Terrifying Poison Threat Makes Ukraine Soldiers’ Lives Hell

KUPYANSK, Ukraine—Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk are running low on ammunition and weapons as they fight to remain in control of a city that doesn’t even want to be saved from the Russians. In this eastern town, soldiers say that they are afraid that pro-Russian civilian collaborators might help to poison, bomb, or otherwise kill them because they believe that life under Vladimir Putin’s occupation would be better than living in a free Ukraine.

Located in the eastern Kharkiv region, Kupyansk was once nicknamed “Little Russia” and has become known for its pro-Russian sentiment. It was the first city to surrender to Russian forces at the start of the full-scale invasion, and it did so without a single shot being fired, which was partially due to Kupyansk’s pro-Russian mayor, Hennadiy Matsehora, who told residents to “avoid human sacrifices and destruction of our infrastructure,” according to Deutsche Welle at the time.

By Feb. 27, 2022, Kupyansk was already occupied, and it would remain under Russian control until September 2022, when Ukraine’s rapid counteroffensive saw Kyiv reclaim 1,160 sq miles of land in just two months.

Read more at The Daily Beast.