Kherson. Reporting of the Novaya Gazeta specialist Elena Kostyuchenko

The correspondent of Novaya Gazeta Elena Kostyuchenko has been in Ukraine from the very beginning of the Russian invasion. Due to the introduction of military censorship in Russia, its reports were released in the “new” with abbreviations, then some of them were deleted by the editors due to the threat of criminal prosecution . On March 28, the New Gazeta received from Roskomnadzor the second written warning for mentioning the NPO - “Foreign Agent” without marking - and decided to suspend the work until the end of the “Special Operation in Ukraine”. The Medusa editors expresses solidarity with journalists of the publication.

We are sure that in the current conditions, Elena Kostyuchenko’s reports about the war should be available to Russians. With the kind permission of Novaya Gazeta, its chief editor, Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov and the author, we publish them in full.

This text was published in Novaya Gazeta on March 26 with abbreviations due to military censorship . Other reports of Elena Kostyuchenko can be read on Medusa here (reporting from the border with Poland), here (from Odessa) and here (from Nikolaev).

How the city was taken

Kherson was occupied by the Russian army on March 3. First, the city was taken into the ring: the surrounding villages and the airfield were busy. Then the Russian military entered the city.

This is the only regional center of Ukraine for the month of the war, which is taken and held by the Russian army.

How did Kherson take? “Stupidity or betrayal, possibly, is both,” says Andrei Gordeev, a former governor of the Kherson region:

So, we have four defense lines. The first is the isthmus between the Kherson region and the Crimea, it should have been completely mined. And by the way, they told me that a week before the attack he was cleared by some dick.

Next are border guards, but the task of the border guards is not to join the battle, but to see the fact of aggression, give a signal and move away, move away and so on. Then our irrigation system is already coming. The irrigation system - it was designed in the Soviet Union by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture. The structure itself - as it were, the shape of the channel - does not provide for its intersection of any mode of transport. In any case, this is a waste of movement. That is, the logic is this: bridges explode, they all stop and our artillery is simply heralds, the rest of the form.

Then the third line of defense is the Dnieper River itself. Until the last, the Dnieper is held, the Antonovsky bridge, if that - it explodes, and Kherson, as it were, is generally outside the hostilities, there is no bridge, we only guard the water line. Dick him who will cross is the Dnieper.

And the last line of defense is the Kakhovsky bridgehead. There is an evacuation of the new Kakhovka, people are evicted there, and the Kakhovsky bridgehead is being held. Reduts, caponiers are made there. All this is allocated for a day. These days we had to stop them at the entrance. It didn't work out.

The current governor Gennady Laguta, according to the colleagues, on the first day of the war put the keys on the table to the mayor with the words: “I am not participating in this,” and left the region. Together with him - on the first day of the war - the police leadership, prosecutors, courts left, a little later, the SBU employees were evacuated.

For the Antonovsky bridge over the Dnieper, the battles went for two days. They tried to undermine the bridge twice, they aimed at it “U”. At another bridge of the Kherson region - a genetic automobile - gave a life to an engineer of a separate battalion sailor Vitaly Skakun, who personally carried out a detachment.

Zelensky awarded him the title of Hero of Ukraine.

The column of Russian tanks was looking for bypass paths - and, of course, found.

* * *

Teroboron - an armed civilian unit to protect the public order of strategic objects, an analogue of the People’s Militia - was organized in the Kherson region back in 2016. According to Andrei Gordeev, there were no tasks before the unit, and after he was replaced by a military commissar, many military pensioners signed up in Terboron - to receive a salary with a pension:

The war began, but we have not a single checkpoint, not a single one! Everyone wants to do something, no one knows what to do. Nobody controls anyone. I go to this team of Terborne, I say: "Dima, what is it?" He did not even have Kherson's cards on the table. Understand? Volunteers resorted to during the day, stood near the military registration and enlistment office, did not know what to do. Nobody went to them. At seven o’clock in the evening they brought a bus, and they were taken to the village to the Dneprynskoye, where the Terborne base was supposed to be.

At seven in the morning of the same day there was a meeting on the defense of the region. The brigade commander Ishchenko says: “Guys, war, I need to take a truck from a warehouse to your base.” Those say: "Everything is fine, wait, now it will be." He calls at eight in the morning: "Where is my truck?" They say: "Wait, now it will be." [Nikolai] Yakimenko, he called, the deputy governor of defense. He calls at 9 in the morning, calls at 10 in the morning: wait. And at 11 in the morning, Yakimenko says to him: “Sorry, turn to the mayor, because I’m generally far away, in evacuation.” That is, this is while he promised transport, he simply ran away with the administration together.

