Our lives in occupied Kherson

Hi, my name is Roman, and I am writing this piece with an air-aid alarm as my background noise. The main goal of this essay is to tell you about the life of ordinary people during the occupation. In what conditions do we manage to live, support each other, and believe that the Ukrainian army will drive Putin's bloodthirsty soldiers out of our home. Thank you so much for your interest in it, support, and desire to help. Just a little warning, please keep in mind that the videos attached to the essay are full of triggers, watch with caution. So let me describe at the best of my abilities how things unfolded in the last few months.

I grew up in the Kherson region. My family and friends are there. But, justlike the rest of Ukraine, I woke up to a series of rocket explosions at 5 a.m. on February 24. The Russian military attacked from Crimea, which had become a full-fledged military base over the years of occupation. 

Evacuation to Ukrainian-controlled territory

Many people immediately began to plan for the possibility of a temporary departure from their homes. Many chats started appearing in messengers and social networks to join convoys of cars and help each other if necessary. However, one must understand the dangers of such a trip. The Russian military refused to give safe exit corridors, but people still drove through the shelled front lines. Unfortunately, many did not manage to leave the occupation safely - link. A photo from my friends' archives, taken while trying to get out of Kherson. A little girl sitting in the back seat for twenty-four hours decorated the car window.

People who do not have the opportunity to leave by car went on bicycles, walked, or even in wheelchairs.

All roads to the controlled territory are completely blocked at the time of writing. Kherson is under lockdown.

Attempts at resistance

In the first period, residents of almost all cities and even small villages constantly came out in peaceful demonstrations. Thousands of people with Ukrainian flags showed that no one was waiting for Russia here (Russian propaganda claims otherwise), and soldiers should leave Ukraine. Despite the fear, everyone continued to show the world that Kherson and the region were the territories of a sovereign country.

After several large-scale protests, Russian soldiers began actively dispersing people with machine guns and stun grenades. Unfortunately, there were casualties as well. An example of one of the dispersals is the link. 

Further, any attempts by people to express their position were suppressed, and a hunt for activists began.

Mass persecution of Ukrainian patriots

After being entrenched in the military in most cities of the region, mass repression of the local population began. Imagine the situation: you look out the window of your house, and there is a Russian APC with the symbol "Z," very doubtful that it came to you to chat over breakfast or tell friendly stories. Within 10 minutes, you hear machine gun shots, the sound of broken glass, and the screams of your neighbors. It is not an exaggeration to add more drama, and this is a story from my family. There is more than one such story; almost every day, there are news reports of missing people or even deaths. An example of a news story about a missing person, the mayor of the small town Hola Prystan has not been heard from since March 29 - link. News about the painful death of a Kherson resident - link. There is a lot of information like this.

Closed shops and lack of medicines

The stores ran out of necessary groceries at the end of the first month of the occupation. A typical Kherson region supermarket in March/April 2022:

Later the situation began to improve a little, but you have to understand in what way: The Russians started importing their products with prices many times higher than the Ukrainian ones. They removed the supermarkets from the Ukrainian owners, replaced the signboards, and forced them to switch to the ruble's Russian currency. As a result, the region's economy was destroyed.We should talk separately about medicines - there are practically none left in the pharmacies - link. Thousands of people cannot cure their diseases, and hospitals cannot provide complete treatment. Kherson residents in the social networks have created unique publishers for the exchange/sale of medicines among themselves. It is essential to understand that if someone has heartburn or a headache, these are just difficulties they are used to dealing with. Still, if the situation is related to more complicated diseases, the situation becomes threatening. For example, there is practically no supply of insulin to the Kherson region, except for Russian manufacturers. Severely ill people have the most challenging time, even in peacetime, and now it's hell.

Info isolation

In May, the occupation authorities completely cut off Ukrainian TV, Radio, mobile communications, and the Internet. Thousands of people were left completely isolated from the world and, most importantly, from Ukraine. A few days later, the residents of the Kherson region began to have access to the Internet, but with Russian encryption of traffic. That is, the entire Internet in the area became fully accessible to the Russian special services with all its restrictions. Access to sources of information that do not correspond to the propaganda was closed, including restricted access even to Facebook and all Ukrainian sites. Restriction services (VPN) are also gradually being blocked.An important consequence of the absence and the internet is that payment terminals no longer work. Since cash, by that time many people began to run out (since the occupation banks no longer have the ability to function), the inability to pay with a bank card becomes a big problem.

