Latest news with #Iryna
4 days ago
- Politics
Divided by Russia's invasion, a Mariupol family's future remains unclear
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Iryna, an elderly Ukrainian woman, along with her husband, Oleg, told ABC News that they spent around three weeks in Mariupol at the very beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, when the Kremlin's army was storming the city, surrounding Ukrainian troops and civilians in it. The couple, along with others ABC News spoke with, have had their families split apart in the years since the full-scale Russian invasion began. In conversations with those who've visited Mariupol after the Russian occupation or plan to return there no matter what, and those who are living abroad, many expressed grief for the city as it once was. Others also looked to the future, wondering how the city and its leadership may change in the years to come. "Remember the Oscars-winning documentary '20 Days in Mariupol?' It was about us and our survival during these days," said Iryna, who along with her husband asked to use just first names for safety reasons. According to her, she was confident that the Ukrainian military was covertly staying in the city, using some abandoned residential buildings to trace the Russian army maneuvers. "We were asking them to stay away from the area where civilians were hiding in the basements, but they were saying that they are just following the orders," said Iryna, complaining that some of the Ukrainian soldiers were very rude with people. But when Russians came, the situation even got worse. According to her, they were doing so-called cleaning of all the residential buildings in the area and people were supposed to leave their doors open. "It was Russian soldiers, possibly, even Kadyrov troops members, who broke the doors to our apartment," she said, referring to National Guard of Russia troops based in Chechnya. At that time Iryna and Oleg were already outside Mariupol -- the family managed to cross the checkpoints, heading to their relatives in Russia. "Our doors were closed, so they just smashed the lock and entered the apartment," said Iryna. Later, she received the video from the apartment made by her neighbors: everything was out of the closets and drawers. "It looked as if they were searching for some money or jewelry," Iryna said. Later, since the apartment remained unlocked, probably some marauders apparently stole all their kitchen appliances, electronics and other valuable family belongings. The couple did not stay long in Russia -- one of their children helped Iryna and Oleg obtain Canadian visas and welcomed them in a newly rented townhouse in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the late spring of 2022. But in less than two years the couple returned to Mariupol -- Oleg insisted that they should live in their own apartment, surrounded by familiar people, who speak their native language. At the same time, Russia did not appear ready to easily embrace the returning refugees: "The border guard in Moscow airport was not even willing to let us into the country -- the officer said to me that if I had moved to Canada I should have stayed in Canada and never come back," recalled Iryna. Despite this hostile attitude, after several hours of arguing, the family was granted the permission to continue their way home, and in a couple of days they reached Mariupol. "It was hard to recognize our city," said Oleg. According to him, the Russians were restoring the residential buildings in Mariupol. Although, some were demolished to the ground, but new ones were built as well. The family's multistory building managed to survive the hostilities, and local inhabitants who had stayed appeared to them to be living in it as if nothing had happened. "For people in Mariupol it is very important to have their own roof over their heads," explained Oleg said, confirming that it is a common thing when people tend to value their own home above safety and some missing conveniences of civilization -- running elevator, water or natural gas. According to him, the city inhabitants were feeling betrayed when it became known that Mariupol's mayor and his administration had left the city in the first days of the full-scale Russian aggression. "Now, these people have no right to criticize the new, appointed by Moscow authorities, who are running the city," he said. Oleg said he now tends to see positive changes in the city: "Mariupol is resurrecting now from the ruins as the Russians are rebuilding it under the supervision of Moscow and, especially, St. Petersburg authorities, since [that] former capital of the Russian empire is Mariupol's sister city," he said. Much of Mariupol was destroyed during the Russian army's two-month assault in the spring of 2022. At least 8,000 residents of the city died amid the siege, according to Human Rights Watch. Many others fled. The couple said they were especially satisfied with the new Russian pensions they received after returning to Mariupol and obtaining Russian passports. The amount of money was incomparably higher than their previous Ukrainian pensions, they said, because the occupiers' administration tends to give more money to former Ukrainian citizens than to the originally retired Russians. "As if they want to persuade the people that there is no other choice than to accept the new, more attractive reality," Oleg said. But the Ukrainian administration of the city was doing pretty much the same in 2014 to 2022, recalled Olga, the couple's daughter, who also asked to use a pseudonym and who moved from Mariupol at first to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and then to Canada. "The city was getting better and visibly nicer every year -- a lot of funds were obviously invested into social infrastructure, cultural events and it was the Russian invasion that destroyed everything," said Olga. Nevertheless, after just one summer spent in occupied Mariupol, Oleg and Iryna left the city once again and, using both Russian and Ukrainian passports, went back to Canada. According to Iryna, they came up with that decision as it was safer to survive winter far from the frontlines, in a peaceful