Kyiv, Ukraine –
It was early one morning when life under Russian occupation became too much for Volodymyr Zhdanov: Rocket fire aimed at Ukrainian forces struck near his home in the city of Kherson, terrifying one of his two sons.
Her 8-year-old daughter “ran into the basement in a panic. It was 2 in the morning and (she) was really scared,” said Zhdanov, who later fled the Black Sea city and has been living in Kyiv, the capital, for the past three weeks.
Kherson, located north of the Crimean peninsula that was annexed by Moscow in 2014, was the first city to fall after Russia’s invasion on February 24. The port remains at the center of the conflict and Ukraine’s efforts to preserve its vital access to the sea. . For Russia, Kherson is a key point along the land corridor from its border to the peninsula.
Zhdanov and others who made the perilous journey to escape the region describe increasingly grim conditions there as part of a heavy-handed effort by Russia to establish permanent control.
The streets of the city, which before the war had a population of about 300,000, are mostly deserted. There are rumors of acts of armed resistance and the sudden disappearance of officials who refuse to cooperate with the Russian authorities.
The occupation forces patrol the markets to warn those who try to use the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, in transactions. Pro-Moscow officials have been installed in local and regional governments, as well as in the police force. Workers at various municipal services face pressure to cooperate with Russian managers. Most schools have closed.
Supplies of essential goods are uneven, bringing most commercial activity to a halt. There are shortages of medicines and spikes in the price of other basic products.
Many residents were determined to hold out as long as possible for a promised Ukrainian counterattack that has failed to materialize.
“There was physical danger in the city, because there were a lot of soldiers,” Zhdanov said.
Officials based in Moscow have announced a referendum on the region’s incorporation into Russia, although no date has been set. Meanwhile, officials are pressuring those who remain to take up Russian citizenship.
Income from Zhdanov’s family’s flower business dried up after the currency change, though he continued to grow plants anyway.
“It is difficult to survive without money and without food,” he said. “Who would want a Russian government if they took away your life, your business and your children’s education? They are all gone.
When he left Kherson with his family, Zhdanov risked arrest by hiding a Ukrainian flag in the bottom of his backpack. He had saved the flag from a public protest of the presence of Russian troops.
Journalist Yevhenia Virlych also stayed for five months and continued to work, writing about officials who had allegedly cooperated with the Russians. But she worked in hiding and feared for her safety, frequently changing apartments and posting photos from Poland on social media to give the impression that she had already fled.
“They have tied a knot around Kherson and it is getting tighter,” Virlych said, adding that locals are being pressured to accept Russian passports. “Russia, which came under the banner of liberation, but came to torture us and take us captive. How can someone live like that?
Last month, Virlych finally fled to Kyiv with her husband.
Those who want to leave Kherson must pass a series of Russian military checkpoints. Soldiers search belongings, identity documents and mobile phones, and anyone suspected of supporting the resistance faces interrogation in so-called filtration camps.
As Kherson sinks into poverty, it’s getting harder to leave. A bus ticket to Zaporizhzhia, a city 300 kilometers (185 miles) to the northeast, now costs the equivalent of $160. Before the war, it was $10.
Virlych said he admired the bravery of those left behind, as well as those who risked their lives to join the anti-Russian protests in the early stages of the occupation.
He recalled a large demonstration on March 5 attended by more than 7,000 people.
“In all my life, I have never seen people take such an action,” he said.
In April, the protests stopped when the occupation troops began to respond with deadly force, Virlych added, saying: “The Russians opened fire (on the crowds) and people were injured.”
Moscow wants to maintain its control over Kherson, which is strategically located near the North Crimean Canal that provides water to the Russian-occupied peninsula. Ukraine had closed the canal after annexation eight years ago, but the Russians reopened it after taking control of the region.
Like Zhdanov, Virlych is still hoping for a Ukrainian counteroffensive to wrest the region from Russia.
“I only believe in God and in the Ukrainian armed forces,” he said. “I no longer have faith in anything else.”