At 11 in the morning, the brigade commander already understands that he does not have a car. And he accidentally finds out that a car with a weapon in [the city] Aleshki is traveling-catching up with the 59th brigade, which was defeated there. He says: "I stop it and throw off from it 660 machines with ammunition." And that's it, she went. It’s good that at least it took it, because the car did not reach, it was cheating on the dam. And from this car, 400 machines are issued on the first day to volunteers in the Dneprynsky. There is a battle on the Antonovsky bridge. We must take the bridge under guard - like, everything there. And they walked about three kilometers on foot, this Antonovsky bridge. They came there, there was already night there, a dull night. Aviation healed along them, they saw the guts - and how they gave everything! Somewhere half of the machine guns were returned, half, so, disappeared. Like people. Well, in the sense, they lay down somewhere to the bottom, they were sick.

It was the night from the 24th to the 25th.

As a result, he has 220 machines left. At Ishchenko. I brought them about 50 “flies” [RPG-18 “Fly”], there was a bus, immersed with these guys, such a boiler. We came, opened the trunk, there are “flies”. "Boys, can you have?" The brigade commander says: "Yes, take it." And in short, we gave half of the “flies” to them. They are in cellophane. And there, there are on the frames [Video with the dead fighters of Terborne]: they are so in cellophane and lie.

And their battalion commander makes them in buses with cocktails with these and “flies” to a lilac park. To prevent the coming of the Russians from the Kamyshan. If people were a little more prepared, then this tragedy would not have happened. The Russians were counting on blitzkrings, and, perhaps, with resistance they would have scattered. But people were just meat. For the idea. Only in a lilac park 36 children died. They were shot from machine guns. Our priest Kherson buried 67 children from Terobors, unidentified, himself. They are just like dogs, 20 centimeters are sprinkled like clay, without coffins, without nothing! Here the father took a picture of them all, made a numbering, made a closed chat in a telegram. We will win, he says, then we will get them all.

Kherson journalist Konstantin Ryzhenko says:

The deputy head of the regional council simply published such, such as, funny publications that everything would be fine. And people were in full confidence that we have territorial defense, that the military has some kind of tricky plan, that we will now lure them on some key approaches, throw Molotov cocktails, then our military will look out because of some corner, shoot everyone with artillery and somewhere else with machine guns will achieve those who could survive. Well, such as if euphoria in people who were really not in war.

I, too, to some extent believed in it, because I look at the experience of other cities. There they dragged tires, bags of sand, there, somehow hold on. It can be seen that they resist. I think: “class, and we, too,” but in the end it turned out that Terborne gathered only 200 people, on the very first day they took them out somewhere, even the enemy did not cross the bridge, gave them one machine gun to five people, and everyone, they said: “Sit wait.” Nothing happened. They give them some physical exercises there, almost push-ups and running. Then they sat there for a day, these military arrived, they say: "Listen, let's go home." Then two days later they said: "Return."

One minibus arrived. 20 people fit. They said to everyone else: "All, go home."

It was an unofficial folk militia. People were told: "Go home." People understood, heard it like “we are handing over the city” and decided that hell to you, and not to surrender the city. Somehow, like, like, self-organized. And died.

City

In the regional council, standing on Freedom Square, there was a “military commandant’s office” of the city. The names of the military commandant were not reported to the Khersonites. In local telegram channels, a order of the commandant’s hour and a ban on rallies that are not signed by anyone walks by anyone.

Civil power in the city is personified by the mayor Igor Kolykhaev, in fact, he acts as the governor. I met the mayor in the City Council. “Not to the interview. We are under occupation, you must understand. The city of Kherson is in Ukrainian jurisdiction. My number is number one - so that the city lives. No requirements were received on their part. For my part - so that weapons and military equipment do not go through the city so that they do not steal people, activists who live in the city. ”

The City Council belonging to the Ukrainian authorities and the regional council engaged in the Russians are located on the same street - Central, Ushakov. There are 500 meters between them.

