CHECHENS ARE TAKING OVER
The phones that the Kachkarivka villagers buried all had to use Russian SIM cards and could only access sites approved by Moscow censors.
The transition is part of a Russification drive that has forced local officials to either switch sides or face arrest.
Kherson region native Nina Bezguba said she fled her village of Nizhni Serohozy when soldiers from Chechnya – a region under command of feared strongman Ramzan Kadyrov – flooded in two weeks ago.
“The Chechens are taking over our homes,” the unemployed 44-year-old said.
“I would say 60 per cent of the population is now Chechen.”
Many described locals across the occupied territories staying home as much as possible to avoid contact with the Russians.
Mykhaylena said the occupation authorities were using their new powers to confiscate profitable businesses such as resorts and hotels in Berdyansk.
“They come with the commandant, point their finger, say they want this and that’s it,” she added.
But not everyone was giving up without a fight.
Olaksandr Gorbonosov said he and his friends would pour sugar into Russian military fuel tanks to make the machines – if only briefly – inoperable.
“But then we understood it was no use. They would just go up to farmers and threaten to burn down their equipment unless they gave them more fuel,” he added.
“I fled when the Russians figured out where we lived. There are so many informants.”