Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast
| Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast | |||||
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| Part of the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) | |||||
Territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast controlled by Russia shown in pink; territory controlled by Ukraine shown in yellow and blue. | |||||
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The ongoing military occupation of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Ukrainian: Запорізька область, romanized: Zaporiz'ka oblast') began after Russian forces launched an invasion of mainland Ukraine out of Crimea on 24 February 2022. Russian-controlled parts of the oblast were administered by a Russian military-civilian administration until 30 September 2022, when they were illegally annexed to become an internationally unrecognized federal subject of Russia.
On 25 February, the city of Melitopol fell under Russian control, followed by Berdiansk the next day. Russian forces besieged the city of Enerhodar, home of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, then captured it on 4 March. The oblast's capital city of Zaporizhzhia, however, remains under Ukrainian government control.
In May, the Russian government began offering Russian passports to the region's inhabitants. In July, it issued a decree that extended Russian 2022 war censorship laws to the oblast, and included deportation to Russia as a penalty. In September, occupation forces held largely disputed referendums in the occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblast to join the Russian Federation. On 27 September, Russian officials claimed that Zaporizhzhia Oblast's referendum passed with 93.11% of voters in favour of joining the Russian Federation. Russia signed an accession treaty with the Russian administration of the region on 30 September 2022. Russia annexed Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 30 September 2022, including parts of the oblast that it did not control at the time. The United Nations General Assembly demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally" withdraw, and passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation".
Melitopol serves as the Russian seat of administration as Russia does not control Zaporizhzhia. In March 2023, Melitopol became the official capital of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast after the acting head, Yevgeny Balitsky, signed a decree on moving the de jure capital to Melitopol until Zaporizhzhia is captured.