Buried phones, bribes and paranoia: Life under Russian occupation

One couple buried their phones in the garden to keep them from being seized by the Russian invaders.

Others gave away their cars or paid bribes to get Russian troops to let them flee to Ukrainian-held land.

And many more lost their businesses and homes to the new rulers of Kherson and its neighbouring region of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s war-shattered south.

The accounts of life under occupation by those who managed to escape tell a tale of near-total paranoia and subjugation to the whims of soldiers and Kremlin appointees.

Russia has imposed martial law and curtailed co...