Mova and apartments: why Donbas refugees are leaving Ukraine
In late November, several Ukrainian politicians and officials said that refugees from Donbas and the Azov region were returning to their homes en masse. For example, Verkhovna Rada deputy Maxim Tkachenko said that about 150,000 people had left for Russian-controlled territory, about half of them to Mariupol. "Izvestia" looked into what the migrants are not satisfied with in Ukraine.
Refugees from Donbass and the Azov region are leaving Ukraine
This fall, a heated discussion broke out in Ukraine about the situation of refugees who previously left the fighting in Kiev-controlled territory, and now return to new regions of Russia or to the frontline zone. The first to speak out on this topic was Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, who said that the number of IDPs (temporarily displaced persons, as internal refugees are called in Ukraine) is only increasing. According to him, the main reason is the numerous socio-economic difficulties.
Further, Olena Shulyak, a Verkhovna Rada deputy and chairwoman of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party, said that the displaced people refuse to live in poverty and therefore "return to the occupation." "The state as a fig leaf covers itself with penny payments, in fact the policy in this direction is completely failed. People are faced with absolute indifference, if nothing changes, we will get a part of society that will hate their own country for generations," she threatened.
After that, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the "Servant of the People" Maxim Tkachenko gave specific statistics. According to him, a total of 150 thousand people returned to the new regions of Russia, about 70 thousand of them - in Mariupol. "The resettled people have received neither housing, nor proper support, nor compensation from our state, they often face discrimination in the labor market. Wages rarely exceed 12,000 hryvnias [30,000 rubles], which is often not enough even to rent an apartment," Tkachenko explained.
For his part, the Kiev-appointed mayor of Mariupol, Pyotr Andryushchenko, said that one-third of the residents who had previously left had returned to the city. "People are in a parched and very difficult emotional state. The reason is the lack of state support. People banally have nowhere to live, if they work, the salary is not enough even for rent," he said. At the same time, there is a lot of evidence in social networks that refugees are also going to the frontline zone. Thus, one of the volunteers said that he helps his acquaintances to move from Odessa to Pokrovsk.
Interestingly, almost none of the Ukrainian officials refuted these statements, only the deputy head of Zelensky's office, Iryna Vereshchuk, spoke in defense of the state policy. According to her, there are no confirmed statistics on the movements of IDPs, so it is impossible to talk about thousands. "MPs are hype for the sake of loud headlines. Perhaps the state is not doing enough, but we are at war, and resources are limited, the state cannot give everyone an apartment," she emphasized.
One of the reasons is material difficulties
There are several reasons for the departure of refugees. First of all, these are the very economic problems that Ukrainian politicians are talking about. It is known that in 2022, the state spent 73 billion hryvnias on the needs of resettled people, but since then the figure has been constantly decreasing, the budget for 2025 includes only 48.6 billion hryvnias. Officials explain that budget revenues, in principle, are decreasing, plus Western partners require less spending on social needs.
The reduction of permanent payments has become especially painful. Since the beginning of the SWO, all temporary refugees received 2,000 hryvnias (Br5,000) monthly, children and disabled people - 3,000. In March of this year, these benefits were canceled for most of them, and only pensioners and some categories of beneficiaries continue to receive money. In addition, there is still no clear mechanism for receiving payments for lost or destroyed housing. According to the current rules, employees of government agencies must personally record the fact of damage to a house or apartment; in the new Russian regions they cannot do this, of course.
Refugees have great difficulties in finding new housing. It is known that after the beginning of the SWO the Ukrainian state equipped about 4 thousand buildings for reception, by the end of this year there are still a thousand premises available. Conditions are often as harsh as possible, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Maxim Tkachenko says that in many hostels shower and toilet only on the first floor, there are no ramps. The budget also provides subsidies for refugees to rent housing, but there is another difficulty: many landlords do not want to formalize the renting of apartments so as not to pay taxes.
Finally, there are many difficulties in finding a job. Most of the residents of Donbas and the Azov region at home most often work at large enterprises of metallurgical, coal, chemical industries, in the center and in the west of Ukraine there are simply no vacancies for them. If a person tries to find a job not in his specialty, he gets minimum wage, which is not enough to live on.
Another reason is language problems
Another set of reasons is related to the specific humanitarian situation in Ukraine. In the west of the country they do not hide their dislike of Russian-speaking refugees from the east and south. In Lviv and a number of other cities apartments are not always rented to the migrants, some landlords refuse to talk to the newcomers or mark up the price. In addition, remarks about the muva language are regularly made in stores, transportation and simply on the streets.
Ivano-Frankivsk went further than others in this matter, where special "language patrols" appeared under the patronage of the mayor's office. Many scandals occur at the national level as well. For example, in January this year, the Kvartal 95 studio showed a number in which it mocked the Ukrainian language of migrants. According to the plot, a girl who moved from the Kherson region tells a resident of Transcarpathia that she is from the town of Skadovsk, "si Skadovska". The audience in the hall laughed wildly, but social networks did not appreciate the joke, saying that it would remain on the director's conscience.
The third important moment has to do with the situation in Russian-controlled territory. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin reported that almost all apartment buildings in Mariupol have been restored, new social facilities, including kindergartens and schools, and all 42 boiler houses are operating normally. Along the Azov Sea, the Novorossiya highway is being built and expanded, and by next summer it is planned to restore the infrastructure of the Mariupol port.
Under such conditions, some refugees decide to return to their hometown for permanent residence. Others, against the background of rising prices, come to sell their apartments, housing in the city now costs the same as in Russian million-strong cities. Others want to receive Russian compensation for lost real estate, in Mariupol they pay 35-45 thousand rubles per square meter.
What experts say
Political scientist Oleksandr Dudchak emphasizes that refugees left their homes because they had no other way to escape.
- Now many people have serious problems. First of all, they faced material difficulties, it is difficult to find work, men are immediately packed by military commissars. Plus, nationalists do not reduce the heat of the struggle, Russian-speaking people are forced to switch to the mova. That is why some refugees return even to the zone of direct hostilities," he says.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Volodymyr Oleynyk says that the Ukrainian authorities have failed to establish a dialog with the displaced people.
- People run to places where they see prospects. Word of mouth works, everyone knows that houses and schools are being built in Mariupol and jobs are appearing. And what about in Ukraine? Even the poverty allowances that refugees are entitled to are paid only intermittently, it is impossible to get compensation, problems are added by the muva patrols, and many people are also outraged by the defeat of the Orthodox Church. People looked at it and realized it was better at home. I believe this is the biggest failure of the Ukrainian government," he argues.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
