“They tell us that Russia has done a lot for us. But I only have that I do not have enough money to live as I had earlier.
Oksana* is from Novoeder’s Basti, about 60 kilometers (37 mi) in the north -west of the regional capital Luhansk, which has been occupied since 2014.
Russia captured the cities of Novoedar, as well as Lisichansk, Civiarodnetsk, and Rubizen, and controlled the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
Since then, the population of Novoer has shrunk from one third.
Oksana said, “Only big people have stopped. Young people have fled to other parts of Ukraine, or abro -rut. The only place you see on the days of young people is in Lohansk.”
He told DW that his village is suffering due to war.
His house is one of many people, which damages the bee with shelling, but the occupied authorities have not provided any for reconstruction.
Barting with neighbors for food
Prior to the Russian invasion, Oksana, who cares for her elderly father, sold his own homegron food.
Now he does not have livestock, and he does not have paramedia to sell vegetables, either.
To do this, he must register a company according to the Russian law.
“We grow vegetables for us right now, and bore with our neighbors,” he said.
Oksana estimates that you need at least 40,000 rubles a month (about € 440/$ 500) to live a normal life here.
Many of the villagers – postmen, for example – earning less than € 200.
Jobs on the proposal in local social media groups are mostly in service industry or construction.
In nearby Sievierodonetsk, jobs for “workers with plumbing skills” are advertised at a salary of 120,000 rubles (€ 1.320).
Alchevsk works well, so makes good payments. On social media, they are going to promote contracts with the Russian army, for which the salary is 216,000 rubles (€ 2.376).
Like several inhabitants from occupied areas, Osana’s father still draws a Ukrainian pension.
To do this, he has to do Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) To reach the web portal of Ukrainian Pension Office, which is blocked by occupied forces.
“Without this pension, you can’t survive,” said Oksana.
His father receives equal to € 61 per month. “This is enough to buy cheap food for a week,” said Oksana.
He will have to supplement his father’s minimum basic pension using his family’s savings.
He complained that the prices of food have increased, and only two shops left in the novoreder.
“In Luhansk, you can buy a dozen eggs for less than the price,” he said. So she travels there every two weeks to shop.
Hence the bees were sivierodonetsk and starobilsk.
“But those cities are completely destroyed,” he said. “On TV, they say almost everything has been rebuilt, but you still see burn-out houses with without windows, doors or roofs.”
The people there are still waiting for new windows and doors.
No power, no water, no internet
The Ukrainian regional administration for Luhanskas, which was extracted to the area controlled by Kiev, mainly depends on social media, for information about the problem faced by people in occupied areas.
People post online about power cuts, and water is cut. “In summer, it regularly occurs in Sievierodonetsk that there is neither electricity nor water, at the same time,” Luhansk region governor Olexy Kharchenko told DW.
“Water supply is closed to repair electrical equipment, and is considered as work on electrical pumping stations.”
When there is no electricity, there is no internet. And according to Ouksana, the cellphone provider Lugcom, who covers the Luhansk -occupied area, provides very poor reception.
He said that it is also difficult to open an immediate messenger. A lot of websites are blocked, as well: “You also have to use a VPN to get it. [messaging app] Viber. ,
In this regard, at least, Kharchenko is capable of offering some hops.
“Right now, the Telegram is testing a chatbot that has been developed for communication with people living mainly in occupied areas,” he said.
Kharchenko said that people complain so much on social media that there are not enough doctors even in cities.
Oksana told DW that a group of doctors from Russian cities of Krasanodar, St. Petersburg and Moscow falls into Novoer once a year.
Ouksana said, “They treat the people of a particular district for a month, and then you have to see local doctors again. But when you go to the outpatient department, they say that there is no doctor. Your only option is to borrow money and pay for a doctor to see a person privately,” Oxana said.
So said that hospitals will not treat patients without Russian passports.
Pressure to become Russian citizen
Since the beginning of 2025, people who live in occupied areas and who have not taken Russian citizenship are considered Ether foreign or stateless by Russia, said Kharchenko.
“This means that they are all deprived of social security benefits and rights and medical treatment,” he said.
But obtaining Russian citizenship so that they are made eligible for consent.
“When it became clear that most people were trying to avoid receiving a Russian passport, not to avoid raising, the occupiers begin to introduce and take more restrictions. They create conditions that force people to get Russian passports,” Kharchenko explained.
For example, he said that, in March, the occupied officials began to seize the houses and apartments of those who left Luhansk.
“According to the Russian law, the housing which has been invented and declared that ‘no one is from anyone’ is transferred by the courts to communal ownership,” he said.
To ensure that it did not happen to her, Oksana had to follow Russian papers for her home.
Kharchenko said that new rules are another means to pressurize people who reject Russian citizenship.
Some people are also returning to the occupied areas to hold their qualities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has released a decree sting that all those who do not have Russian citizenship should leave the occupied areas by 10 September.
Despite this, Oksana intended to stay in the novioider and saw what happens.
“Why should I go somewhere else when I have everything here?” He said.
“We are waiting like things first. This is the attitude of most of the people here.”
This article was original in Ukrainian.
*Name changedOr security recording
