Olena Matvienko knows she doesn’t have much to go home.
The Russians occupied her city, Mariupol, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. A Russian rocket destroyed its old apartment building. Her daughter and granddaughter were killed in the city. Still, Ms Matvienko, 66, would like to return.
But after comments by President Trump and his defense minister this week, he marked that Ukraine should abandon the territory as part of a peace agreement, he is worried that Mariupol will become part of Russia. And it’s terrified.
“If part of America had been taken by them, I would like to see how they would react,” said Ms Matvienko, one of the approximately 4.6 million Ukrainians who have left their homes in the occupied territories and Crimea to live elsewhere in Ukraine. “It’s like getting out of a man’s hand or foot and then saying,” Leave it as it is. ”
Mr Trump has promised to bring a quick end to the war, which began with Russia’s complete invasion of his neighbor three years ago. This week, he and his defense minister, Pete Hegseth, gave Moscow publicly two big trophies before the peace negotiations began, saying that Russia could hold at least some of the Ukrainian territory it has occupied and that Ukraine does not It will join NATO anytime soon.
Russia has recorded about 20 % of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it occupied in 2014. If the agreement described by US officials is spending this week, many people who have lost their homes in war will be little chance Most likely, returning.
Going forward, there would actually have two Ukraine: the one controlled by Kiev and a abused Russian satellite to the east, with many Ukrainian families separated from each other.
“This chain of Trump’s statements is a chain of humiliation for people like me, the people who believed there was law and justice in the world,” said Anna Murlykina, a 50 -year -old journalist who left Kiev from Mariupol in 2022.
“When you live in a world that collapses under your feet,” he said, “the only thing that helps you survive is to believe in the guidelines, the civilized democratic countries that support values. When countries like the United States cease to be pillars, there is nothing to hope for. ”
Explaining the US position, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth said it was “unrealistic” to insist on returning to Ukraine’s old border. This, he said, “will only extend the war and will cause more hassle.”
It is difficult to say how many people remain in the occupied territories. In one estimation, there were about six million people living there last June, including 1.5 million children.
Some villages have been bombarded so strongly that they now look like Moonscapes. People are complaining about the lack of sewer, water, electricity and other public services, while schools are aimed at facing Ukraine children with Russian ideology.
A woman in Berdiansk, a port occupied by Russia in 2022, said the city was recovering slowly, though few initial residents remained. She said she had not supported the Russian invasion and that like others who were left, she was simply trying to live her life.
The woman, who talked about the condition of anonymity because she was afraid of retaliation, said she angered her that some people in Ukraine called those who were traitors. “We didn’t betray anyone,” he said. “We live on our own land, in our homes, and we are just trying to survive the circumstances we are in.”
Liubov, 64, who called for only her name to be used because she is afraid of the Russians, left Melitopolis to Eastern Ukraine in 2022, moved to Zaporizhzhia – which is now close to the first lines. She said she was worried about her son, who is fighting for the Ukrainian army.
“It’s naive, I know, but I really hoped for Trump,” Liubov said. “Everyone who knew he said he was so unpredictable, maybe he was the man who would stop the war.”
Now, like other Eastern Ukrainians, he wonders what is the cost of peace for them.
“I used to imagine how I would return home to Melitopol, I clean my house from these bastards because they live there now,” Liubov said. “I’ll make new roses, because no one cares about the garden there, and maybe a lot of flowers are gone.”
For some families, splitting is more than geographical.
A 55 -year -old woman, for example, lives in DNIPRO, on the side of Ukraine controlled by Kiev, while two sons live on the other side of the first line. Her younger son, 20 years old, is trapped in the family home in a village in Donetsk. She said she was not talking to her oldest son, who has joined Russia.
It’s not alone. For years, President Vladimir V. Putin has caused the idea that Ukraine as a country should not exist, that it belongs to Russia, as it was during the Soviet Union. And in parts of eastern Ukraine, especially near the border, some Ukrainians supported the idea of joining Russia.
The Ukrainian government has long stated that its aim is to restore its borders to where it was before Russia occupied Crimea, but in recent months, President Volodymyr Zelensky has shifted his public stance. Now it says that Ukraine may need to temporarily grant the land to Russia in a peacekeeping agreement and then try to recover it later through diplomatic media.
Recent polls show that more Ukrainians, tired of grinding war, are willing to exchange land for peace than ever. In November, a Gallup poll said that more than half of the respondents wanted a quick negotiating end to war.
Under Biden’s administration, the United States was Ukraine’s largest supporter. Mr Trump and his team, however, are skeptical of our participation in the war.
Without the United States in its corner, it is not clear how Ukraine will be able to continue to fight or which diplomatic routes are available to return the territory from Russia. If US support, Europe and other allies stops may have to dramatically accelerate military assistance. Already, the country has difficulty hiring new soldiers.
Many Ukrainians in the occupied territories say they are afraid to speak, especially to family members in other parts of Ukraine, are worried that their phones are being watched. When they speak, such as the 20 -year -old man on the Russian side of the first line and his mother in DNIPRO, they are undoubtedly choosing topics, such as the forest or weather.
Russian citizens have already been transferred to some occupied areas, enticed by cheap loans and abandoned real estate. Some brokers actively recruit Russian buyers for real estate seaside in places such as Mariupol and Crimea.
A woman in Crimea, who spoke anonymously because she was afraid of punishment, said in an interview that she and her neighbors had adapted to the Russian institutions. She said she had stayed in Crimea because she wanted to raise her children in her home country, but there is some hope.
Many people are at emotional low due to uncertainty, he said. “I don’t understand what prospects I or my children have,” he said. “It’s incredibly discouraging.”
Mrs Matvienko, whose wife and granddaughter were killed in Mariupol, gained some reputation in Ukraine after leaving the city, returning to Russian controlled territory to recover her 10 -year -old grandson, who had been injured in the strike that she was in the strike that she had been in strike. his mother.
Her friends say that people have moved to Mariupol from Russian democracies and tell the stories of horror about life there now.
“They can come to any home, throw the owner out and take it,” Ms Matvienko said. “They can seize your business, your car.”
“There is absolute lawlessness,” he added, “no one complained, to restore order.”
A friend, whom he often talked to a channel of social media has been silent, he said. No one knows where he is.
Oleksandra mykolyshynn and Dzvinka Pinchuk contributed a report from Kiev and Yurii shyvala From Lviv, Ukraine.
