Unveiling life in occupied Melitopol: Insights from Zla Mavka partisan movement founder
Zla Mavka, a leader in the women's resistance movement against the occupiers, told NV on June 29 about the situation in the enemy-captured city and how people who still refuse to accept Russian documents are surviving.
The Russians are trying to turn the occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhya Oblast into a "model city" and pretend to have a "wonderful peaceful life." However, prices are constantly rising, and locals are unemployed, said one of the founders of the women's guerrilla movement Zla Mavka, who spoke to NV on condition of anonymity.
"People [in Melitopol] go to cafes, children play, buildings are being painted, and roads are being repaired," says the Melitopol resident.
"But at the same time, nothing is being done in the less visible areas. We are witnessing the impunity of the new 'authorities,' there is no work here, prices are rising, healthcare is poor, and the number of informal markets is growing."
Conscription is underway in Melitopol, and the streets are covered with Russian flags and propaganda. The Russians are trying to militarize children and young people to the maximum, the activist said.
"And you're lucky if you haven't had your housing 'nationalized,'" she added.
More residents are trying to leave the occupied Melitopol, says the activist, who has been hanging Ukrainian posters and stickers in the city for more than a year.
"There are not so many locals left, but there are a lot of out-of-towners," she says. "We call it the 'great migration of peoples' to our Melitopol. The portrait of the city has changed a lot."
Due to the prolonged occupation, many locals have lost hope of liberating their hometown. However, some have begun to resist the Russians, albeit secretly and more actively.
Some Ukrainians in Melitopol still refuse to accept Russian documents, despite the difficulties this creates.
"The occupiers have done everything to make life impossible without their 'ausweis,'" says the source. "Even an ambulance won't come if you don't have a Russian passport. But despite this, there are still people without Russian documents."
The hryvnia no longer circulates in the city. Even if locals receive Ukraine’s national currency, it is extremely unprofitable to exchange it for rubles.
There is a shortage of food in the city, with shelves stocked either with Russian products or products from the occupied Donbas.
"There is very little work," says the Ukrainian activist. "The worst situation is probably with medicines. There is a lot available, but prices are high and the quality is terrible. The markets are still okay, but the people there are not locals."
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