Olena Matvienko knows that she does not have much to return home to her.
The Russians seized its city, Mariolbul, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. A Russian missile destroyed its old apartment building. She killed her daughter and granddaughter in the city. However, Mrs. Matvianco, 66, wants to return.
But after President Trump’s comments and defense secretaries this week, Ukraine indicated that it abandons the land as part of a peace agreement, as it is concerned that Mariolpol will become part of Russia. It is horrific.
“If part of America is taken from them, I would like to see how their reaction will be,” said Ms. Matvianco, one of about 4.6 million Ukrainians. Holds their homes In the occupied regions and the Crimea is similar to living elsewhere in Ukraine. “It is like tearing a leg arm or leg, then says:” It will not be the same. “
Mr. Trump has promised to put a quick end to the war, which was launched by Russia’s widespread invasion of its neighbor three years ago. This week, he and his secretary, the Higseth Beit, delivered publicly Moscow two great awards before the peace negotiations began, saying that Russia could keep at least some Ukrainian lands that it seized and that Ukraine will not join NATO any time soon.
Russia acquired about 20 percent of Ukraine, including the Crimea, which it seized in 2014. If the deal set by US officials this week continues, many people who lost their homes in the war will not have a little chance, on Most likely, the possibility, return.
To move forward, there will actually be two Ukrainians: those controlled by Kiev, and a racked Russian industrial moon to the east, with the division of many Ukrainian families between them.
“This series of Trump’s statements is a series of insulting people like me, and people who believed that there was law and justice in the world,” said Anna Morkelékina, a 50 -year -old journalist who fled to Kiev from Mariusp in 2022.
She said: “When you live in a world that collapses under your feet, the only thing that helps you stay is believing in guidelines, in civilized democratic countries that support values. When countries like the United States stop being pillars, there is nothing to be hoped.”
In explaining the American position, Defense Minister Beit Higseth said it was “unrealistic” to insist on returning to the ancient borders of Ukraine. He said: “It will not only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”
It is difficult to determine the number of people staying in the occupied territories. by One estimateThere were about six million people living there as of last June, including 1.5 million children.
Some villages have been so bombed so much that they are now similar to moIncakes. People complain that there are no sewers, water, electricity and other public services, while schools aim to color Ukrainian children with Russian ideology.
A woman in Berdiansk, a seaport that Russia captured in 2022, said that the city is slowly recovering, despite the remaining few indigenous people. She said that she did not support the Russian invasion, and that she was like the others who bought, she was just trying to live her life.
The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she is afraid of revenge, said that she angered her that some people in Ukraine called those who remained traitors. “We didn’t betray anyone,” she said. “We live on our land, in our homes, and we simply try to stay in the circumstances in which we found ourselves.”
Liopov, 64, who requested the use of her first name only because she is afraid of the Russians, escaped from Meltopol in eastern Ukraine in 2022, and moved to Zaporesia – which is now near the front lines. She said she was concerned about her son, who is fighting for the Ukrainian army.
“It is naive, and I know, but I was really hoping for Trump,” Liopov said. “Everyone I knew said that it could not be predicted, perhaps the man who would stop the war was.”
Now, just like the East Ukrainians, they wonder about the cost of peace for them.
“I used to imagine how I will go home to Melitopol, and cleanse my house from these miscreants, because they live there now,” Liopov said. “I was planting new roses, because no one cares about the garden there, and many flowers may have disappeared.”
For some families, the division is more than just geographically.
A 55 -year -old woman, for example, lives in DNIPRO, on the side of Kyiv -controlled Ukraine, while two sons live on the other side of the front line. Her younger son, 20, is trapped in the family home in a village in Donetsk. She said that she did not speak to her older son, who stood with Russia.
It is not alone. For years, President Vladimir F. Putin is the idea that Ukraine as a country should not be present, and that it belongs to Russia, as it was during the Soviet Union. In parts of eastern Ukraine, especially near the border, some Ukrainians supported the idea of joining Russia.
The Ukraine government has long said that its goal is to restore its borders to where it was before Russia seized the Crimea, but in recent months, President Voludmir Zelinski has transformed his public position. Now he says that Ukraine may have to assign Earth to Russia temporarily in a peace agreement and then try to recover it later through diplomatic means.
Modern polls show that more Ukrainians, mortgaged from the war of grinding, are willing For land trading for peace ever; In November, a Gallup poll said More than half From the respondents, they wanted the end of the war.
Under the Biden Administration, the United States was the largest supporter of Ukraine. 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 continue to fight, or what is the diplomatic ways available to the lands of Reasts from Russia. If we stop the United States, Europe and other allies may have to intensify military aid significantly. Indeed, the country has difficulty recruiting new soldiers.
Many Ukrainians in the occupied regions say they are afraid to speak, especially for family members elsewhere in Ukraine, who are concerned about observing their phones. When they speak, like a 20 -year -old man on the Russian side of the front lines and his mother in DNIPRO, they choose not controversial topics, such as the forest or weather.
Russian civilians have already moved to some of the occupied areas, and attracted them with cheap mortgage and deserted property. Some mediators recruit Russian buyers actively to the property of the waterfront in places such as the Mariopol and the Crimea.
A woman on the Crimea, who spoke unknown because she is afraid of revenge, said in an interview that she and her neighbors have been adapted to Russian institutions. She said that she remained in the Crimea because she wanted to raise her children in her homeland, but there is no little hope.
She said that many people are in the lowest emotional level due to every uncertainty. She said, “I do not understand what the horizons of my children or my children are.” “It is incredibly frustrated.”
Mrs. Matvianco, the woman who killed her daughter and granddaughter in Mariolpol, has gained some fame in Ukraine after fleeing from that city by returning to Russian -controlled lands to restore her 10 -year -old grandson, who was injured in the strike that killed his mother.
Her friends say people have moved to Mariolpol from the Russian republics, and tell their horror stories about life there now.
“They can come to any home, throw the owner abroad and take it,” said Ms. Matvianco. “They can seize your business, your car.”
She added, “There is absolute chaos, no one complains, no one to restore the regime.”
She said that one of the friends, who used to chat with her frequently on a social media channel, was silent. Nobody knows where she is.
Oleksandra mykolyyshyn and Dzvinka pinchuk She contributed to the reports from Kyiv, and Yurii Syvala From lviv, Ukraine.