city with warm buildings and running elevators. At the same time, she denies any opportunistic motives: "We are not waiting here for some permanent residency or other legal status in Canada, we are still planning to return home one day," said Iryna. On the one hand, she would like to stay with her granddaughter, but she described Oleg as being very stubborn, saying he is insistent on returning to Mariupol. Others who fled Mariupol are dealing with similar feelings -- feeling the pull of their hometown, but knowing that the city will never be the same while under Russian control. Maria, whose name was also changed at her request for security reasons, a young student of the one of the universities in Vancouver, said she has no plans to return to Mariupol under the Russian occupation. Her big family also managed to get out from the besieged city through Russia, and most of its members live now in Germany. But her grandmother returned to Mariupol after she learnt that her husband had survived the Russian invasion. "When she was going with us to Germany, she was sure that he was killed, as the area he lived in was under heavy Russian shelling," said Maria: "Grandma was hoping to get him out of Mariupol as well, but when he refused, and she stayed with him." Due to her academic contacts and willingness to continue her education in social studies, she went to Sweden for one year and then moved to Canada, although Vancouver itself was some kind of terra incognita for her. Maria has been living in Vancouver since late 2023. "The main difference between Mariupol and Vancouver, as I see it, is the way the everyday life is unfolding there and here. Despite the hard work in Mariupol, I had much more connections with the city, more touching points with it and the people around. Mariupol, as she remembered it, is a city of contradictions in its everyday life: "On the one hand, you have the sea and the beach that symbolize freedom for me in some way, but on the other hand, this freedom was limited to the role of a big industrial center when your whole life was organized around work on these huge factories," explained Maria. For Maria, the whole eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, which is now mostly occupied by Russia, used to be a place for everyone, where anybody could melt into the crowd. "One might feel freedom there in some sense that is hard to feel for me in here, in Vancouver -- it was a feeling, that in order to keep living and stay in touch with the rest of the world you do not have to put in a lot of efforts," said Maria. One of her most beautiful memories of Mariupol, as she described it, was when she was walking along near the drama theater during the last days before the war broke out in February 2022: "That day, there city was covered with a magnificent fog and that picture still stands in front of my eyes." In several days that theater would be destroyed -- possibly by the Russian bomb, despite the hundreds of civilians were hiding in its basement and word "children" displayed in huge letters on the ground in its front. Now, the Russians are trying to restore the theater -- probably, to make it one of many new signs to demonstrate the qualitative transformations in the war-torn city, according to local reports that cite former Ukrainian city officials. But Maria said she is more concerned with the fate of people, not buildings. She tries to spend as much time as possible with her mother, brother and other family members, using every opportunity to fly to Germany. "Maybe, it is because I value our survival in Mariupol so much -- at some point, I was so afraid that my family is going to die there, and I will be the only survivor," she said. The girl is also staying in touch with her grandmother and step-grandfather. Although she communicates with them over the social media almost every day, it is hard for her to understand how it feels to be in Mariupol right now. According to Maria, she often feels the that her grandmother is under pressure to censor herself. "She used to be totally different person -- very vocal about politics, always having her opinion on everything, willing to share her thoughts, arguments, and concerns with others, and now I am witnessing some changes in her," Maria said. For example, her grandmother is justifying a need to obtain a Russian passport to gain access to the health care and social services, said Maria. And when Maria was asking her about the procedures she had undergone, Maria said, her grandmother started answering the question but, at some point, stopped, saying that it might be dangerous for her to talk about it, and she was afraid to reveal some sensitive information. "That is such a contrast to hear almost nothing from a person who used to comment on every political issue," said Maria. But she is not judging her relatives under the Russian occupation as she completely understands the origins of this self-censorship. "In my opinion, it is some kind of individual way to accepting this new reality," said Maria. According to her, people just do not fully understand the risk of living in the city if it stays under occupation. "My grandmother and her husband are considering the possibility of our family reunion and my return to Mariupol someday, but that is only their perspective, their anticipation," she said. Maria insists, that the only chance for them to meet now is somewhere in a different country, where they can go without a Ukrainian passport. "It is hard for them to understand why it is impossible for me to visit them in Mariupol, why I cannot simply return to my native city while it is occupied by the Russians," she said. In her dreams Maria sometimes is back to Mariupol but not to the times of peace before the war: "There are only Russian border guards in my obsessive dreams or my city already under the Russian occupation. It is very difficult to explain why, but I see them quite often as I sleep. For instance, in my dream I am on the train heading to Finland from Germany, but, at some point, the passengers are being told that from now on the train will be going through the Russian territory and that is how I meet Russian border guards once again."
