"We staggered on through there but Covid was really bad."

Iryna complains that she cannot go out on her own even for coffee "because solders can point a gun at you and say something abusive or order you to please them".Resistance in Ukraine's occupied cities is dangerous, and it often comes in small acts of defiance aimed at reminding residents that they are not alone.

In Melitopol, Mavka talks of being part of a secret female resistance movement called(Angry Mavka) "to let people know that Ukrainians don't agree with the occupation, we didn't call for it, and we will never tolerate it".The network is made up of women and girls in "pretty much all occupied cities", according to Iryna, although she cannot reveal its size or scale because of the potential dangers for its members.

Mavka describes her role in running the network's social media accounts, which document life under occupation and acts like placing Ukrainian symbols or leaflets in public places "to remind other Ukrainians that they are not alone", as well as even riskier practices."Sometimes we also put a laxative in alcohol and baked goods for the Russian soldiers, as a 'welcome pack'," she says.

Punishment for that kind of act, which the BBC is unable to verify, would be severe.

Russia's occupation authorities treat the Ukrainian language or anything related to Ukraine as extremist, says Mavka.The court heard that she had agreed Nikolic could stay at her home in the city, but when she woke up, he was assaulting her.

"It was incomprehensible that my best friend would do something like that to me," she said.Ms Piggin, who is now unable to work due to her mental health,

said the assault left her with a sense of "confusion, betrayal and sadness".She said she could not believe her former friend "abused" the trust she gave him.