how Belgorod residents live in the Voronezh temporary detention center

The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said at the end of last week that people who left Belgorod due to massive shelling from Ukraine can return to the city. In his opinion, only residents of border settlements should not rush into this. A Kommersant correspondent visited a temporary accommodation center (TAP) set up for residents of Belgorod, an hour’s drive from Voronezh, and asked the refugees if they were ready to return home.

One of the temporary temporary accommodation centers in the Voronezh region is deployed at the Tsyurupa sanatorium. This is the Liskinsky district, about 100 km from Voronezh – and four hours by car from Belgorod. Historical places: previously there was an estate of landowner Alexander Zvegintsov. How many years have passed, and still no industrial enterprises have appeared here. Therefore, on hot April days, the air seems especially clean after the polluted and already boiling Voronezh. Moreover, the sanatorium is surrounded by coniferous and deciduous trees, and very close to the Ikorets River, where water lilies bloom in summer.

The administration assures that their sanatorium is the largest health resort in central Russia, ready to accommodate about 500 people at a time. A temporary accommodation center was opened here for the first time in October 2022. Then the sanatorium received refugees from the Kharkov city of Kupyansk, who left their homes after the withdrawal of the Russian army. Most of them gradually settled in Russia – now only 57 former Ukrainian citizens remain in the sanatorium. “I think they have adapted. They are already citizens of Russia, most of them work for us or on shifts. Someone took part in the restoration of Mariupol,” says Deputy Chief Physician Elena Sidelnikova.

In March of this year, the sanatorium housed about forty residents of Belgorod who fled the city due to shelling from Ukraine. Since then, only one family has moved in with relatives—there are now 38 Belgorod residents living in the TAP. “These are two completely different categories,” compares the Kupyansk and Belgorod refugees, deputy chief physician Nadezhda Lozhechnik. “The first ran away from the basements, in slippers, without anything. They have a more positive assessment of what they have here. Belgorod residents left from better conditions – from their apartments, with children who participate in sports sections and clubs. They need infrastructure – they are young and want to work.”

“Here we were greeted like family. The food is good, the accommodation is excellent,” Belgorod resident Anna Kaminskaya assures a Kommersant correspondent. “When we arrived here, I slept for three days. Because there is silence here. And there I couldn’t sleep at all because of the shelling.” The woman would like to return home as soon as possible, to her husband and grandchildren, but she believes that it is not safe yet: “They are still shooting there.”

Anna Popova says that she left the city only because of her daughter Alexandra: “Schools and swimming pools are closed, it’s impossible to go for a walk. I want my child to have a normal childhood.” While evacuated, the girl goes to first grade at a local school, which is located 15 km from the sanatorium. “The adaptation at school was as if my daughter had always been there. She was introduced to the children and received well. The kids get used to it very quickly,” says Anna. Her husband remained in Belgorod; he tells Anna that the city is being shelled less often. But the woman believes that it is premature to return: “We’ll see what’s happening there for now.”

In the sanatorium, she and her daughter live in one room: two beds, a desk with two chairs, a wardrobe. The girl’s bed is littered with soft toys. Alexandra says that they were brought by volunteers, and another toy was given as a gift from the church.

In the second building of the temporary temporary detention center, psychologists from the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations work with residents of Belgorod. “Our task is to look at the moral and psychological state of children. Check to see if they have PTSD. Listen to their wishes,” explains the psychologist. “In general, everything is fine with the children, they are calm here. But they still have stress symptoms. What they experienced is not normal at all.” However, the “stress manifestations” are invisible to a non-specialist: while the Kommersant correspondent was talking with psychologists, in the hall of the temporary detention center, a preschool boy and girl were enthusiastically playing, imagining themselves as the bride and groom.

The mother of the boy playing in the hall, Ekaterina Antonenko, came to the Voronezh region with four children. She is thinking about returning to Belgorod, but she herself stipulates that there are many “buts”: “The children have just gotten used to all this. Here they can walk, everything is fine with them, they are happy with everything. Then you think: what if you come and God forbid something happens… Then you’ll blame yourself all your life.”

Olga Venikova came to the Voronezh region with two children. “We are from a large, developing, modern city. We were brought to a sanatorium, the conditions of which are excellent for relaxation, but for the resumption of social life are not at all what is needed,” she admits. “In Belgorod, my preschooler son, in addition to kindergarten, attended additional classes – swimming, football, judo. Here I only take him to kindergarten in my car, and there is no additional education for younger children.” In addition, during the evacuation she was unable to find work – now her husband, who remained in Belgorod, provides for the family. “We have mortgages and utilities that need to be paid. I would like to go to work; I have two higher educations. If we were settled closer to the million-plus city of Voronezh, then we would realize ourselves and could give our children more opportunities,” says Mrs. Venikova.

Currently, there are more than 2.5 thousand people in temporary accommodation centers set up at regional hotels, sanatoriums and camps, including 115 Belgorod residents (including 24 children). Voronezh authorities are exploring the possibility of relocating citizens who were forced to arrive in the region from temporary temporary accommodation centers into full-fledged apartments. This will improve living conditions for refugees and reduce budget expenses, officials say. “Citizens cannot conduct their daily lives within the confines of one room. “Children need to study, adults need to work,” explains Yulia Galkina, deputy head of the city department for entrepreneurship development, consumer market and innovation policy. “What can I say, in the TAP there is breakfast, lunch and dinner according to the proposed menu. Everyone is happy with it, it’s tasty and varied – but not the same as at home.” According to her, relocating people to temporary temporary accommodation will reduce budget expenses: “For example, a family of three lives in temporary temporary accommodation – and funding is provided for each separately. And when they move into one apartment, living expenses decrease.”

In order to resettle refugees in apartments, city authorities must enter into municipal apartment rental contracts with homeowners. After analyzing the market, officials are ready to pay up to 41 thousand rubles for renting a one-room apartment, up to 59 thousand rubles for a two-room apartment, and up to 71 thousand rubles for a three-room apartment. As city authorities told Kommersant, about 60 homeowners have already submitted applications to rent out apartments to refugees.

Sergey Tolmachev, Voronezh