(YELOTS, LIPETSK REGION) – Four years after the Kremlin launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine, the consequences of the conflict are becoming increasingly difficult for the Russian population to ignore. In the town of Yelots, located 350 kilometres from Moscow, the aesthetic of a traditional village is being eclipsed by the ubiquitous presence of military recruitment advertisements and fast food stalls displaying the “V” and “Z” symbols associated with the Russian war effort. One stall carries a slogan suggesting that after consuming a pancake, one might “take the whole world.“
While some residents such as Leonid express confidence in a Russian victory, the reality on the ground suggests the military campaign has not proceeded according to the initial plans of the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin. Although the Russian government refuses to release official casualty figures, the scale of battlefield losses is evident through personal accounts. Local resident Arena reports that her friend’s husband, her cousin’s son, and her grandson have all been killed in the fighting. She notes a distinct lack of clarity regarding the objectives of the current conflict compared to the Second World War.
The proximity of the war is further felt through the installation of drone strike shelters and monuments dedicated to the invasion. Economically, the four-year conflict has triggered a downturn. Small businesses face increased taxes, rising costs, and higher prices. Alistister Sea, a local bakery owner, warns that the closure of small enterprises would leave the town a “grey dark patch.“
In the regional capital of Lipetsk, the human cost is the most traumatic factor, with increasing numbers of citizens reporting friends or relatives killed or wounded. Despite this, the Russian dictator continues to project an image of victory, recently decorating officers and claiming the nation is fighting for its future. However, domestic infrastructure is failing. In some Lipetsk apartment blocks, residents are living with internal ice and leaking pipes that remains unfixed, alongside broken lifts.
Economic pressures continue to squeeze the elderly. Ivan, a local pensioner, observes that while pensions are nominally increased, the rise in prices outpaces these adjustments, resulting in no net gain. What was once perceived by many Russians as a distant conflict is now fundamentally altering the domestic landscape.
