Life Under Occupation: Challenges in Eastern Ukraine
Ukrainians who fled Russian occupation in eastern Ukraine have described the challenging conditions and experiences their families faced. Inna Vnukova recounted hiding in a basement for days in Kudriashivka after the February 2022 invasion, with soldiers present in the streets and constant shelling. She, along with her son, eventually escaped to Estonia, leaving her husband temporarily behind. Her husband, Oleksii Vnukov, a civil servant, also faced threats before his escape.
"Inna Vnukova recounted hiding in a basement for days in Kudriashivka after the February 2022 invasion, with soldiers present in the streets and constant shelling."
Harsh Realities in Annexed Territories
After four years, areas such as Mariupol and Kudriashivka continue to face difficulties regarding housing, water, power, heat, and healthcare. President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged these "pressing, urgent problems."
Russian citizenship, language, and culture are enforced in the illegally annexed regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. By spring 2025, approximately 3.5 million people in these regions had received Russian passports, which are necessary for accessing essential services like healthcare.
Widespread Human Rights Concerns
Residents in the occupied regions reportedly live in fear of being accused of sympathizing with Ukraine, with many allegedly imprisoned, beaten, and killed, according to human rights activists. Mykhailo Savva of the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine stated that the Russian military maintains "systemic and total control" and continues to identify and detain individuals deemed disloyal. Practices include document checks, mass searches, and denunciations.
Human rights groups indicate that Russian authorities utilized "filtration camps" to identify potentially disloyal individuals, including government workers, those who aided the Ukrainian army, military relatives, journalists, teachers, scientists, and politicians. Stanislav Shkuta, who lived in occupied Nova Kakhovka, recounted narrowly avoiding arrest and witnessing strip searches for tattoos on a bus.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, reported that Russia has established a "vast network of secret and official detention centers" where thousands of Ukrainian civilians are held indefinitely without charge. Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets estimated at least 16,000 civilians have been illegally detained.
A U.N. report from last summer detailed accounts from 57 civilians detained in occupied regions, with 52 reporting severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, degradation, and threats. The case of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who disappeared in 2023 and whose body reportedly showed signs of torture upon return in 2025, was cited.
Mariupol: Destruction and Cultural Erasure
Mariupol, besieged and captured by Russian forces in May 2022, experienced significant destruction, including the bombing of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater, which resulted in an estimated 600 deaths. A former actor, whose parents remain in Mariupol, stated they had to obtain Russian citizenship for medical care and compensation for their destroyed home.
Russification efforts in Mariupol include changing street names, implementing Moscow-approved school curricula, and using Russian phone and TV networks. New apartment blocks have been built, but are reportedly sold to Russian newcomers rather than former residents. At least 12,191 apartments in Mariupol were added to a list of "ownerless" flats for expropriation by mid-2025. Moscow offers benefits to Russian citizens who relocate to these regions, such as salary supplements for professionals.
Critical Infrastructure and Healthcare Crisis
Many occupied cities face severe issues with heat, electricity, and water supplies due to war and neglect. In Sievierodonetsk, only one ambulance crew serves the remaining 45,000 residents, with doctors rotating in from Russia. In Alchevsk, over half of homes lacked heat for two months due to poor municipal heating networks. Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Moscow politician, criticized authorities for repeating past infrastructure failures.
In the Donetsk region, residents experience constant water shortages, with trucks delivering water that freezes in winter. They have appealed to Putin regarding a "humanitarian and environmental catastrophe." Putin acknowledged these issues and stated a "large-scale socioeconomic development program" has been launched for the regions.
A New Life, An Uncertain Future
Inna Vnukova's family has established a new life in Estonia, with a new daughter. Their home village now has only about 150 residents, down from 800, and Vnukova expressed uncertainty about what they would find if they were to return to their native Luhansk region.