Russian governor claims dodging HIMARS missiles six times while visiting Donbas: ‘we were a fancy target’

Vladimir Uyba, the governor of Russia’s Komi Republic, has claimed that he had dodged HIMARS missiles six times during his trip to Donbas as he was delivering cargo for servicemen. He announced this on 19 November at a meeting with the families of the servicemen, according to the republic’s official website.

The governor’s convoy was under attack near Kreminna in the Luhansk region.

“Kreminna is a different story. There is active combat out there. We were targeted by HIMARS six times. Six times! <…> We were a fancy target,” Uyba said. The convoy was two buses with cargo and two jeeps, the governor says.

On 21 November, Alexander Sapozhnikov, the mayor of Chita, announced that he had resigned from his position and decided to go to war in Ukraine. “As a paratrooper with combat experience, as a citizen, I cannot stay away from the fateful battle of our Motherland for the right to the future that we received from our ancestors. It is my duty and my quest to stand up for our country again,” he wrote.

In September, Andrey Turchak of the United Russia party reported that four PMs volunteered to join the Russian Armed Forces and go to the combat zone.