In one Ukrainian village, occupation ended — and the feud began - The Washington Post

As the tide of the warfare has shifted, the Ukrainian subject has swept into villages and towns, driving retired Russian forces who had occupied swaths of the state since aboriginal March. In immoderate places, the Russian retreat revealed grounds of suspected atrocities including torture chambers and wide graves.

In Shevchenkivka and galore different liberated towns, the bequest is subtler but nary little insidious. Occupation has fixed mode to division, suspicion, and detention. Freedom has fueled thoughts of revenge.

On a sunny autumn greeting successful mid-October, a week aft occupying forces fled Shevchenkivka, the village’s 50 oregon truthful remaining residents welcomed a Ukrainian service motortruck bearing a load of bread.

But the shadiness of the concern lingered.

Olya Prodchenko, 45, offered to administer the food. She went from location to house, skipping the galore abandoned homes, until she came to a agleam yellowish and bluish gate. There, she met Halyna Pylypenko.

The 62-year-old successful reddish location slippers didn’t privation the breadstuff — oregon thing to bash with Olya.

Halyna’s lad was warring connected the beforehand enactment for Ukraine. Here successful Shevchenkivka, Halyna had her ain enemies. And main among them was the pistillate lasting astatine her gate, who she suspected of collaborating with the Russians.

“You went around, you agitated, you were supporting ‘the 1 and lone Russia,’ ” Halyna shouted angrily arsenic Olya retreated.

But the communicative of Shevchenkivka besides shows however small successful warfare is achromatic and white. While adjacent villages suffered terribly nether occupation, Shevchenkivka was mostly spared. Some residents adjacent struck up friendships with force soldiers. And portion Olya admitted she accepted wealth and assistance from the occupiers, so, too, did galore others here.

As the beforehand enactment shifts farther from places similar Shevchenkivka, Ukrainian quality officers person travel in, asking questions astir who did what nether occupation. But Olya, whose hubby was detained for 2 days by Ukrainian officials, said lone God and her neighbors could judge.

“You had to person been present to understand,” she said.

When the occupiers archetypal arrived successful mid-March, their vehicles rumbled down a main thoroughfare lined with festively colored beforehand gates, flowering walnut trees and the occasional goat oregon cow. In the adjacent colony over, Khreshchenivka, Russian soldiers would beryllium accused of torturing Ukrainian prisoners. But successful Shevchenkivka, the concern was little ruthless.

The soldiers successful Shevchenkivka weren’t Russian, residents said, but from the alleged Donetsk People’s Republic, 1 of 2 Russia-backed separatist regions successful eastbound Ukraine.

“They spoke similar us,” said villager Svetlana Ivakhnenko. “They were Ukrainians similar us.”

The DPR troops didn’t look anxious to beryllium there. Some complained they thought they were being sent to Crimea — invaded and illegally annexed by Russia successful 2014 — lone to find themselves successful Kherson.

Nor were they good prepared. Shortly aft arriving, 3 soldiers approached Nadiya Polivesa, 46, extracurricular her location to inquire if they could bargain potatoes. Uncertain however she would scrape by nether occupation, she traded them spuds, beverage and eggs for gasoline.

“We’d already heard that the FSB was successful Khreshchenivka,” Nadiya said, utilizing an acronym for Russia’s feared Federal Security Service. “So erstwhile the soldiers from Donetsk came in, we were relieved.”

The soldiers brought h2o each different day, residents recalled. During the visits, Tetiana Bohushevs’ka struck up a relationship with a young antheral named Oleh who said helium had been forced to articulation the DPR service a fewer weeks earlier. “He was a bully boy,” Tetiana said. “He conscionable wanted to spell home.”

The 54-year-old, a devout evangelical, had shrugged disconnected her children’s pleas to fly by saying the Lord would instrumentality attraction of her. Tetiana started proselytizing to Oleh, who began ending his visits with the Ukrainian operation for “go with God.”

Across the street, Halyna besides befriended immoderate soldiers and taught them to cook breadstuff implicit an unfastened fire. When 1 of the oldest residents, Nadiya Brezhneva, turned 91, the soldiers brought her chocolates.

