KYIV
\nThe national anthem of Ukraine is broadcast at a bus stop in the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Lugansk as locals go about their daily business.
\n\u201cOur enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine, and we, too, brothers, we\u2019ll live happily in our land,\u201d go the famous lyrics.
\nThis month members of a Ukrainian resistance movement broadcast Kyiv\u2019s anthem in Lugansk to celebrate Independence Day on August 24 and posted the shaky cellphone video, surreptitiously shot to avoid attention, on social media.
\nIt was one of several initiatives carried out by members of the Yellow Ribbon Civil Resistance Movement, which was awarded the European Parliament\u2019s Sakharov Prize last year.
\nIvan, one of the movement\u2019s coordinators, said its members were present in big cities from Lugansk to Yalta in Crimea which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
\n\u201cWe are in all occupied cities,\u201d said Ivan, who lived in Kherson when it was held by the Russians. Ivan, who is in his 20s, declined to give his family name for security reasons.
\nThe Yellow Ribbon movement was born in April 2022 in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, which was under Russian occupation for more than eight months last year. Kyiv took back the city in November 2022.
\nDuring the occupation, Kherson residents staged protests against Moscow\u2019s troops who fired warning shots in response.
\nOver time, the movement has expanded its reach.
\nIvan said the goal of the non-violent movement was to provide moral support to Ukrainians and \u201cshow them you\u2019re not alone and we need to resist.\u201d
\n\u201cWe try to help Ukrainians,\u201d he told AFP during an interview in Kyiv.
\nThe movement\u2019s members are anonymous, and Ivan could not provide their precise numbers.
\nAccording to estimates, women make up around 70 percent of the group\u2019s members in Kherson.
\n\u201cMaybe men want to do more violent things,\u201d he said.
\nIvan insisted on the \u201cpeaceful and non-violent\u201d nature of the actions of the movement, which he says has no links to the Ukrainian security service.
\n\u201cWe have a lot of activities,\u201d he said, adding that they were active on social media.
\nActivists put up pro-Kyiv posters and leave ping-pong balls that feature slogans such as \u201cThis is Ukraine\u201d in public spaces.
\nThey also tie ribbons in the blue-and-yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag and draw graffiti.
\nWhile the initiatives might seem trivial to some observers, Ivan said their work was risky.
\nRussia-installed officials have branded Ukrainians supporting Kyiv \u201cUkronazi.\u201d
\nSupporters of the Kremlin\u2019s assault on Ukraine allege Kyiv\u2019s treatment of Russian speakers in the country is comparable with the actions of Nazi Germany.
\nMoscow-installed authorities have also pressured residents into adopting the Russian nationality and carried out regular arrests.
\n\u201cA lot of people were arrested in Crimea or Lugansk, or Melitopol because they were wearing blue and yellow T-shirts,\u201d said Ivan.
\nGiven the risks, the group\u2019s recruitment process is carried out with the help of an anonymous chatbot, a conversational software based on artificial intelligence.
\n\u201cWe have 10,000 active users in our chatbot,\u201d said the coordinator.
\nThe bot puts activists in contact with local coordinators, who advise them on how to act and send footage safely.
\nIvan said the activists do not share any information about the positions of the Russian forces with the Ukrainian army.
\n\u201cIf you are transmitting information about Russians,\u201d he said, \u201cyou are a military target for Russians, and it\u2019s more dangerous, of course.\u201d
\nThe latest posts by the peaceful resistance fighters target preparations for local elections scheduled to take place in Russia and in four partially controlled Ukrainian regions in September.
\nLast year Moscow announced it had annexed the regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson despite never fully controlling them.
\nShort videos from the resistance activists show newspapers being burnt and posters being torn down.
\nOne caption reads: \u201cWe are destroying the occupiers\u2019 pre-election propaganda in Lugansk.\u201d
\nIvan said that the successes of the Kyiv army\u2019s gruelling counteroffensive offered Ukrainians new hope.
\n\u201cPeople are more motivated than ever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV The national anthem of Ukraine is broadcast at a bus stop in the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Lugansk as locals go about their daily business. \u201cOur enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine, and we, too, brothers, we\u2019ll live happily in our land,\u201d go the famous lyrics. This month members of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-352967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n