Russian propaganda emphasizes that life has improved in Luhansk with the arrival of the "liberators." A rational person understands the absurdity of this claim, yet stories about the improvement of life in the "liberated" territories of Luhansk region still attract Russians and some pro-Russian Ukrainians.
Here, TRIBUN explains why the Russian state has brought only ruin and death to Ukrainian territory.
We interviewed our sources in the occupied territories, who cannot reveal their names for security reasons, about the moral state of people under occupation.
"We understand that we are needed by no one. I cannot leave and abandon my elderly mother here. She cannot walk, and we cannot reach Ukraine... I'm scared of what will happen next," says Viktoria.
Our next interviewee, Svitlana, talks about the harsh daily life under occupation:
"It's hard to explain: I seem to be at home, but this home feels so foreign. I have indeed noticed that everyone around has lost their spirit somehow. Sometimes I don't even want to live, that's how it is..."
Such words - "I don't want to live" - are confirmed by real actions.
The Telegram channel "АРТЮХ" writes about a suicide that occurred in April this year in occupied Rubizhne:
"Despite the ban on alcohol sales, alcoholism thrives in the city. The crime situation hasn't improved. Many locals simply can't endure such realities. A young girl recently hanged herself. For ethical reasons, I won't provide details."
Only isolated cases of deaths become known. It's beneficial for Russians to silence such incidents. Otherwise, those who see life in the so-called "republic" as paradise would lose their rose-tinted glasses.
The next suicide case happened in Popasna. A resident of the city, Olga, told Russian journalists about it:
"There are about 280 people living in the city. People die very often. Many can't cope and even end their lives. Recently, a man hanged himself. He lived alone on the outskirts. Nobody needed him. Everyone has their own problems and concerns. So, he decided to end it."
The occupiers' resources openly do not acknowledge the high number of suicides in Luhansk region, but in February 2024, an article was published with the headline "Rospotrebnadzor of the LPR Engages in Suicide Prevention." (Rospotrebnadzor is the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing)
Even the Russians themselves are "helping" the residents of Luhansk to die. For instance, ASTRA reported that in the occupied town of Rovenky, a Russian named Andrey Kurbasov, 33, raped and murdered a 17-year-old girl.
The killer, a previously convicted participant in the war in Ukraine, had served time for another murder. He confessed that he raped the girl in his car and then, fearing he would be caught, stabbed her in the heart. The girl's body was buried by Kurbasov in a forest and covered with stones.
Russians shamelessly rape Ukrainian women in the occupation. This is also one of the factors of oppression.
"He raped the victim under threat that if she resisted, all the Russian soldiers present in the building would rape her," - committed the crime 28-year-old militant of the illegal armed formation "Cascade", created in the so-called DPR in 2017.
The National Police reported that the occupiers abducted a 37-year-old woman as she returned from the store and took her to the premises of the Rubizhne City Court, which was used for the illegal detention of Ukrainians. From there, one of the servicemen drove her to an apartment used by the Russians as a place of deployment. That's where the tragedy occurred.
A source in the occupation reported that the military behave recklessly with Ukrainian girls in Luhansk region.
"Russians seek out girls to satisfy their needs. Often, these are minors... I know of several cases in my city where families that raised girls are not doing well. So, they probably want to avoid responsibility. Russians know that nobody will investigate. Even children are born from the occupiers," says the interlocutor.
So, a peaceful, tranquil life seems completely unlikely. Russia destroys Ukrainians morally and physically in the occupation.
Russia must be held accountable for every crime in Ukraine!