“Someone asked me, ‘Babushka, are the occupiers bully people?’” the elder Nadiya said. “I said, ‘There are bully radical everywhere.’ I anticipation I answered correctly.”

Yet, the men were inactive portion of the Russian warfare machine, and they began pressuring villagers to supply recognition to person h2o oregon food. At 1 point, the section commandant suggested Nadiya Polivesa petition a Russian passport — thing Russian forces pushed elsewhere.

“Kherson is present Russia,” helium said, Nadiya recalled.

Soon, it wasn’t conscionable soldiers saying that, but chap villagers, too.

Before the war, radical successful Shevchenkivka didn’t sermon if they sympathized with Moscow. But a fewer weeks into occupation, a tiny radical allegedly began openly embracing the thought of joining Russia. According to respective villagers, Svetlana Ivakhnenko and Olya Prodchenko were among those making pro-Russian comments.

Svetlana, 50, denied the accusation but admitted to feeling nostalgic for Soviet times, erstwhile Shevchenkivka prospered by sending atom and nutrient to Russia. When The Washington Post initially tried to talk to Svetlana, her hubby pretended nary 1 by her sanction lived astatine their house.

Of the allegedly pro-Russian voices successful the village, however, fewer were louder than Olya Prodchenko.

“She was screaming, ‘When are they going to springiness america our Russian passports?’ ” Halyna said. The 2 had ne'er been close. But now, with Halyna’s lad warring for Ukraine, and Olya allegedly embracing the occupation, the neighbors were a war’s width apart.

Olya denied welcoming the occupiers oregon requesting a Russian passport. As grounds of her loyalty, she claimed the FSB questioned her astir Ukrainian artillery strikes, and stopped lone erstwhile they learned she had 2 disabled sons.

Nadiya told a precise antithetic story. She claimed her ain lad was questioned by Russians aft Olya’s husband, Mykola, pointed a digit astatine him for the artillery strikes. Nadiya said she was truthful aggravated she slapped Olya’s hubby successful the thoroughfare implicit the accusation, which had forced her lad to fly the village. Yet, the complaint wasn’t acold off.

“It wasn’t existent that my lad was helping the Ukrainian army,” Nadiya said. “But I was.”

For months, the villagers struggled to enactment live portion besides staying loyal to their country. Then, successful precocious summer, astir the clip Russian President Vladimir Putin announced staged referendums successful occupied regions of Ukraine, the radical of Shevchenkivka were tested.

Soldiers went doorway to door, offering 5,000 Ukrainian hryvnia — astir $135 — per person. For what, they didn’t say.

Tetiana prayed for guidance. Like everyone other successful the village, she was mediocre earlier the warfare and was present poorer. But the connection didn’t consciousness right.

“God told maine not to instrumentality it,” she said. “It was humor money.”

Halyna, her champion friend, besides rejected the cash. How, she asked herself, could she look her worker lad again if she accepted it?

On the different broadside of the village, Olya didn’t hesitate.

“Of people we took it,” Olya said. “We were successful occupied territory. We had to survive.”

Her household of 4 received 20,000 hryvnia — astir $540 — which is astir Ukraine’s mean monthly wage earlier the war.

Svetlana wasn’t definite what to do. She heard rumors that accepting the wealth would mean radical similar her 78-year-old parent could suffer their Ukrainian pensions. But different pro-Russian pistillate successful town, who would fly soon before liberation, told her the wealth was nary antithetic than humanitarian aid.

“Under planetary law, the occupiers are expected to assistance us,” Svetlana said. Her household took the cash.

Other villagers waited to spot what would hap to those who accepted. When determination were nary contiguous repercussions, astir successful Shevchenkivka took the payment, including Nadiya, who was secretly helping the Ukrainian military.

The DPR soldiers wrote down the passport accusation of each idiosyncratic who took the money, Nadiya said. A fewer weeks later, the villagers realized why.

A half-dozen soldiers went doorway to doorway successful precocious September, asking radical to ballot connected joining Russia. Some wore civilian clothing; others were successful azygous and armed.

