Putin planned ‘total cleansing’ of Ukraine with ‘house-to-house’ terror - leaked documents show

Russian President Vladimir Putin

New emails suggest Putin sought to inflict sheer terror on Ukraine, but has been met with strong resistance

Reuters
Ben Chapman

By Ben Chapman


Published: 25/03/2023

- 12:11

Updated: 25/03/2023

- 12:13

Grisly measures included putting civilians in concentration camps

Vladimir Putin wanted a “total cleansing” of Ukraine, using “house-to-house terror” to force its people into submission, according to leaked spy documents.

Grisly measures included putting civilians in concentration camps were planned as Putin sought to impose extreme violence across the war-stricken nation.


It comes after the Russian tyrant was charged with war crimes, with an arrest warrant in place.

New emails, leaked by an FSB source to a Russian human rights activist, reveal the extent to which Russia hoped to leave Ukraine in ruin with a sustained period of terror.

Three men watching an explosion in UkraineUkraine was invaded a year ago​Reuters 

They were sent to Vladimir Osechkin under the name Wind of Change in a bid to bring Putin’s atrocities to light.

The source claims that the FSB would carry out a “total cleansing” of society and politics in Ukraine with the help of some Russian Military Intelligence.

Russia hoped the move would allow them to “install any government in Kiev”.

The FSB anticipated Ukranian resistance and planned to deal with it ruthlessly, as per instructions “from the very top”.

Vladimir Putin speakingPresident Putin claimed he would take over Ukraine in just 72 hours Reuters

The shocking emails reveal how “big terror” was planned for the city of Kherson, which they hoped to impose in “several stages”.

A measure to deal with ordinary Ukrainians who dared to resist Russian occupiers was to cause “severe injuries”, according to the emails.

“As soon as the mass of protests is reduced, the final stage of ‘door-to-door’ terror will begin”, the emails state.

“Here the FSB will play first fiddle and people will be detained in their homes at night during curfew and transferred to Russian territories - concentration camps and worse.

“It is assumed that protests will cease completely after such cleansing.”

Speaking to The Sun, Russia expert Keir Giles say the documents back up what we think we know about Putin’s Ukraine ambitions.

“It’s well known that they planned to round up the Ukrainian leadership, which is what they’ve done when occupying countries such as Poland and the Baltic states,” said Giles.

“There was going to be a savage campaign or murder and oppression.

“From what we’ve seen from the occupied territories, we know what would have been in store for the rest of Ukraine. It’s very straightforward.

Giles added that the signs were there for Putin’s intentions, with crematoria and body bags on show for the world to see.

“If you saw that and they weren’t expecting to fight a war and were expecting to walk in and take over you would ask ‘who was that for?

“So they were planning to execute, murder and dispose of very large numbers of Ukrainian civilians.

“That’s what the crematoria were for, that’s what the body bags were for.”

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