Pro-Ukrainian Citizens, Collaborators, and the 'Swamp': What Sentiments Are in Crimea.

The head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Eskender Bariiev, spoke about the sentiments of different groups of the population in occupied Crimea. According to him, the inhabitants of the peninsula can be conditionally divided into three categories.

The first category is pro-Ukrainian citizens. Despite the fear from explosions, they hope for the liberation of Crimea and the restoration of Ukrainian authority, reports the monitoring group Crimean Wind.

"If we are talking about the Ukrainian part of the population, then, of course, they are scared when explosions occur, but at the same Time, they have a hope that Crimea will be liberated and, accordingly, the situation in Crimea will change, and they will be free," he noted.

The second category is collaborators and Russian citizens who illegally moved to Crimea after the occupation. They predominantly consume Russian propaganda, but recent events make them think about the temporality of their stay on the peninsula.

"They watch local television or federal television. And, of course, the only thing that affects them is when explosions periodically occur at military logistics facilities on the territory of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea, they begin to think more and more about all the processes," Bariiev noted.

The third category is the so-called "swamp." These people are indifferent to the political situation and focus only on their own well-being. Initially, they perceived the occupation positively due to economic benefits, but now their attitude is changing due to the worsening of the security and economic situation.

"This category in 2014-2016 years perceived the occupation process normally since there was indexation, high salaries. It was unexpected when they saw that different infrastructure projects began massively on the territory of Crimea. Of course, they perceived everything one way at that moment, but now it's different because it turned out to be not calm in Crimea, during Ukrainian times there weren't any explosions, everything was fine. Secondly, pensions and salaries are not growing. And, of course, when it comes to food products, for this category, it is very important; they look for Ukrainian products in Crimea because they are much better in quality and taste. And considering that it has become unsafe in Crimea, this category of people begins to change in the sense that this situation would end faster, and to live peacefully. We can expect that this category of people will perceive the de-occupation processes normally. The main thing is that their life should be normally ensured," he explained.

Bariiev emphasized the importance of understanding these differences in the sentiments of the Crimean population for future de-occupation and reintegration processes of the peninsula.