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Flight attendant shares why you should 'never' wear a dress on long-haul flight
A YouTuber and ex-Emirates flight attendant is sharing her expert advice for a comfortable long-haul flight, including two key reasons why wearing a dress is a bad idea A former Emirates flight attendant is sharing her tips for surviving a long-haul flight, including why wearing a dress is a big no-no. If you want to 'feel as refreshed as possible when you arrive at your destination' then there are a few tricks that you should keep in mind, she said. Iryna runs the YouTube channel, Jetstream Ginger, where she shares travel advice and tips as a former Emirates flight attendant. She has operated 'more than 550 flights' - equivalent to 159 days on board an aircraft - so she knows exactly how to ensure a smooth and comfortable journey. In one of her YouTube videos, Iryna shares what type of clothes travellers should wear onboard an aircraft and why 'your comfortable clothes are your flight uniform'. Kicking off her explanation, she explains why dresses like the mini-length one she wears in her video are not ideal for long-haul flights. 'This dress is not ideal to wear on a long flight because I'm probably going to get cold,' says Iryna. She also points out another key consideration that should deter you from wearing a dress, even if you're headed to a humid destination. 'Long flights could lead to bloating and swelling, especially on your legs, because you're sitting for a long period of time,' she explains. 'Your blood circulation doesn't work well at this part of your body so you need to wear clothes that are not too tight and quite comfortable.' She suggests wearing athletic clothing and t-shirts for maximum comfort, as well as bringing extra layers so you can adjust to the cabin temperature, which is nearly always cold. According to Iryna, most airlines set the internal cabin temperature between 22 and 24 C because if it's too high 'there is a high chance you can start feeling unwell '. She also mentions that being too hot on board can lead to fainting. While it may seem like an inconvenience to pack extra layers just for your flight, the cold temperature might actually be good for you. At least according to Jay Robert, an international cabin crew member and the creator of A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge. Speaking to UniLad Tech in 2024, Robert explained first that flight attendants have limited capacity to adjust the plane's thermostat through their cabin control system. Rather it is the plane's pilots that are in charge of the main thermostat and any significant changes to temperature are their call. Robert says passengers are more likely to faint if temperatures exceed 75°F (24C). Colder air helps counteract the effects of the cabin's dry, pressurised environment, which can contribute to dehydration and dizziness. According to Robert, warmer cabins 'smell funkier' because heat energises odour-causing molecules, resulting in bad smells building up quicker. Thus, a cooler plane is likely to be a better smelling one.
Forbes
28-06-2025
- General
- Forbes
A Joyful Place Where Young Children Can Thrive In Wartime Ukraine
For children too young to remember what life was like before the war, UNICEF-supported classes provide a source of hope and community in southeastern Ukraine. From left: Six-year-old twins Viktoriya and Artem play with their cousin Margo, 5, in a UNICEF-supported developmental class in the village of Petropil, Zaporizhzhia oblast, southeastern Ukraine. Victoria and Artem have barely been able to contain their excitement all morning, asking their mother, Iryna, the same question over and over: 'Mom, Mom, when are we going to kindergarten?' The days when the 6-year-old twins attend early learning classes are always special. Their local kindergarten in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region has been operating online for the past three years due to safety concerns during the ongoing war. Now children are able to attend developmental sessions at a local facility, with support from UNICEF and the Association of Preschool Educators. The two-hour sessions take place twice a week. Since they began last year, the gatherings have become a bright spot providing comfort, socialization and stability for children amid air raid sirens and war-induced isolation. Importantly, they also provide crucial opportunities for cognitive skills development, including language development and broader childhood growth. From left: Six-year-old twins Viktoriya and Artem play with their cousin Margo, 5, in a UNICEF-supported developmental class in the village of Petropil, Zaporizhzhia oblast, southeastern Ukraine. Every child needs a safe place to play and learn 'Since attending these sessions, I've seen very positive changes in the children,' says Iryna, the twins' mother. 'They've started communicating more, speaking better and feeling less afraid. It fills them with excitement — and me with joy.' Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, Iryna has faced the daily challenge of ensuring her children's safety and emotional well-being. Zaporizhzhia, a major industrial city in southeastern Ukraine, has endured constant attacks. In the early days of the fighting, with the windows boarded up with sheets of plywood, Victoria and Artem clung tightly to their mother. They sheltered in place with Iryna's sister Olena, and her 5-year-old daughter, Margo. 'We didn't leave the house. It was terrifying — curtains drawn, doors shut, windows covered, lights off. The children couldn't sleep. They were too afraid to go to the toilet alone, afraid to sleep without a light on.' 'The air raid sirens were constantly wailing and the children started sleeping with us," says Olena. "We didn't leave the house. It was terrifying — curtains drawn, doors shut, windows covered, lights off. The children couldn't sleep. They were too afraid to go to the toilet alone, afraid to sleep without a light on.' Surrounded by shelling, Olena and Iryna decided to flee the city for a nearby village, so that the children could sleep peacefully without waking up to explosions outside the window. 'The war has divided everything into before and after,' says Olena, who also takes Margo to the developmental sessions twice a week. 'We swapped everything familiar for everything unfamiliar," she says. "The city for a village, our home for rather cramped living conditions. But here, we are farther from the front line. And, thank God, the children haven't once come under shelling here.' Ms. Iryna, the classroom teacher, watches as the children play. The war in Ukraine has taken a terrible toll on children's social and emotional well-being Although both Olena and Iryna have done their best to shield their children from the devastating impact of the war, it has taken an emotional toll. The twins and Margo became fearful and withdrawn. They were afraid to sleep alone and even started drawing only in black. According to a survey published by UNICEF, one in five children in Ukraine reported losing a close relative or friend since the war escalated three years ago. Sadly, this includes the twins. 'They are little, but they understood that everything had changed, that there was danger,' says Iryna. 'And when my brother, their godfather, was killed, they understood everything.' Learn more about how UNICEF helps children in Ukraine cope with trauma A childhood development classroom in the village of Petropil, Zaporizhia region, Ukraine. Playing together helps children learn to forge connections with others Online kindergarten could not solve the problem of isolation. Homework quickly became tedious, and a tablet screen is no substitute for real friends or active play. 'Since the war began, there have been fewer opportunities — fewer clubs, and the ones that do exist aren't free,' says Olena. 'And you have to search for them. We're having a wonderful time here [at the preschool], and the children are part of a social environment. We're truly very happy.' The women noticed a change in the moods of Margo, Victoria and Artem almost immediately after the learning sessions began. Even the children's drawings were once again filled with bright colors. 'At the sessions, they're friendly, they hug, they play. And they learn very quickly here.'The children's teacher, Ms. Iryna, says, 'I can clearly see how these sessions not only help children develop, but also give them a sense of safety and support. They're beginning to believe once more in the stability and joy of childhood.' 'At the sessions, they're friendly, they hug, they play,' adds Olena, for whom the program also frees up a bit of time. 'And they learn very quickly here. I see that Margo has started doing more on her own. She doesn't ask for help as often and is already taking responsibility.' Olena hugs her 5-year-old daughter, Margo. A focus on the future Olena says that her family and Iryna's are now focusing on their future. Soon, the younger children will be ready for first grade, and a new underground school has just opened in the village. 'This project has shown us just how important it is for children to be part of a group," Iryna says. "Yes, they see that the war goes on, but they also see other children. They see that life goes on too. And it's a chance to see bright moments even in dark times.' 'Yes, they see that the war goes on, but they also see other children. They see that life goes on too.' Thanks to cooperation between the Association of Preschool Education Workers NGO and UNICEF, as well as the financial support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the Government of Spain and the UNICEF National Committee in Switzerland, more than 220,000 children across Ukraine have attended these vital preschool sessions for a period of at least several months since 2023. Learn more about UNICEF's impact for children after more than three years of full-scale war in Ukraine. Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance. Your contribution to UNICEF is more important than ever. Please donate.
