“They do not know how to continue living”: in the liberated Kharkiv Oblast, locals cannot recover from fear and stress

Kalinov was under occupation for half a year, many people fled here from Kharkiv, hoping that the Orcs would not reach here.

They are afraid of the slightest noise, run to hide from loud noises and suffer from insomnia – people in the liberated villages of Kharkiv Oblast still cannot recover from the consequences of the occupation, TSN reports.

They do not have heat, water or medicine, pensioners are forced to look for pills in their neighbors, or go to pharmacies dozens of kilometers away. To provide medical assistance, medics of the international organization “Doctors Without Borders” travel to the liberated villages.

Residents of the village of Kalinovoy are waiting for an appointment with a therapist and a psychologist, almost everyone needs both. Mrs. Natalya experienced the horrors of the occupation together with her grandson. “The war had a great impact. He hasn’t eaten and is shaking. He barks – and shakes. This is me as a child. It’s scary when you’re booming and you’re squatting,” the woman says.

Even Mrs. Evdokia’s rustling makes her cringe. “Every day it’s banging. Kupyansk and Borivskyi are nearby and it’s banging. Three grandchildren. As soon as the door knocks, they jump up. Little grandchildren. They were also sitting in the cellar,” the woman recalls.

People in liberated villages have similar complaints and symptoms, says the doctor. Because of fear and anxiety – high blood pressure, spine and joints hurt, because people carry dozens of buckets of water a day. “Heart failure, disturbance of mental state due to stress. Impaired mobility. Patients stay in houses where there is no light or heating. They are forced to use firewood for heating, and it is very hard work for the elderly,” says Olena Kurinna, a doctor from Doctors Without Borders.

During the occupation, almost all peasants had problems sleeping. Not everyone in line even now admits that they sleep at most 4 hours a day. “These are the fears. They are shooting and you listen. Stay awake and listen when there will be shooting, or banging, or something else,” says a local resident.

“They don’t know how to live, they don’t know what will happen tomorrow. They can’t sleep and come to us with questions about the fact that I can’t sleep, but it’s like a symptom, and the disease itself is much deeper,” explains psychologist Oleksandr Lyubchenko.

Kalinov was under occupation for half a year, many people fled here from Kharkiv, hoping that the Orcs would not reach here. However, in mid-March, the occupiers hung their flag at the village council. People were mocked. “We went to the house and looked. There was half a loaf of bread in the fridge. He says: “Well, you say there is no bread.” – “Well, take it, take it.” Then they left, they wanted to bathe. He says: “I have no water.” One went into the bathroom, and the TV was on in the room, and there was Ukrainian news, a Ukrainian channel, he shot this TV with a machine gun,” said Anatoliy, a survivor.

Today, the village has only half the population: one and a half hundred, no more and not a single shop. The nearest pharmacy is 30 kilometers away. The doctors are coming here for the second time, bringing medicine. Many patients notice some progress after starting therapy, but doctors say they are still far from complete recovery.

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