Asked why she and other Ukrainians chose to continue living under Russian occupation instead of running away, the woman hesitated for a moment.
“I can’t explain the feeling,” she said. “It’s like you just can’t believe that evil could win. Even after three years, people can’t believe it’s time. They still believe the occupation will end. That’s why they are still here and don’t run away.”
The woman, a member of the Zla Mavka female resistance group, lives in a city in southeastern Ukraine that fell under Russian control a few days after Moscow launched her large -scale invasion in February 2022.
Zla Mavka – who translates as Mavka Furiosa, a feminine forest spirit in Ukrainian folklore – gets involved only in non -violent activities. But participating in any form of protest and talking to western media is extremely dangerous, and that is why CNN will not disclose the woman’s name or location.
She said CNN that life under Russian occupation is exhaustive and incredibly scary.
“You can be arrested for anything. You have to worry about everything. You have to check your phone, you have to check what you have in your apartment, you have to hide many things, you can’t say what you are thinking and can’t trust anyone,” she said.
US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants the end of, even if it means more territorial losses to Kiev. Trump claimed to be “unlikely” that Ukraine recovers all its pre-war territory, stating: “(Russia) took many lands, fought for them and lost many soldiers.”
This can include Zla Mavka’s hometown of the woman’s hometown.
“People abroad always talk about territories and perhaps forget that they are not just territories. These are people. And people here are still waiting. People have not moved and don’t want to change. And why (should) have to move from their homes?” Asked the woman.
Almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory, home to about 6 million people, including 1 million children, living in what the United Nations described as a “dark situation of human rights”.
Stepan, a 22 -year -old Ukrainian who recently escaped a busy area in southern Ukraine to Kherson, who is under Kiev’s control, has first experienced what the occupation forces are able to do.
Stepan and his parents were arrested by Russian troops in the summer of 2022. He was arrested for two weeks and was repeatedly beaten and tortured with electrocussion. Your parents were arrested for several months.
No family member has ever been informed of the reason for the detention. They were never convicted or accused of any crime.
When Stepan was released, he was separated from the rest of the family. He ended up on the left bank of the Dnipro River, still occupied by Russia. His mother, look, managed to escape to a government -controlled area after being released in the spring of 2023.
“I was very scared,” said Stepan about the period he lived under occupation. “Whenever I left, I looked around to see if they were there to take me again or do something to me. I didn’t leave home if I didn’t have to. It was like that every day,” he told CNN.
Stepan was lucky – managed to escape and met with his family last month. He was brought back thanks to a “coordinated effort” that involved the “angels”, a unit of Ukrainian special forces that rescues vulnerable people from busy territories, according to Roman Mrochko, head of the Military Administration of the city of Kerson. Stepan and his family said they were not allowed to share details of the operation.
Terrible consequences
Both Stepan and Zla Mavka member said that even the slightest suspicion of being “pro-ucranian” can have terrible consequences for people living under occupation.
“My friends and acquaintances were often taken because they did not want to get a Russian passport or not to register for military service. They were taken and brought back a week later with broken arms and legs, sometimes heads. There were many, we are talking about dozens of people,” said Stepan.
Human rights groups claim that Moscow has intensified his campaign to “russifies” occupied Ukraine in recent months, probably to claim areas in any future peace negotiation.
“They try to remove everything that is Ukrainian from our city, from language to traditions,” said Zla Mavka member, adding that one of his missions is to keep the Ukrainian culture alive under occupation.
“We are promoting Ukrainian poems and works by Ukrainian authors, and (celebrating) Ukrainian holidays, the traditional, just to remind everyone that this is not Russia, never has been and never will be,” she said.
She described to live in the city as “enter a time machine and return to the Soviet Union.”
“There is advertising, Soviet -style monuments and Soviet holidays, and we are always waiting for lines, such as Soviet times, to get help, go to the doctor or get documents. We need to wait for these long lines and there are no ordinary stores, no brands… Just things that are bought in street markets and some strange Chinese products.”
Russian authorities have meticulously erasing national identity, religion and Ukrainian language in the occupied Ukraine. They organized fraudulent referendums on the adhesion to Russia and forced the local population to become Russian citizen.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new decree ordering Ukrainian citizens living in these areas to “regulate their legal status” by adopting Russian citizenship. According to the decree, those who do not do so until September will become foreign and can only remain for a limited period.
But Moscow has coerced many Ukrainians to accept Russian passports, as life is almost impossible and very dangerous without them.
Those who do not have Russian documents face the daily threat of prison and deportation to Russia, are not entitled to work, have no access to health services or more basic pensions and are prevented from having properties.
“You can’t even call an ambulance without (a Russian passport). If you don’t have a Russian passport, the ambulance won’t come,” said the resistance woman.
Human rights activists have repeatedly claimed that Moscow is violating international law by forcing the Ukrainian population to adopt Russian passports.
“And then the big problem for men, the men who (were forced to get) Russian passports are now trying to mobilize them to the Russian army. They want to force them to fight their own people,” the woman added.
The risk of trying to get out
Millions of Ukrainians refuse to leave their homes in busy territories – most because they still believe Kiev, with the help of their Western allies, will eventually free all their lands.
There are also some who sympathize with Russia and are happy with the new regime – although both the Zla Mavka and Stepan woman said they believed this is just a small minority.
“Many times, they are people who did not have a very good life before. For example, they had no education and did not have a good job, but now, if they scream aloud ‘I love Russia’, they will get a job job, they will receive help and money from Russia,” said Zla Mavka member.
SOS Donbass, a line of Ukrainian aid for people living in busy territories and combat zones, received more than 57,500 calls last year. Violet Artemchuk, director of the organization, said most people ask for advice on how to get out safely, how to get help, and what are the implications of staying and being forced to take a Russian passport.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly oriented to people in the areas occupied to do whatever it takes to stay safe.
“If you need some documents, ask. This does not change your status,” said Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the announcement of the decree that requires Ukrainians in occupied territories to become Russian citizens.
Tykhyi said that “the best solution, if possible, is to leave for the controlled territory of Ukraine.”
But for many, leaving is impossible because it is very dangerous, very expensive and very laborious.
“Theoretically, it is possible to go out, but it is necessary to go through a screening,” said Zla Mavka’s wife, referring to a security screening process led by the Russian forces in all exits of the occupied areas.
“They are checking everything there, so … let’s say there is a woman whose husband was soldered in 2014, and if they find out, she will have a big problem, then, for her, it’s safer not to try. But it can be anything, like a comment on social networks, something on her cell phone, they can simply arrest her and deport her to Russia,” she said.
Thousands of Ukrainian citizens were illegally detained and sent to Russia, and CNN It documented cases of people who were detained at Russian filtering points and subsequently sent to facilities to thousands of kilometers from Ukraine.
It is impossible to cross directly from Ukraine occupied for government -controlled areas, which means that anyone who wants to escape should travel through Russia, leave Russia and then travel around Europe to Ukraine.
“It’s not easy to leave everything and become a refugee. You can’t sell your apartment, you can’t cross the border with a large amount of money, you can’t take much … so it’s possible, but not everyone,” said the woman.
So, for now, she and millions of others have decided to stay and watch the news from the White House and elsewhere, horrified.
“People are very nervous and very afraid to hear about a negotiation and how our cities will become Russia; this is the greatest fear. But I can say that even if it happens, resistance will not stop.”
