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Kupiansk (Ukraine) (AFP) – From the ruins inside the town hall of Kupiansk, Olena saves a chair, a screen: little was left when the Russians retreated from this town in northeastern Ukraine, prompting accusations of organized looting.
On February 27, three days after the start of the war, Kupiansk mayor Genadiy Matsehora agreed to surrender his town to the Russian army in order to end the war.
And the town – a major railway station 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border that had a pre-war population of 27,000 – remained under Russian control until 10 September.
The mayor, a member of the Moscow-backed Platform-For Life opposition party, was quickly convicted by Kyiv of treason and has since fled to Russia.
In Matsehora’s office on the second floor, a pile of his business cards is strewn on the desk, while on the floor is a tattered poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“This is where the man who used to be the mayor of Russia used to live,” said Olena, a local worker who wears earrings with three Ukrainian green and gold symbols.
This is the first time this young mother has returned to her workplace since the war began.
Those who wanted to return to work had to wipe their feet on the Ukrainian flag and shout: ‘Thank you Russia, our liberators!’ while being photographed,” he said.
Held by the Russians for five days in March, he refuses to give his last name for fear of rejection from his family.
After his arrest, he remained locked up in his house, then fled to the cellar at the height of the fighting in September.
Only when the town was liberated did he leave the locked house, only to find that his house had changed.
“They took my microwave, my washing machine and something I can’t explain: the water tank of my toilet. Not the toilet itself, just the water tank,” he told AFP.
– Sending victims home? –
Since the attack began on February 24, there have been several allegations of looting in areas occupied by Russian forces, suggesting a systematic approach rather than a random mistake by bad apples.
Ukrainian authorities have registered complaints from individuals and businesses who hope to one day be compensated in the case of future war reparations paid by Moscow.
In April, the Belarusian investigative media group The Hajun Project released CCTV footage from a parcel delivery service in the town of Mazyr showing Russian soldiers sending parcels home.
Each parcel weighs between 50 and 450 kilograms (110 and 990 pounds), more than two tons of goods were removed during the video showing, which covered a period of more than three hours.
In Kupiansk, which served for months as the headquarters of the Russian army, many citizens resorted to looting, freed from arrest or harassment by the locals.
Pigs, cars and radiators –
At the police station – which is now in a temporary building after its headquarters was captured in the fighting – all complaints have been officially registered.
But at this stage, there are not enough resources to deal with the growing list of complaints, which will have to be processed for insurance purposes.
But he could not say how many complaints have been registered, where people have filed a report of damaged goods, although they have no hope of getting compensation.
“They were stealing agricultural machinery, cars, grains and household goods, among other things,” he explained.
At one farm, “they even took pigs, maybe to eat them,” Gitselev said.
“They go into every house and help themselves: televisions, screens, computers… even bathrooms or radiators,” he said.
“What is this? I don’t know. Maybe they don’t have these things at home.”
© 2022 AFP
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