the Retirement Fund data on the number of the retired before and after the start of the occupation, statistics on personal income taxes, on the number of voters, Russian military personnel, we studied the difference in demand for housing, passenger traffic parameters, etc. There are unaccounted for factors: for example, a lot of workers from Central Asia came to construction sites, Russian criminals moved in, which divides influence in different areas. The Russian military contingent has definitely increased, a lot of new housing stock is being leased in Crimea – in Sevastopol, on the southern coast of Crimea, in Simferopol and in the north of the peninsula”,- Bariiev said.

According to the Head of the CTRC Board, at the same time the population that lived in Crimea before the occupation is decreasing. According to the Ukrainian government alone, 45,000 people left the peninsula. But the expert believes that this figure can be multiplied by at least one and a half times, given that many are not registered on the mainland as migrants.