"They tell us Russia has done a lot for us. But all I notice is that I don't have enough money to live like I did before. Before, I didn't just have a good life, I had a wonderful life. Now I'm struggling to get by." Oksana* is from the settlement of Novoaidar, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of the regional capital, Luhansk, which has been occupied since 2014. Soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in the spring of 2022, the Russian army also captured Novoaidar, as well as the cities of Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne, and took control of almost all of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. Since then, the population of Novoaidar has shrunk by a third. "Only older people have stayed. The young ones have fled to other parts of Ukraine, or abroad. The only place you see young people these days is in Luhansk," said Oksana. She told DW that her village is suffering because of the war. Her house is one of many that have been damaged by shelling, but the occupying authorities haven't provided any help for reconstruction. Bartering with neighbors for food Before the Russian invasion, Oksana, who cares for her elderly father, sold her own homegrown food. Now she no longer has livestock, and she's not permitted to sell vegetables, either. To do this, she would have to register a company according to Russian law. "We just grow vegetables for ourselves now, and barter with our neighbors," she said. A child in a woolly hat and hooded jacked peers anxiously out of a steamed-up bus window. A woman sitting beside her is also looking at the camera.A child in a woolly hat and hooded jacked peers anxiously out of a steamed-up bus window. A woman sitting beside her is also looking at the camera. Many families and children fled Sievierodonetsk and other cities and towns in eastern Ukraine in the early days of Russia's invasionImage: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo/picture alliance Oksana estimates that you need to earn at least 40,000 rubles a month (around €440/$500) to lead a normal life here. Many of the villagers — the postmen, for example — earn less than €200. The jobs on offer in local social media groups are mostly in either the service industry or construction. In nearby Sievierodonetsk, jobs for "workers with plumbing skills" are advertised at a salary of 120,000 rubles (€1,320). The Alchevsk iron and steel works also pays well. There are also often posts on social media promoting contracts with the Russian army, for which the pay is 216,000 rubles (€2,376). Like many residents of the occupied territories, Oksana's father still draws a Ukrainian pension. To do so, he has to use a VPN (virtual private network) to access the web portal of the Ukrainian pensions office, which has been blocked by the occupying forces. "Without this pension, you can't survive," said Oksana. Her father receives the equivalent of €61 a month. "That's enough to buy cheap food for a week," said Oksana. She has to supplement her father's minimum basic pension by using her family's savings. She complained that food prices have risen, and that there are only two shops left in Novoaidar. "In Luhansk, you can buy a dozen eggs for less than half the price," she said. That's why she makes the trip there every two weeks to go shopping. She's also been to Sievierodonetsk and Starobilsk. "But those cities are completely destroyed," she said. "On TV, they say that almost everything there has been rebuilt, but you still see burnt-out houses with no windows, doors or roofs." People there are still waiting for new windows and doors.