Persecution of Ukrainians for their thoughts, statements and actions over the past week.

From April 1, 2022, every week, on Thursdays, we analyze the information of the Prosecutor General's Office on criminal cases that the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine are investigating, starting from February 24, 2022.

We published the last analysis on May 26.

On June 2, the prosecutor's office released new information.

The total number of criminal cases under politically motivated articles: "waging an aggressive war", "high treason", "encroachment on territorial integrity", "sabotage", "collaboration activities" for the week from May 26 to June 2 increased from 20,521 to 22,382, that is, by 1861 (increased by 2044 over the previous week).

This means that the prosecutor's office opened an average of 266 criminal cases per day.

Over the past weeks, from May 12 to May 19 and from May 19 to May 26, the number of criminal cases increased by an average of 317 and 292 per day, respectively.

That is, the total number of politically motivated criminal cases is somewhat reduced.

Significantly, from 4443 to 4902, that is, by 459, the number of those accused of "infringement on territorial integrity" has increased (Article 110, it mainly persecutes bloggers and those who expressed an opinion that differs from official propaganda).

That is, 65 Ukrainians are accused under this article every day. In previous weeks, 79 and 66 people were accused a day.

Thus, we see a slight decrease in persecution here as well.

Also, the number of people accused of "high treason" (Article 111 of the Criminal Code) increased from 967 to 1026 during the week. As of May 26, there were 921 "high treason".

That is, over the past week, an average of 17 citizens were accused of high treason per day, while earlier the rate of accusations of "high treason" was 6-7 per day.

That is, over the past week, we have noted a sharp increase in accusations of Ukrainians of "treason."

"Treason" (Article 111 of the Criminal Code) is the most serious political accusation. An accused citizen can end up in prison for 15 years or for life.

Also, over the past week, the number of accusations of Ukrainians under Articles 111-1 (“collaboration activity”) and 111-2 (“assistance to the aggressor”) has increased significantly, from 867 to 934. On May 12, the number of those charged under these articles was 821.

Thus, the trend of a slight decrease in the total number of political persecutions is overshadowed by the trend of a sharp increase in the most serious accusations of "high treason" and "assistance to the aggressor."

Almost all those accused on politically motivated articles are in prison.

The first of them, Oleksandr Matyushenko, a left-wing activist from Dnepropetrovsk, was sentenced on May 24 by a local court under Article 110 (“encroachment on territorial integrity”) to 3 years in prison.

One of those arrested in Odessa was released from prison before trial after posting a large bail.

The rest of the accused on politically motivated charges, as far as we have information, almost all are in custody.

Thus, today we can talk about more than 20 thousand political prisoners in Ukraine.