Thread by @sumlenny

Amazing @SDanylov is presenting a sociological study of the occupied regions
- We did not only talked in low voice. We thought in low voice;
Vs.
- I realized what free people we are. We disputed with the Russians, we made fun of them.
These were impressions of the same person. /1

Serhii @SDanylov:
- The Russians invested a lot of different, contradicting narratives, just to spam the discussion;
- One of the most massively produced Russian narratives: "it is the Ukrainians who shell you", this is 3/4 of all Russia-produced rumours; /2

Serhii @SDanylov further on the sociological studies of the liberated territories, how they lived under the Russians:
- It was very hard for people to wait for the liberation, they did not know how long they need to carry on;
- Amid blackouts radio was most available media; /3

Serhii @SDanylov: it was incredibly important to provide occupied territories with info on the Russian losses. Respondents said:
- We searched for KIA info daily. Just to find a number of the Russian KIA. 1st thing every morning. Never thought this would make me so happy. /4

Serhii @SDanylov: people looked for different safety models for communication. Some cut any contacts, talking only to relatives. Language was a very important factor. Some started to talk to the Russians only in Ukrainian. This was a way of resistance, claiming the space. /5

Serhii @SDanylov: in a town Zelenivka there was an older male who started to walk through public spaces and loudly talked Ukrainian, and urged there others to talk only Ukrainian. This was a way to claim the occupied territories as Ukrainian. /6

Serhii @SDanylov: a dilemma came if the locals should take the Russian "humanitarian help" or "pensions" or not. Many locals took it, seeing it as a way to take Russian resources. Some pensioners took all the "pensions" from the Russians and transferred money to Ukrainian army /7

Serhii @SDanylov: the Russians created artificially situations humiliating people, like throwing food on soil, or creating a crowd. The Russians loved to film all such cases when people were humiliated while receiving "humanitarian aid", to present Ukrainians as poor ones. /8

Serhii @SDanylov: not all collaborators betrayed Ukrainians to the Russians, even if these UKR harshly criticised the collaborators. But the collaborators were those who invested most energy in spreading RU narratives and trying to distort reality, turning into RU agents. /9

Serhii @SDanylov: the Russians tried to set the rules of the #RusskiyMir:
- In one case, every morning, the Russians came to the local market and loudly said: "Good morning, you Russian people! This is Russian land forever!" - this triggered people a lot. /10

Serhii @SDanylov: I don't mention here kidnapping, rape, execution, most people know this. But there was another way to pressure people: for example, by houses searches the Russias added more trauma: they deliberately broke furniture, massively defecated in the rooms, etc. /11

Serhii @SDanylov: the largest gap is now between those who collaborated and those who not. The problem: there were many actions which are seen as collaboration, but they are clearly beyond any crime: for example trade with the Russians, or consuming food or alcohol together. /12

Serhii @SDanylov: these cases cannot be prosecuted, but the locals who rejected any contacts with the Russians, see this as an unfair lack of consequences. /13

Serhii @SDanylov: when we asked the locals, if there were any resistance, most said: "no". But we realised that the locals call only armed fight "resistance". And there were a lot of resistance cases, including removal of the Russian flags, or vocal conflicts with the RU. /14

Serhii @SDanylov: a very important way to resist was not to accept the Russians' rules. For example: a granny goes to the street which the Russians blocked. The Russians say: "it is forbidden". The granny: "It is my land, I go where I want to go". /15

Serhii @SDanylov: In Zelenivka the locals created an underground school for kids. The parents went regularly to a place where they had mobile network and received tasks from the school in the free territory. They did not let kids to go to a Russian school. /16

Serhii @SDanylov: The resistance has mostly female face. The Russians did not expect that women have so much importance and influence in Ukraine. Ukrainian women organised a lot of info collection and analysis, civilian women googled+learned all the types of the RU equipment. /17

A representative of a local administration: Several months of occupation demonstrated, that our self-governance reforms in the local communes which took place since 2014 helped a lot. The occupation took us all the basic rights. But the community network remained. /18

A representative of a local administration: this was an argument of the local commune's head towards the Russians: "I cannot do this and that, the locals will not listen to me". The Russians did not understand it: "You are the head of the village, you may just give an order". /19

A representative of a local administration: the Russians could not understand how the society works here, they believed that people are not different from the Russians. They installed a pro-RU advertising board, but regularly there appeared a graffiti "Putin is a d*ckhead". /20

A representative of a local administration: our kids visited Ukrainian online schools. We paid with Hryvnya in digital payments. We created a parallel underground independent society, Ukraine continued to exist in these forms, it was extremely important, this parallel life. /21

A representative of a local administration: the Russian collaborators say: "don't support liberation. If Ukraine liberates this town, (the Russians) will shell it. You don't want to live a liberated town close to a frontline. Under occupation you don't have shelling." /22