No villagers told The Post they voted successful favour — not adjacent those who allegedly supported the occupation. But respective said they suspected soldiers recorded their votes arsenic “yes” due to the fact that they had taken the money.

Tetiana convinced the soldiers her religion did not let her to ballot — a agelong fixed she voted for Volodymyr Zelensky for president successful 2019.

When the soldiers knocked connected Halyna’s door, she began to cry. She felt that voting for Russia would betray her son, but she feared voting no. “They’ll sprout maine if I don’t vote,” she said. Her hubby intervened, accusing the soldiers of impersonating predetermination officials, and they near without signatures.

A fewer days aft the amerciable staged vote, Putin announced that Kherson and 3 different Ukrainian regions were portion of Russia. But Shevchenkivka was already slipping retired of Russia’s control, arsenic a Ukrainian counteroffensive advanced.

When Oleh past brought Tetiana water, the young DPR worker confided that his broadside was being deed hard and would soon retreat. A time oregon 2 later, aft proceeding the occupiers were leaving. Tetiana ran extracurricular to accidental goodbye to Oleh, but helium was already driving a tractor retired of Shevchenkivka. Minutes later, determination was shelling successful that direction.

The adjacent day, Tetiana was successful her location erstwhile Halyna ran over, shouting: “Our broadside is coming!”

The 2 watched successful tears arsenic Ukrainian troops arrived. The archetypal happening soldiers asked was the determination of Russian collaborators.

Nadiya pointed them to Olya’s house, and Olya’s hubby was rapidly detained by agents from the Security Service of Ukraine, oregon SBU.

“He was betrayed by radical present successful the village,” said Olya, who denied her household helped the occupiers. Her hubby was fto spell 2 days aboriginal aft passing a lie-detector test, Olya said.

His merchandise shocked Nadiya, who said his collaboration could person led to her lad being tortured oregon killed. “They could person taken distant my boy,” she said. Two men from Shevchenkivka were held for months, residents said.

Viktor Kopytok, a assembly subordinate for the country who lived successful neighboring Khreshchenivka, said helium was imprisoned and tormented by Russian soldiers.

Viktor, 37, said that aboriginal successful the concern helium helped evacuate families and brought backmost medicine and nutrient for those who could not leave. But past a Russian worker planted a Ukrainian subject chapeau successful his car. Viktor denied it was his, but it was nary use.

Soldiers threw him to the ground, asked if helium was right- oregon left-handed, enactment a tourniquet astir his ascendant limb and fired bullets successful the spaces betwixt his fingers. For six weeks, they tortured him for accusation during the day, pressing blistery irons to his heels, and imprisoned him successful his basement astatine night, helium said. Desperate, helium considered suicide.

One day, the Russians were replaced by DPR soldiers, who acceptable Viktor free. Six months later, helium is inactive recovering. “I’m similar a breached watch,” helium said, struggling to clasp backmost tears arsenic helium distributed nutrient successful Shevchenkivka. “It looks normal, but wrong thing isn’t moving anymore.”

By chance, Shevchenkivka residents were spared his ordeal. But allegations of collaboration linger ominously, similar the spent rocket shells and trenches inactive scarring the village.

Some garbage to talk to those they fishy of collaborating, including Olya and Svetlana.

“People are tense now,” Svetlana said. “They spot enemies everywhere.”

“All this mud is being thrown around,” added Olya. “It’s person against friend.”

The 2 women said they hoped, successful time, the colony would instrumentality to normal. Their neighbors were torn.

On a crisp October afternoon, 3 weeks aft liberation, Halyna crossed the thoroughfare to Tetiana’s location with a sheet of caller pancakes and homemade sour cream. They sat nether a walnut histrion and spoke astir the concern arsenic if they had woken from a seven-month nightmare.

The Bible taught Tetiana to crook the different cheek. But Halyna was not having it. When Olya brought breadstuff to her door, she wanted to teardrop her eyes out.

“I volition ne'er forgive her,” Halyna said.

“Then your bosom volition beryllium aching,” Tetiana replied, “for the remainder of your life.”

Heidi Levine and Kamila Hrabchuk contributed to this report.