'We are not co-operating': Life in occupied Ukraine
(...)
When the invading forces took control of Melitopol a week ago they ransacked the mayor's offices, Federov said, exiling his team to another location where they are attempting to continue running their city.
"We are not co-operating with the Russians in any way," Federov said emphatically. "They have not tried to help us, they cannot help us, and we do not want their help."
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has claimed he is liberating historically Russian lands and speakers from a Nazi regime. But in Melitopol and a string of other mainly-Russian speaking southern and eastern cities, his forces have found themselves treated as occupiers.
"There are protests in Melitopol every day," said Yuliya Kovaliova, 33, who before the invasion helped run her family business of electronics stores.
"At some point the Russian army started shooting at us and one man got shot but we have not stopped protesting," Kovaliova said. "We are not afraid to protest because we are together. We are afraid to walk alone at night, but we are not afraid to protest."
About 5,000 people gathered in Melitopol's central square on Tuesday, Federov reckoned, despite the shooting last week, which wounded a man in the leg. Videos have surfaced showing protests in occupied and part-occupied cities and towns across the region - Kherson, Berdyansk, Starobilsk, Novopskov. The BBC reached residents and local mayors to try to understand the situation inside.
"I don't know how to count the number of people protesting, I thought it was 2,000 at least," said Yunona, a 29-year-old IT worker in the southern city of Kherson. "One of our friends was beaten and taken by the Russian soldiers and people got so angry they chased the occupiers down the street and took him back."
The Russian troops in Kherson looked young and uncertain, said Olha, a 63-year-old English teacher. "We go to the protests every day and they are close to us but they look afraid," she said. "We are all just waiting for the Ukrainian army to kick them out."
(...)
Vadym Gaev, the mayor of Novopskov, a town near Donbas, told the BBC there had been daily protests but they had stopped three days ago when Russian soldiers shot three protestors - non-fatally - and beat another. Gaev said the Russian troops told an intermediary they had authorisation to shoot protesters, so there should be no more protests.
Novopskov appeared to be an example of a strange and uneasy scenario playing out in some parts of Ukraine, where local Ukrainian officials were continuing to function in some form but Russian military forces were in control. In the occupied city of Starobilsk, nearby, mayor Yana Litvinova was also working remotely, she said.
"A new 'administration' has been appointed. The only thing we know is that it is going around government buildings and asking people to co-operate, and they are refusing."
(...)
Most residents who spoke to the BBC from the occupied cities said food was fast running out.
"Shops are almost empty. You can buy the things that are left but very few things are left," said Yuliya Kovaliova, the electronics shop owner from Melitopol. "Pharmacies are empty and my mother can't buy her heart medicine."
Kovaliova said that two Russian trucks with humanitarian markings came into the city centre last week and attempted to hand out food, but they also brought a film crew. Nearly everyone refused, she said.
(...)
BreezyflavorModerator