Author: Hrihoriy Pyrlik / RFE/RL

As Russia masses troops near Kupyansk and shells it almost daily, Kateryna, 35, a survivor of Russia’s six-month occupation of the strategic railway town in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region last year, has imposed a stringent set of rules on her three children: Don’t touch anything, don’t step off the pavement, always ask soldiers about suspicious objects,...

Mariupol resident Viktoria Levashina was hoping to have a relatively easy time passing through the Kremlin-imposed process for weeding out “undesirable” Ukrainians living in territories now controlled by Russia. A 60-year-old accountant at a construction firm, Ms. Levashina’s occupation and demographic profile would not have raised red flags. When her turn came late one night...