Konstantin Kushakevich, a longtime resident of Kherson, felt an enormous sense of relief when Russian troops entered his home city last March. He told Sputnik that under Ukrainian rule, Kherson’s Russian-speaking residents experienced systematic discrimination.
“The Russian language was prohibited, we had to pay bribes for everything, and when it comes to food, we couldn’t even afford sausages,” he says.
According to Konstantin, the quality of life of Kherson visibly improved in the eight months after the city was liberated by Russian forces. Unsurprisingly, many local residents expressed dismay when Kiev regime troops began moving closer to the outskirts of Kherson in November 2022.
“People were doing what they could to leave this hell,” says Konstantin. “We left in October, and in November our home was hit by an artillery shell, so our apartment is not there anymore. None of us would have survived if we stayed.”
When they were given a chance to evacuate Kherson because of safety concerns, the Kushakevich family, as well as many others, knew for sure where they were going. Konstantin’s relative Irina says that people were purposely choosing Russia as their destination. “Everyone we know – our relatives and acquaintances went here. Nobody went to the other side.”
The family was evacuated to the resort town of Anapa in southern Russia’s Krasondar region and settled in a local hotel. Irina’s eight-year-old son Maksim started learning the Russian curriculum at the local school, just like his two neighbors living in the same hotel – sixth-grader Maksim Kozak, and his brother Timofey, who’s in the eighth grade.
The father of the two Kozak boys, Roman Kozak, says that it was impossible to follow Russian traditions in their home region of Kherson under Ukrainian rule:
“In 2014, Ukrainian authorities banned the celebration of Victory Day, May 9. So when the special military operation began, the people of our town Genichesk rose to join the parade and to visit the [Great Patriotic War] memorial. Genichesk is a Russian town, just as the whole Kherson region is Russia.”
The Kozaks, a family of five, say they were very happy to move to the Krasnodar region, as with Kiev in charge of their home city they were struggling to make ends meet - earning around 5,000 hryvnias ($136) and having to spend up to 8,000 on housing bills, with no help from the state.
In Anapa, they have already received a housing certificate from the Russian government, which they are now planning to use to buy real estate.
According to the deputy head of Anapa's administration, Vitaly Voronov, the town has already provided accommodation to 10,000 newcomers, such as the Kozak and Kushakevich families. Their stories are different, and not all of them would like to move to other Russian cities, some would like to go home once Russia regains full control of the new regions such as Kherson. But, as per Voronov, the opportunities for those who don’t want to go back and would like to start anew in the Krasnodar region or elsewhere in Russia are virtually unlimited:
“We have set up sort of multifunctional centers here for the newcomers, and there are delegations from other Russian regions coming there, like the one from Pskov Oblast,” Voronov tells Sputnik in an interview. “They came here last week, they brought offers from their businesses and they presented new opportunities for the workforce. Some people accept such offers. Why not? They have a job offer, they have a [housing] certificate, so it’s a chance to open up a new page in their lives in the new region, and Russia is hospitable no matter where you go – they understand that.”
As per Vitaly Voronov, many Anapa residents, including those from Kuban Cossack formations, are currently serving in the conflict zone, with local businesses, political parties, and private individuals sending a total of 200 tons of humanitarian aid to Russian soldiers who are taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine. Voronov is positive that the goals of the operation will be successfully completed, just as he has no doubt about positive developments in the lives of the evacuees.
A total of 6,000 housing certificates, which are already being dubbed “Kherson certificates,” have been issued by local authorities. Some real estate agents interviewed by Krasnodar media say that around 95% of newcomers from Kherson have chosen to stay in the Krasnodar region, with the local real estate market experiencing a boom in purchases with the use of government-issued housing certificates.
A single person is eligible to use the certificate to purchase a 33-square-meter apartment or a house. A family of two can count on a 42-square meter property, with bigger families receiving 18 square meters per person.