Ukrainian mobile communications no longer appeared. The equipment of the telephone towers was destroyed, or Russian equipment was installed. It was a deliberate move. They extended their communication means and started selling Russian operators SIM cards - link. Now to be in touch - you have to show your passport to register and only then buy a SIM card for your phone. Many people are afraid to give their passport data to the occupants, so they can no longer call. In addition, it is impossible to call free Ukraine from Russian cellular networks.The situation described is terrible, but it can be managed. We are already used to difficulties. The worst part is the information isolation:

• You can't call and hear your family's voice (you have no idea how important that is in times of war). When you refresh your newsfeed hoping to see news that the phone service is working again, that your family is doing well. You get really scared of the silence. It's about my worries.
• It is even more important for local people under occupation to have communication with the world (even without taking into account the practical side of the above described). The occupation authorities are spreading information by all means that people in the Kherson region have been abandoned, in Kiev they are considered traitors to the country. In the total atmosphere of fear, unfortunately, it is possible to believe this information. People are left alone with their fears, they have been deprived of support, they are losing hope.

Atmosphere of fear

There is a quiet, chilling atmosphere of fear throughout the occupied regions. There are many Russian checkpoints where locals thoroughly searched:

• a person's phone and social media;
• bags and backpacks;
• the luggage compartments of cars was searched;
• some men are undressed, looking for tattoos confirming military service in Ukraine.

They continue to go door-to-door checking the homes of locals, tearing out residents' property. So how do you say no to armed men in uniform?The police and the courts are absent, and the Russian soldiers have all the power. There is no rule of law here. They can take away anything they want. Whenever and from whomever they want - anarchy. The number of traffic accidents has increased lately. The Russian army's military equipment does not respect road rules. Last month, there were 3 cases where the military demolished civilian cars and kept driving. Unfortunately, it was often impossible to save the victims - when there was no mobile communication, even an ambulance could not be called.

Loss of livelihood

An estimated 4.8 million jobs have been lost in Ukraine since the start of the Russian aggression, according to a new brief by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The percentage of people who lost their jobs was much higher in the occupation. All the businesses that did not want to cooperate with the occupiers closed (almost all of them). For example, "Kherson Sea Port" where my friend worked for many years (he has three beautiful little daughters, I love them), is out of business.

A few more stories from acquaintances in the Kherson region:

• A young family of dad, mom, and child 3 years old. Dad came from Lugansk, where the war started in 2014. He got a job in a big agricultural company, where he met his love (the girl worked there) and they had a beautiful baby. Now the Russians want to take over the company, both parents are out of work. They have no financial possibilities to leave, and they would have problems with the Russian military. They take everyone from Luhansk Oblast to fight against Ukraine.
• A young family opened a children's development studio "Palette" several years ago. Together there they held classes for children in art, math, and English. The studio is now closed, it is impossible to hold classes under conditions of war. But they still try to do it for free.
• A single mother with two children worked as a teacher at a school in Kherson. The occupation authorities force her to switch to the Russian curriculum, in which there is no Ukrainian language, and in the history textbooks Ukrainians are compared to Nazi Germany.
• A woman refused to work under such conditions and lost her job.A woman with an autistic child. They live in Chornobaivka, the very town near Kherson that is under constant shelling. Her husband was killed.
• A single woman with a teenage daughter who has cerebral palsy. They live in Kherson. They tried to open a small grocery store. In April, it was robbed by Russian soldiers and completely destroyed.
• A woman with cancer and an autistic little boy. They had to move from Kherson to a calmer place in the region because her son started having nervous attacks because of the noise of shooting.

There are thousands of such stories. Good people who are professionals are forced to live in conditions of total restrictions and lack of prospects. They are left alone without support, in constant fear for their lives.

The future life

The sounds of shelling, rocket attacks, and other signs of war are often heard in the Kherson region. But most people are no longer afraid, and they understand that the Ukrainian army is fighting to drive the occupants out of their native land forever. The towns and villages on the front line are the most brutal hit. Many of them had already vanished.

BUT WE ARE ALL BELIEVING THAT KHERSON WILL BE FREE AGAIN. We are fighting for it. We never asked for anything. We are modern people who lived and wanted to be part of the European family. We had our problems, but we were happy and free!