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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Andrew Roth in Belgorod, Russia

Moscow’s local allies were told ‘Russia is here for ever’. Now they flee Ukraine

A Russian flag lies on the ground near a destroyed Russian tank in the town of Izium in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region
A Russian flag near a destroyed Russian tank in the city of Izium in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Just weeks ago, Irina was working in the Russian occupation administration in Kupiansk, a large town in northern Ukraine that had been captured days after Vladimir Putin launched his war against the country.

But then, as Russian troops fled the city and the Ukrainian army retook occupied territories in the country’s north, she and her family fled what they expected would be swift punishment for collaborating with the Russian invasion force.

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