Eater
02-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
Sample Ukrainian Pastries and Chicken Kyiv at This Stunning Sequel
Since it opened in January 2024, Lincoln Park's Soloway Coffee has maintained its long lines out the door even more than a year later. Artur and Iryna Yuzvik, the Ukrainian couple behind the stylish corner cafe, aren't strangers to thoughtfully crafting caffeine-centric concepts and the culture around it. They've opened two Karma Coffee cafes in their hometown of Ternopil, Ukraine. Soloway Coffee Roastery followed in 2016, becoming the first roastery in Ukraine to receive permission to export coffee to the U.S. On Wednesday, June 4 at 10 a.m., the couple will grow their community with the opening of Abrah just a few steps away at 2269 N. Lincoln Avenue. While coffee is the star at Soloway, at Abrah it's bread and pastries. The all-day bakery and bistro features a different menu of coffee drinks, baked goods, and more complex dishes for brunch and dinner. Like at Soloway — a term of endearment and sign of spring, meaning 'nightingale' in Ukrainian — Abrah's kitchen doesn't feature any prominent chefs. The couple recently hosted a four-day master class for their staff led by celebrated French pastry chef Romain Dufour. 'We have a good team, and we train them, so the end result behind everything is due to the teamwork,' Artur says. Adds Iryna in Ukrainian, which Artur translates into English: 'There's not a single dish or pastry that isn't our vision and matches our lifestyle philosophy. We want to make sure that people feel there is a personal touch to every project we do.' Abrah is divided into two spaces. One features freshly baked breads and to-go pastries, including creme brulee danish, seasonal berry-filled laminated pastry, and classic plain croissants. On the savory side, there's kimchi danish and puff pastry topped with roasted vegetables, bacon, and mashed sweet potato. For the streamlined coffee program, they have collaborated with the Soloway roastery team in Ternopil to create a 100 percent arabica custom blend with hints of peach yogurt, blueberry, and linden honey. Tea options are from Chicago's Spirit Tea. The couple also plans on adding a small retail section with items made on premises and unique imports. An intimate dining room open for breakfast, brunch, and dinner, with seating for 24 guests, occupies the other side, with an open kitchen dominating the space. For the menu, the couple found inspiration from France, Scandinavia, and Ukraine with American touches as well. 'We've been here for two years in Chicago, and we've noticed what are the local favorites,' says Artur. But they will be open to feedback. 'We will listen to our guests to make sure that they find what they're looking for.' 'We'll try to surprise our guests with unexpected flavors,' says Iryna, adding that the goal will be to present the ingredients in a way that best showcases them. Menu dishes include a Kyiv-style chicken cutlet, which is filled with dill butter. It's served atop parsnip puree and finished with pickled onions. Charred romaine and garlicky baby potatoes tossed in smoked paprika and butter sauce accompany a grilled skirt steak paired with a peppercorn sauce. Gombovci, a classic dish from Western Ukraine, features tender dumplings made from fresh farmer's cheese, flour, and eggs. They're filled with ripe cherries and include a coating of breadcrumbs, which adds a delicate crunch. They're garnished with a rich sour cream sauce, seasonal fruit, and cherry jam. The concise wine list features natural wines, including pét nats. For brunch, the cocktail offerings focus on aperitif-style drinks, while in the evening, there are espresso martinis and whiskey sours along with other classics. The interior design of Abrah features many custom elements, including charming food images hand-drawn by Iryna on white tiles on one wall. Lime-wash paint with delicate warm undertones helps create a calming atmosphere. Above the pass of the open kitchen, light blue and white patterned tiles add a vintage touch. A small patio is planned for the middle of the summer. For the name of their second venture in Chicago, the couple looked close to their new home. 'We wanted to play a bit with Abraham Lincoln as this is Lincoln Park,' says Iryna. 'We decided to give some respect for the street and area that accepted us as strangers and made us feel very welcome.' Tour the space before Wednesday's opening below. Abrah , 2269 N. Lincoln Avenue, opening on Wednesday, June 4; opening hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday through Sunday.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia tells Ukrainians in occupied areas to get Russian passport or leave
For more than three years, every time 67-year-old Iryna and her husband stepped beyond their front door, the Ukrainian couple feared for their lives. They could be caught up in shelling or in a drone strike — or end up being interrogated by security agents at gunpoint as they tried to cross a checkpoint in the southern part of Kherson region, an area still under Russian control. The couple, who had been living under occupation since the early days of Russia's invasion, initially refused to get a Russian passport even as Moscow made it increasingly difficult to survive without them. "Everything was becoming harder and harder," said Iryna during an interview with CBC News last month. "You felt like you were in a cage." Iryna, who CBC News agreed to identify only by her first name due to her concerns about retribution from Russia, said she and her husband felt they had no choice but to get Russian passports last year. That was when the local stores closed and it became impossible to get groceries without going through a Russian checkpoint. Like many other Ukrainians, she and her husband accepted Russian citizenship because they feared what would happen if they didn't. It is part of what human rights experts see as a widespread campaign of coercion that's designed to extend Moscow's influence over the occupied territories, areas it demands Ukraine relinquish as part of any potential peace deal. At