Analyst of the East SOS Charity Foundation: “People in the TOT Feel Absolutely Insecure”

Nazarii Lutsenko, Analyst of the Documentation Department at East SOS, once again joined the Free Media Space program with Denys Kazanskyi to discuss the critical humanitarian situation in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT). He highlighted the massive shortages of electricity and water, as well as the complete inaction of the occupying authorities in meeting the basic needs of civilians.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, starting October 1, 2026, russia will once again raise electricity tariffs for residents of the temporarily occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions – this time by 30–50%, which is significantly higher than in most russian regions.

Nazarii Lutsenko emphasized that, according to testimonies from people who have left the occupied territories, residents there feel anxious, abandoned, and completely defenseless. In addition to the deepening humanitarian crisis, there is total lawlessness in the TOT – no justice mechanisms function, and the occupation administrations entirely ignore the needs of the civilian population.

Since 2014, the East SOS team has been documenting war crimes committed by russia in Ukraine. During the full-scale invasion, we conducted over 1,000 interviews and documented 1,560 alleged crimes – stories of people who survived the hell of war and occupation.

Documenting war crimes by the East SOS team is carried out within the framework of the project “Support for war-affected vulnerable groups and residents of remote areas of Ukraine”, implemented with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of the foundation and does not necessarily reflect the position of the EU.

In the previous episode, an analyst of the Documentation Department noted: “Occupation is followed by russian reality – a dictatorship that neglects people.”