three days before the start annexation referendum in Russia Ivanivkaa small farming town in the east hersonsoldiers began distributing information leaflets and even “10,000 rubles cash” (160 Euros) to anyone who pledges to support the membership. Unlike what was happening in the cities, the new authorities there did not even condescend to organize. electoral colleges. ” soldiers They went from house to house, knocking on doors and ticking the boxes of anyone who opened it. A lot of people hid,” he says. Oleksander PshperovskyA 54-year-old rancher fled that day with his family so they wouldn’t run away to the wheat fields. “Only 10 of the nearly 300 homes were opened,” he adds. When the masquerade was over, the mayor and neighbors committed to the cause celebrated with a party.
This was the last fireworks in Ivanivka of the official annexation signed by Vladimir Putin days later. 87% of the population from Kherson. Inside Zaporia, Lugansk Y Donetsk they gave even more stratospheric numbers, reaching 99.2% in the second state. But in Ivanivka it all started much earlier, around ten o’clock on the ominous morning of February 24, the start of the Russian invasion, shortly after the roosters had stopped crowing. According to Pshperovsky, the neighbors asked themselves that day, ‘But what are they doing here?’ they asked. “They came so fast because Crimea. People didn’t understand anything.”
Since then, everything has been slowly changing through intimidation and doctrine. Inside busy areas entered ruble And in russian resume inside schools. distributed free decoders See him Russian television. And people were told that they would not have to return the product. loans contracted with Ukrainian banks. “People not cooperating with them, he loses everything”, says Pshperovsky, already far from the land where he grew up. “Businesses that refuse to cooperate, lootedThey took the keys and ordered their owners to leave town,” he adds.
torture cellars
In his case, he devoted himself to keeping his head down, living with his back to the soldiers, and staying out of trouble. This did not prevent the three pigs and the sauna furniture from being stolen. “We were all interrogated, but some were taken to the courthouse. basements even let them declare it to break them mentally allegiance to Russia”, he explains in a story repeated by other sources. “Give them beating Y Downloads electricity after washing them in water. They were particularly harsh veterans war of Donbas”.
Something similar counts Sergii Mukurizmanager i am Kherson, a shelter located in Zaporizhia for Ukrainians fleeing the area. “The main reason people leave, terror. Many saw their relatives taken away. they put one bag on head and they disappear for a week, two or a month,” he says. “It is very common to see missing notes affixed to street furniture busy cities”. Cities that the new authorities have plastered with advertising posters that read “We are a people”., One of Putin’s favorite sayings and “We are with Russia.”
Stanislav lived Melitopol, a small town a stone’s throw from the Sea of Azov in the occupied territory of Zaporizhia, with his wife and newborn baby. “There was a lot of loot and prices skyrocketed. this medicines, above all they are scarce,” says this 26-year-old tattooed man. I had to go through a few every day Russian military checkpoints to leave the city and go to the factory where he works as a mechanic. “If I touch a Russian, I’ve always wondered if it’s like that. nazi or fascistinstead of chechens and Dagestanis They were much nicer.” Stanislav finally befriended a soldier. Dagestan giving her money and diapers for her child after apologizing for what happened.
russian passport
For some, the straw that broke the camel’s back was definitely the reason they packed their bags for the camel’s introduction. passport and russian citizenship in the occupied territories. All NewbornMoreover orphansautomatically became Russian. For the rest, it’s technically optional, but you can’t do without adoption. register the car, open business anyone confirming a wedding. Sometimes he could not even make a living, as happened to the pig farmer Pshperovsky in Ivanivka. “You either accept citizenship or you cannot continue working. No options. So I left, I was unemployed for months. Now they will take my house and my land, but when Ukraine retakes the area, I hope to get it back.”
The day after he arrived in Zaporizhia, a neighbor who had been left in charge of the house called him. Some collaborators reported that he was leaving. They were looking for him. “They broke into my house and told my neighbor I gave it to them. 400 kilos of meat from my pigs otherwise they would have killed him there Pull”, he says, without the slightest grimace of fear typical of someone who normalizes violence as a daily currency.