the same time, the Kremlin has refused to implement a 30-day ceasefire, and Russian forces have recently launched a new offensive to try and take more Ukrainian land. According to Moscow, 3.5 million residents living in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson have received passports. While Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country had "virtually completed" the mass issuance of passports in these areas, he signed a presidential decree in March to target the few Ukrainians still holding out. Ukrainians who live in Russia, or the areas it purports to control, have to legalize their status by Sept. 10 — or leave their homes. Though these Ukrainian regions aren't fully controlled by Russia, Moscow attempted to justify its claim to them by staging "sham" referendums in September 2022 that were condemned by world leaders. Its passport policy is an extension of that strategy, considered an attempt to weaken Ukrainian sovereignty and a clear sign that Moscow has no intention of giving up the territory it now occupies. Russia has previously used its fast-track passport scheme as a geopolitical tool in other areas, including in thebreakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and in Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region. After Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, it distributed Russian passports in a widespread campaign. At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Iryna and her husband were living in a cottage on an island in the Dnipro River Delta in the Kherson region. The area was seized by Russia during the first week of the war. When Ukrainian forces retook part of Kherson, including Kherson City in November 2022, Iryna said Russia's soldiers ordered her and other residents to evacuate further south. She and her husband ended up living in someone else's house in the village of Stara Zbur'ivka, located along the south side of the Dnipro river. They tried to avoid interacting with the Russian soldiers, Iryna told CBC News, but having to cross a Russian checkpoint each time they needed groceries or supplies meant they would be grilled by those manning it. "They kept asking 'Why are you not taking a passport, are you waiting for the Ukrainian military to return?'" said Iryna. On one occasion, she said, a soldier pointed a gun at her husband's head while questioning him. "It was no longer possible without them," she said of getting a Russian passport. "It was just dangerous." When Iryna and her husband decided to leave Kherson in March, they used their Russian passports as they travelled into Crimea and then Russia. At that point, she said, a local underground network of volunteers helped them get back to Ukraine by going through Belarus. Now living in Dnipro, the couple said they have no use for the passports Russia imposed on them. Even before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Moscow was trying to entice Ukrainians with citizenship. Putinsigned a decree speeding up the process for those living in the self-proclaimed regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which were then controlled by Russian-backed separatists. By July 2022, the Kremlin announced that all Ukrainian citizens were eligible to receive passports under the fast-track scheme. According to Human Rights Watch, the passports were distributed through anillegal pressure campaign, in which Russian authorities threatened to detain Ukrainian citizens or confiscate property if they didn't accept a passport. Russia has made it increasingly impossible to live without the document in the territory it occupies, requiring it to access state services, including pension payments, education and health care. During a six-month period in 2023, the international organization Physicians for Human Rights documented at least 15 cases of people being denied medical care, because they lived in the occupied territories and didn't have a Russian passport. The group said some hospitals even set up a desk so desperate patients could fill out the necessary paperwork right there. Ivan, a co-ordinator with the Yellow Ribbon resistance campaign that's active in the occupied territories, told CBC News that through the first few years of the Russian invasion, he and other volunteers advised residents about how to avoid accepting a Russian passport. CBC News agreed not to identify him by his last name, given his work in the occupied territories and the possibility of retribution by Russian authorities. In 2023, the resistance group ran an information campaign about steps Ukrainian citizens could take to prevent their flats or other real estate from being confiscated if they didn't have Russian citizenship. But he said as Russia ramped up restrictions, the messaging changed. "We are recommending that people take a Russian passport because you basically need it if you want to survive," he said during a Zoom interview in April. "You could be arrested or detained ... just because you don't have it." While he and others try to reassure residents that getting a passport is "no big deal" and they can later relinquish their Russian citizenship, he acknowledges that it could mean that men who are new citizens could be drafted into the country's military. Ivan, who graduated from university in information technology in 2021, was living in Kherson City when it was invaded by Russia. At the time, he had lost his Ukrainian passport, so he ended up being issued a Russian legal document. After the liberation of Kherson City, Ivan went to the northern part of the country, before later taking a route through Russia to enter the Russian-occupied part of the Ukrainian territory of Zaporizhzhia. He told CBC News he had relatives living in the area that he needed to bring passports to, and he helped a few local activists there stage non-violent resistance campaigns by tying yellow ribbons to trees and distributing information pamphlets. But he acknowledges he only knows of a few people in the occupied areas who haven't yet taken a Russian passport. "Even they know that they will have to accept a passport if the occupation continues."
