(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Life in Ukraine’s occupied territories: Food shortages and informants [1] [] Date: 2024-02 It was snowing heavily when Yulia* walked across the only open border between Ukraine and Russia last month, carrying her two cats and dragging a large suitcase behind her. She had left her village on the edge of Russian-occupied Melitopol, a city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, more than 24 hours earlier, paying a Russian ‘carrier’ with a minivan around $250 (nearly £200) to take her to the border-crossing in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region. Walking across the two-kilometre no-man’s land was the final step in a long journey that is not without risk. Just two weeks earlier, a Russian volunteer who was transporting Ukrainians to the Sumy checkpoint was detained and tortured by Russian security personnel. It was Yulia’s second attempt at the crossing. The first time, in early autumn, she was turned back at the border because she did not have a Russian passport and her name was flagged in a Russian state database as she had been questioned by the security services twice: once for tearing down Russian propaganda posters and then for arguing with a neighbour about life during the Soviet Union. What do you think? Win a £10 book voucher for sharing your views about openDemocracy. Tell us This time, having registered for a Russian passport, she finally made it to an area under Ukraine control, where she retrieved a Ukrainian flag she had sewn into the bottom of her rucksack and wrapped it around herself. Speaking to openDemocracy about her decision to leave the occupied areas, Yulia said: “There were plenty of people in my village who welcomed what happened.” Pensioners would hand authorities information on people like herself, she added. “It was emotionally difficult. You’re constantly looking through the curtains to see what kind of car is going down the street and cleaning your phone in case it’s checked.” Yulia added that she had “wanted to leave when [the war] started but I thought at least I can help by giving away Russian positions”. She spent a year sending the locations of Russian troops to a Ukrainian-military run Telegram bot, until the resistance ring was broken up this summer, when the Russians discovered a local ringleader. No future in occupation Yulia is one of 33,000 Ukrainians to have re-entered the country from Russia since that country’s military retreated from northern Ukraine in spring last year. The vast majority cross at the same checkpoint she did in the Sumy region, as Russia and Belarus do not allow crossings at other points, according to Andriy Demchenko, Ukraine’s border force spokesperson. At that border-crossing in Sumy, openDemocracy spoke with Yulia and seven other people who had travelled from areas occupied by Russia. The places they’d come from are cut off from much of the world; they are not internationally recognised so travel and trade can only be done via Russia – and both have been limited by Western sanctions since 2022. The eight people’s experiences differed depending on their involvement in political activism and whether their area was first occupied in 2014 or 2022. In the areas of Ukraine that have been occupied since 2014, economic and governance systems have been dire, but they are still somewhat functional compared to in those areas that have been occupied since Russia’s 2022 invasion. All said they didn’t see a future in the occupied areas, and had chosen to abandon their houses and belongings to try to return to Ukraine. This is commonplace, they said. Millions have gone to Russia to travel on to Europe, from where many will have returned to Ukraine. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-russia-occupied-territories-life-war-luhansk/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/