From the rubble of Kupyansk City Hall, Olena rescues a chair, a screen: When the Russians withdrew from this city in north-eastern Ukraine, little was left, fueling widespread allegations of systematic looting.

On February 27, three days after the start of the war, the mayor of Kupyansk, Genadiy Matshora, agreed to hand over his city to the Russian army in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.

And the city — a major railroad hub located 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border and with a pre-war population of 27,000 — remained under Russian occupation until September 10.

The mayor, a member of the Moscow-backed Platform for Life opposition party, was promptly charged with treason by Kyiv and has since fled to Russia.

In Matsehora’s office on the second floor, there is still a stack of his business cards on the desk, and a torn poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the floor.

“This is where the man the Russian occupiers made mayor used to sit,” says Olena, a local government worker who wears earrings with Ukraine’s blue and gold trident.

It is the first time since the beginning of the war that the young mother is back at her job.

“Anyone who wanted to go back to work had to wipe their feet on the Ukrainian flag and shout: ‘Thank you, Russia, our liberators!’ while they’re being filmed,” she said.

She was detained by the Russians for five days in March and refuses to give her last name for fear of backlash from her family.

After her arrest, she remained holed up in her house and then took refuge in the basement at the height of the fighting in September.

It wasn’t until the city was liberated that she dared to leave the basement, only to find her house had been turned upside down.

“They took my microwave, my washing machine and something I just can’t explain: my toilet’s water tank. Not the toilet itself, just the water tank,” she told AFP.

Since the invasion began on February 24, allegations of looting in Russian-held areas have been rife, suggesting a systematic approach rather than the odd misdemeanor of a handful of bad apples.

The Ukrainian authorities have registered complaints from individuals and companies who hope they may one day be compensated in relation to future war reparations paid by Moscow.

In April, Belarusian investigative media group Hajun Project released CCTV footage from a parcel delivery service in the border town of Mazyr showing Russian soldiers sending dozens of parcels home.

Each package weighed between 50 and 450 kilograms (110 to 990 pounds), with more than two tons of goods being moved during the shoot, which spanned more than three hours.

In Kupyansk, which for months served as the headquarters of Russia’s civil-military administration, many residents took the looting calmly, relieved that they were spared arrest or torture at the hands of their occupiers.

All complaints are duly registered at the police station, which is currently housed in a makeshift building after its headquarters were leveled during the fighting.

But at this stage there are not enough resources to deal with the growing list of complaints that need to be processed for insurance purposes.

“The number of complaints after the occupation is enormous,” lead investigator Oleksandr Gitselev told AFP.

However, he could not say how many complaints had been received, damage to property was also reported, but with little hope of compensation.

“They mainly stole agricultural machinery, cars, grain and household appliances, among other things,” he explained.

At one farm, “they even took pigs, probably to eat,” Gitselev said.

“They went into every house and helped themselves: TVs, screens, computers … and even bathroom parts or radiators,” he said.

“For what reason? I have no idea. Maybe they don’t have these things at home.”