He took part in the creation of regional branches of the russian Historical Society in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, whose activities are aimed at integrating into the so-called 'single russian cultural space'.
On 25 May 2022, he took part in a meeting of the 'council of RIT branches' held in the temporarily occupied Luhansk. During his speech, he stated that the russian Historical Society is doing everything to preserve "reliable historical knowledge" and the creation of a regional branch in the so-called "luhansk People's Republic" will be "a new step on this path". He supported Putin's policy on the annexation of Crimea in an open letter in 2017.

As the director of the Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts, he cooperates with the occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, promotes the legitimisation of russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories and the integration of Ukrainian museums located in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the russian cultural space through the implementation of federal cultural and educational projects.
On 25 September 2024, Komlev took part in a meeting of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic' on social policy, preservation and strengthening of traditional russian spiritual and legal values. During the event, he "highlighted the topic of promoting cultural heritage among the younger generation".
In September 2023, a delegation from the Orenburg Museum, led by Komlev, visited the Luhansk Art Museum and the Perevalsk Historical Museum in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region. During the visit, 2 exhibitions of russian artists were opened in the Luhansk Art Museum.
In 2018. Komplev participated in the implementation of the exchange and exhibition project "russia-Donbas. Orenburg-Donetsk" within the framework of the "russia-Donbass" integration programme, having organised an exhibition "Landscapes of Donbass in watercolours" at the Orenburg Museum.

As the director of the All-russian Museum of History and Ethnography, she promotes the integration of museums located in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the russian cultural space.
Under Zhukova's leadership, the Museum of History and Ethnography implements the federal curation programme of the Ministry of Culture of the russian federation, which provides material, organisational and methodological support to cultural institutions in the so-called "new regions" - the Chornukhino Folk Museum of Local Lore named after G.I. Ivashchenko and the Perevalsk District Historical Museum in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region.
In December 2023, a delegation of the All-Ukrainian Institute of Educational and Cultural Affairs headed by Zhukova, following a working visit to the temporarily occupied Perevalsk and Chornukhyne, decided to open Children's Cultural and Educational Centres on the basis of the Chornukhyne H.I. Ivashchenko Folk Museum and the Perevalsk District Historical Museum.
In November 2024, a delegation of the Museum of History and Ethnography, led by Zhukova, visited the Chornukhy Museum again, where they presented a propaganda exhibition "Unity through the Ages". As noted on the Museum of History and Ethnography website, the exhibition "aims to show the inextricable historical connection between Donbas and russia".
In October 2024, in connection with the so-called "anniversary of the accession of new regions", the Museum of History and Ethnography website published Zhukova's address in which she stated that "Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson have always been russian lands, we have a common history, common traditions, common spiritual values".

Conducts illegal archaeological excavations on the territory of the archaeological monument of national importance, the archaeological complex "Ancient City of Myrmecia" in Kerch during 2014-2023 as part of the activities of the "Myrmecian Expedition of the State Hermitage Museum", which he heads.
In particular, under his control and guidance, during the activities of the relevant archaeological expedition in 2022, a treasure was discovered and seized in favour of the russian federation - 30 gold coins, of which 26 were inscribed with the name of Alexander the Great and 4 were minted during the reign of his brother Philip ΙΙΙ Arridaeus.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol served Butyagin with a notice of suspicion in absentia of illegal search operations at the archaeological heritage site.