Stanytsia Luhanska is the only town in the Luhansk region with an official entry-exit checkpoint between the occupied part of the region and the government-controlled part of Ukraine. Every day, nearly 11,000 people cross the border from the occupied territory. Most of them are pensioners making regular trips to collect their pension payments from the Ukrainian state.
After waiting two to five hours at the checkpoint, hundreds of people queue up outside of the bank to verify their identity and get their money. Whoever doesn’t reach the front of the line before the bank closes needs to spend the night and wait again the next morning.
