“We are not giving up, we are part of Ukraine!”
This provocative phrase is heard daily in the streets of the towns and villages of the Kherson area. The region in southern Ukraine has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the war against Ukraine. But people in the city of Kherson and Nova Kakhovka, Kakhovka, Hola Prystan, Skadovsk, Oleshky, Henichesk, Novotroitske and Chaplynka, protested peacefully against the presence of Russian troops, saying they were not invited and just had to leave.
“We had another rally yesterday. More than 5,000 people came, all holding blue and yellow flags,” said Yevhen Ryshchuk, Oleshky Mayor. “People sang the anthem and signed appeals to the US president and European heads of state, urging them to close airspace over Ukraine.”
Isolated from the rest of the country
The situation is similar in all these cities and villages. They are surrounded by Russian troops who, for the most part, control the roads in and out, but stay outside. The only exception is Nova Kakhovka, which stretches along the two banks of the Dnieper River and hosts a hydroelectric station. There, Russian troops can be seen in the streets of the city center.
The Ukrainian flag continues to fly in every municipality, where authorities continue to address local concerns.
“We have electricity, gas, water, the municipal services are working,” said Oleksandr Yakovlev, the mayor of Skadovsk. “People and volunteers have organized in associations to prevent looting. We can only contact the central government authorities by phone. But how can they help us now?”
“There are big problems with the logistics. People can not get their pensions by the post office, because no money has been delivered.”
Skadovsk is located about 30 km (about 18 miles) from the administrative border with Russian-occupied Crimea and 100 km from Kherson. Unlike other parts of the country, Skadovsk has not really seen any fighting. It was besieged in the first hours after the initial attack on February 24 by Russian troops, who immediately set up checkpoints everywhere, Yakovlev said.
“People are allowed to pass, but their cars and IDs are checked. Civilian vehicles also came under fire, and there were casualties. Yesterday they shot at an ambulance, but there were no casualties,” the mayor said. On the morning of March 9, Russian armored vehicles drove directly into the city and were stationed in front of the town hall, but did nothing else.
“There is no one to talk to”
Both mayors said they had not been contacted by the Russian military, which had made no demands. It was suspected that the soldiers themselves did not know what to do with the occupied territories. In any case, the mayors said, Russian troops were not received with flowers by the locals, as expected by Russia’s top leaders.
Volodymyr Kovalenko, the mayor of Nova Kakhovka, set up a temporary office in a municipal utility building because the town hall has been occupied by Russians, who use it as their headquarters. Kovalenko said they had appointed an administrator and imposed a traffic ban.
“The city is under the control of the Russian army. I make sure that life goes on in some way,” Kovalenko said. He said he only came in contact with the occupiers through his deputy – and only when he needed help with a problem he could not solve on his own, such as making a road trip over the dam, which is also under Russian control. He added that he was trying to deliver food to residential areas.
Other mayors have absolutely no contact with the Russians, including Mayor Ryshchuk in Oleshky. He said there were more than 100 bodies on a bridge over the Dnieper River, which connects his city with the city of Hersonissos. No one has been allowed to pick up the bodies of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers killed in the fierce fighting, not even priests or volunteers.
“There is no one to talk to,” Ryshchuk said. “People are constantly changing at checkpoints. Who are you negotiating with?”
Enough supplies to last another 10 days
Agriculture is one of the industries in the area, which means that locals still have access to basic food. Farmers from the surrounding areas have brought vegetables and meat to the cities. The damaged mills are repaired to supply the ovens with flour and oil.
But fuels and medicines, especially for cancer patients, are rare. “The food in our warehouses will last for another 10 days. But we have no extra supplies of medicines, fuel and lubricants. What we have will only last one or two more days,” Kovalenko said.
The mayors provided fuel stocks for municipal vehicles and ambulances. But when they run out, life in these towns and villages will probably be completely paralyzed – and no one knows what will happen next.
“People here are very much in favor of Ukraine”
Parts of the area no longer have mobile telephony coverage. However, people still have access to Ukrainian television broadcasts, even though the transmitter tower in Kherson has been occupied by Russian troops. Many people also have satellite dishes and others can get information over the internet.
“People here are very much in favor of Ukraine. This staged show, with the Russian humanitarian aid being distributed in front of Russian television cameras, does not work with the people here,” said Anton *, a Henichesk activist. in favor of Ukraine Rallies with thousands of participants would show the Russians that they are not welcome.
“The Russian soldiers told us they had not come as conquerors. But in the meantime, they threatened us that if provoked, they would level the city,” Anton said. He said many residents wondered why such a large part of the Kherson area had gone to the Russian army without a fight. But they hoped that Ukraine would soon regain control of its territory.
Meanwhile, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, units of the Russian National Guard have been deployed in the area and more than 400 Ukrainian citizens were arrested in the area on Wednesday.
This article was originally published in Ukrainian
* DW changed the activist’s name to protect his identity
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