"They are not returning us to Russia, but to the USSR"

In the southern Ukrainian town of Nova Kahovka, which was occupied by Russian troops five months ago during the first day of the invasion, there are growing signs of Russian annexation, and some residents fear a return to Soviet times.

A statue of Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin, erected in April, stands in the center of the city where the Russian and Soviet flags are displayed. On the police cars that patrol the streets, the Ukrainian word "politsiya" has been replaced by the Russian one.

Some stores accept Russian rubles, as well as Ukrainian hryvnias. Internet traffic is now rerouted through Russia, and since Ukraine's mobile phone networks are down, Russian SIM cards can be bought on the streets.

Reuters spoke to two current and three former residents of Nova Kakhovka who say there are clear signs that Russian-appointed authorities are trying to tie the town, and the surrounding Kherson region, to Moscow.

A senior official in the pro-Russian regional government told Reuters that they were implementing plans to hold a referendum for Kherson to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. He praised the era before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, when Ukraine was one of 15 national republics ruled by the Communist Party of Moscow.

"We decided - the people of the Kherson region decided - that we should hold a referendum and vote for joining the Russian Federation," Kiril Stremusov, deputy head of regional authorities in Kherson, said in an interview.

Stremusov did not specify the date for the planned statement. He said that within a few weeks, the Russian telecommunications network will fully cover Kherson and that the Russian ruble will be fully in circulation by early next year.

Efforts to integrate with Russia come as Ukraine vows to regain control of the strategically important Black Sea region in a major counter-offensive.

Control of Kherson, home to about a million people before the war, gives Russia a land corridor from its border to Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Kherson also includes a canal from the Dnieper River needed to supply Crimea with fresh water.

The White House said Tuesday that Russia is paving the way for the annexation of Ukrainian territory — through the introduction of the ruble and the forced use of Russian passports — using the same tactics it used in Crimea. The Russian embassy in the United States dismissed Washington's comments as "essentially false."

The Kremlin announced that the future of the occupied regions in Ukraine will be decided by their residents. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow's war aims now extend beyond the Donbass region in the east, which is under the control of pro-Russian separatists, and include Kherson and neighboring Zaporozhye in the south of the country.

Kiev claims that the planned referendum is a nonsensical initiative advocated by collaborators of the enemy who will be prosecuted once Russian troops are expelled from the country.

Soviet-style education

Because of the Russian invasion, a large number of residents left the city, which had 60 people before the war.

Some of those who remain in Nova Kahovka are angry at the disruption to their way of life and feel that their city is returning to the era of economic hardship and authoritarian rule of Russia during the Soviet Union.

One teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, told Reuters that her school's administration called about 20 remaining employees in late May and asked who would be willing to teach the Russian curriculum when classes begin in September. During the meeting, they spoke in Russian, she said.

Only two employees raised their hands, said the teacher, who attended the meeting. She told the British agency that she would quit her job if she was forced to give up the Ukrainian teaching program.

"I love Ukraine. Why should I teach children differently... Can I tell them that those who are killing our people and our children are doing a great job? My conscience doesn't allow it," she said in a telephone conversation.

The White House said Tuesday that Russia is paving the way for the annexation of Ukrainian territory — through the introduction of the ruble and the forced use of Russian passports — using the same tactics it used in Crimea. The Kremlin rejected these allegations and insists that the future of the occupied regions in Ukraine will be decided by their residents

She said that only a small number of educators in the city readily accepted the change and that it was not clear whether it would be implemented. The Nova Kahovka mayor's office and the school board did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

"My soul hurts. They did not return us to Russia as they like to say. They brought us back to the USSR forty years ago," she said.

Stremusov, a pro-Russian official, told Reuters on July 6 that regional authorities in Kherson plan to gradually change the curriculum and that from now on schools will use Russian as well as Ukrainian.

The 45-year-old praised the Soviet teaching program and said that teachers who want to quit are free to do so.

Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov, who visited the occupied territory in southern Ukraine last month, said that education there had previously promoted anti-Russian sentiments and that the priority would be on learning about "our common achievements."

His ministry said yesterday that he traveled to Kherson and personally handed out Russian diplomas to eight children. New textbooks for the region were also awarded on that occasion, the ministry announced.

Ukraine has instructed teachers in the occupied territories to report to the security services if they are forced to adopt the Russian curriculum.

Poor quality goods

Margo, an 18-year-old artist who declined to give her full name, said that Ukrainian products have largely disappeared from the shelves in Nova Kahovka, and that the quality of Russian food and products arriving from Crimea is poor.

Prices have soared, although panic buying in the days leading up to the invasion has stopped. Many shops remain closed, and unemployment is high, she said.

Speaking to Reuters, Stremusov denied that the quality of food had deteriorated, but admitted that prices had risen.

This official, who often addresses the residents of Kherson online under a portrait of Vladimir Putin, said that he believes that the region had an economic boom during the Soviet Union.

Margo said that the occupation authorities organized a concert, which she attended, at the House of Culture the night before the May 9 parade marking the Soviet victory in World War II.

She said she didn't know anyone in the crowd and that there were people with Soviet flags and elderly women wearing Georgian ribbons, a Russian military symbol often used to express pro-Russian views.

"Before the concert started, the self-proclaimed mayor stepped in and said "I think most of the people in the audience now feel the same as I do: as if they have recovered from a long illness. Today we will hear songs that were banned. The first will be "Kaćuša", she said.

Internet blocking

Ukrainian mobile phone and internet signal went from bad to non-existent, current and former residents of the city said. Some citizens bought Russian SIM cards to stay in touch with relatives and friends, although sometimes they don't work either, Margo said.

These SIM cards do not have any markings, and street vendors take photos of customers' passports and registration documents.

Reuters could not independently confirm these allegations.

Ukraine has called on residents of the Kherson region to evacuate due to an upcoming counteroffensive. In the past two weeks, at least four Ukrainian long-range rocket attacks have hit targets in Novaya Kahovka, which has so far been spared heavy fighting.

Margo said that many Ukrainian residents, especially the younger ones, have left the city. Her friends have gone abroad or to cities under Ukrainian control, and she is planning to go, too.

Stremusov estimates that around 60 to 70 percent of residents in the region have remained. He said that Russian passports were distributed in the region and that the queues were long.

On May 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for residents of Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Reuters could not determine how many people had left the city, but spoke to members of four families who had left.

The teacher said that she was not planning to leave. "We are waiting for the Ukrainian army," she said. "I don't know how it will happen or where we will hide and what we will lose, but we want to be in Ukraine."