Budanov refutes claims of mass Russian departure from Crimea
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Currently, Russians do not have any plans to depart from occupied Crimea, though local collaborators have begun winding down their businesses, said Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) chief Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RFE/RL on August 26..
In response to a journalist's inquiry about whether his agency is observing the departure of Russians from the occupied peninsula, Budanov replied that this is not the case.
“I wouldn't put it that way,” Budanov said.
“It's occurring in surges. I believe there will be another surge of business departures soon, and it takes place in these surge intervals.”
Budanov emphasized that it is primarily local collaborators who are in the process of withdrawing their businesses from the occupied Crimea. They constitute the majority.
“Because they understand if the situation shifts suddenly, there will be varied possibilities for those who were building new [businesses] and those who were relocated,” he clarified.
“However, [the collaborators] will undoubtedly lose everything. Hence, it's evident that they are escaping, relocating their businesses. It's not so much about running away as it is about relocating their businesses further into Russian territory."
Earlier, the presidential representative in occupied Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, claimed that Russians who had moved to Crimea after 2014 are now leaving in large numbers.
Additionally, the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, the Crimean Tatar representative body, Refat Chubarov, stated that collaborators on the occupied peninsula are realizing the inevitable liberation of Crimea and have begun to flee "like mice,” he told Radio NV on July 25.
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