MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. Militants of the Ukrainian armed forces and officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have been beating and robbing civilians in the Kiev-controlled part of Kharkov Region’s Kupyansk district for refusing to abandon their homes and evacuate to rear areas of the country, the press service of the Military-Civil Administration of the Kharkov Region reported.
"The situation is very difficult for civilians of the Kupyansk district under Ukrainian occupation. Militants and SBU officers operating in the Kupyansk district are harassing these people. Everyone who refuses to evacuate from frontline settlements to the territory temporarily controlled by the Kiev regime is deemed a traitor. The militants beat, rob, or take such citizens, mainly the male ones, to unknown locations," the report said.
The press service clarified that the militants view such people as traitors, "waiting for the Russians," so they are not entitled to either humanitarian aid or human dignity.
"Cases of Ukrainian military officers beating people to death have been reported. A lot of militants from Western Ukraine are now in the Kupyansk direction. As the Russian army approaches, they realize that they will have to pay for their crimes. Until then, they are engaged in looting and destroying houses of civilians," the press service noted.
On November 7, Head of the Kharkov Military-Civil Administration Vitaliy Ganchev told TASS that the Russian Armed Forces were several kilometers away from the outskirts of Kupyansk. The Ukrainian authorities are evacuating the population in the territories under their control, explaining this by "security issues." However, Ganchev noted that residents of the region often do not want to evacuate, and the Ukrainian authorities' evacuation efforts are related to the Ukrainian armed forces' preparations for defense.