• As Ukraine searches for traitors, fears of Russian infiltration spread eastward. Sense of paranoia is strongest in eastern Ukraine, where suspicions of treason divide formerly occupied villages. In Kutuzivka, a 55-year-old farm owner was arrested and accused of collaborating with Russian soldiers.
• Antonova’s case has sparked interest in Russia. According to the interior ministry, the National Police have detained over 1,000 people suspected of sabotage and reconnaissance on behalf of Russian authorities.
• Some villagers claim Antonova is being unfairly targeted, demonstrating the complexities of such cases.

KUTUZIVKA, Ukraine – On July 28, As Ukraine searches for traitors, fears of Russian infiltration spread eastward, far from the capital.

The sense of paranoia is strongest in eastern Ukraine, where suspicions of treason committed by locals divide formerly occupied villages like Kutuzivka, a once-sleepy hamlet east of Kharkiv with visible signs of a recent Russian presence.

When Reuters visited the village at the end of May, Ukrainian troops were still fighting off a near-constant barrage of artillery fire from Russian troops north of the village.

When Russian troops arrived in Kutuzivka in early March, they quickly installed a puppet government.

Nataliia Kyrychenko, a 55-year-old village farm owner, was hiding in her house with several neighbours when Russian soldiers arrived. According to villagers, a Russian commander led Kyrychenko and her neighbours out onto the street and informed them that the village would now be led by a local woman named Nadiia Antonova.

Kyrychenko claimed that Russian forces interrogated her for two days about her son-in-law, who works in Ukrainian law enforcement. According to Kyrychenko, the soldiers told her that Antonova had informed them about her son-in-law and accused her of working as a spotter for Ukrainian troops, tasked with tracking Russian soldiers’ movements.

“I honestly didn’t think I’d come back when the Russian soldiers took me away,” she said. “I couldn’t believe someone in our neighbourhood would turn me in.”

Kyrychenko was eventually granted his release. Russian Kremlin officials did not respond to Reuters’ questions about the case.

Ukraine successfully pushed back Russian troops and liberated Kutuzivka in late April. Antonova was quickly detained and charged with collaborating with Russian soldiers. If convicted, she could spend more than a decade in prison. Antonova’s lawyer did not respond to questions from Reuters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke earlier this month about the high cost of Russian infiltration on the country. There are many more cases that fall into the grey area below the highest levels of treason he highlighted. These cases can range from those who share pro-Russian content on social media to those who assist occupying Russian troops in any way.

“Our population played a very important role in informing police and alerting us to saboteurs,” Yevhen Yenin, the first deputy minister of the interior ministry, which oversees the national police, said.

Though the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is officially tasked with investigating such cases, Yenin claims that the police have done much of the practical work of gathering information.

According to the interior ministry, the National Police have detained over 1,000 people suspected of sabotage and reconnaissance on behalf of Russian authorities.

In late May, four police officers began their night patrol in Kharkiv, about 40 kilometres from the Russian border, shortly after the city’s curfew of 10 p.m. The officers scoured the city’s darkened streets for suspicious figures, brandishing AK-47s and wearing bulletproof vests.

“Whenever we stop someone, we try to figure out where they live, who they are, and whether or not they speak Ukrainian,” said Tymur, who declined to give his last name.

As an air raid siren wailed overhead, their car accelerated. The officers went underground to seek refuge in a subway station. They reappeared fifteen minutes later to patrol the deserted streets until dawn.

Antonova’s case has sparked interest in Russia. According to Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russian state television channel RT, Antonova assisted the Russian operation and is now being unfairly punished. “We need to save those who can be saved and reward those who deserve it,” Simonyan said.

Some villagers also claim Antonova is being unfairly targeted, demonstrating the complexities of such cases. They claim Antonova provided food for the villagers and protected them from mistreatment by Russian soldiers during the occupation.

“Can you call it collaboration when the Russians are putting their guns against her back?” exclaimed one resident outside a kindergarten where a dozen villagers still live underground.

However, regional prosecutor Oleksandr Filchakov stated that investigators had evidence Antonova provided information to the enemy that resulted in the deaths of Ukrainians. While acknowledging some villagers’ sympathies, Filchakov stated that Ukrainians needed justice.

“She must be held accountable,” he stated.

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