Moscow’s local allies were told ‘Russia is here for ever’. Now they flee Ukraine

Supporters in shock as Kremlin reneges on vow that helped project power into captured towns and villages

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Just weeks ago, Irina was working in the Russian occupation administration in Kupiansk, a large town in northern Ukraine that had been captured days after Vladimir Putin launched his war against the country.

But then, as Russian troops fled the city and the Ukrainian army retook occupied territories in the country's north, she and her family fled what they expected would be swift punishment for collaborating with the Russian invasion force.