The Kherson Regional Council accepted the appeal in which he announced that the KhNR - the Kherson People’s Republic by the type of LPR and the DPR would not arise. “Deputies of the Kherson Regional Council of the VIII convocation never recognize attempts to create a part of Ukraine in the Kherson region and chill.” The deputy regional council Yuri Sobolevsky explained that since the regional council building was busy with the Russian military, voted in the zoom, but only 50 people out of 64.44 voted against the INR.

Above the abandoned buildings of the SBU and the police are Russian flags.

The commandant hour from 20 to 6.

Two -hour queues for ATMs.

Trolleybuses go for free.

There is no gasoline and gas in the city, but there was a diesel fuel.

On the third day of occupation in the Kherson region, Russian television channels were included. Ukrainian television is preserved in those who are connected to the antenna directly, without a prefix. The city media actually stopped working. The city takes information from telegram channels.

Kherson lives without a police. The police management left Kherson on the first day of the war, an ordinary police officer was offered to change into civilian clothes and evacuated independently.

Police duties are performed by municipal protection and self -organized volunteers.

Arthur (the name changed), the head of the defense of one of the districts, says:

We installed the Zello program to all - this is a radio station that operates via mobile Internet. We made a common chat - our chats are not secret, open - we do not hide that we help people, carry public order. We are organized with reference to the place of residence. Often people even sit and observe at home - they see who has a threat, but who does not. Immediately associated with the nearest people in the patrol. Depending on the event, we pull ourselves and decide on the spot. If this is looting, most often we simply carry out educational work and tie it to the pillar for a while. We tie with tape. We try to stop thefts, looting, household issues. Today, for example, they also went in case: it turns out, they began to row in the same house, raised the whole house on their ears. This morning we came to them, held a preventive conversation.

* * *

The looting, which appeared in the first two days after the entrance of the Russians into the city, has now practically disappeared. They managed to plunder the largest shopping center “Factory” (it fell under the shelling), a Citrus technique store, several grocery. Greenline and Selpo supermarkets, in order not to become victims of looters, opened their doors themselves.

On the streets there are burned cars - there is no one to remove them.

The meter hole in house 2 on Tarla Street is sealed with a metal patch. Nearby is the turned out of the balcony pocket. The glass densely strewn the ground from all sides of the house. Houses on Tarla Street took over the first artista entering the city of the army.

Alexandra Pavlovna Koznacheva has just received a humanitarian - 10 loaves at home. On each loaf - a piece of paper with an apartment number, distribute to the residents. On the table, flowers are placed, dropped from window sills with an explosion. The flowers managed to reanimate. “Well, okay, I understand when Hitler, there they have fascists, foreigners, well, in general, this is completely different compared ... I personally can’t choose a single word to call this person not even what the devil, I do not know. I have no words, no. Take to cut off all the joy of life! " - says Alexandra Pavlovna and cries in a fist. She gives herself to tears no more than a minute, and there are no tears.

And they began to bomb, you know, before lunch. Because I stood here opposite the countertop.

No one expected, and even more so! I don’t know what bullet I flew into the bathroom. I sat when I hear, glasses - glass pour.

Well, it came to us, into the second house, and a projectile flew into the fourth house. And all the first and second floors hooked strongly with an explosive wave.

I already hear - quietly. I opened the door, went out, look - my flowers lie on the floor, the glasses lie here and rained there. Two such huge explosions, it turned out that it came to us. When I left, the glasses were not in my apartment anywhere.

And in the sixth apartment - opposite mine - the grandmother was sitting in the kitchen, this saved her. This grandmother began to scream scary. There, in general, it was hysterical ... And the door of the entrance was closed, there the door is so powerful, powerful that it did not dump it. We could not even pull out my grandmother through the door. We pulled it through the balcony, through the hole where there was a balcony. They called an ambulance. She was there in the blood, fixed. Probably, the fragments flew into it, cut off. Asked: "There is nobody in the house?" She said - well, apparently, in shock, 82 years old: "There is a lot of anyone." Well, a lot that is a lot.

And on the second day - a call. I pick up the phone, the commander of her grandson, who is fighting. He says: "Your neighbor is looking for his wife." I say: “So there was information that she went to the village to her parents. There was one grandmother. ” So she told him. But it turns out she lay there, she covered her plates, she ... all this fell on her! Here you see the block? The door is balcony and this is a large window. This whole mass covered her. The refrigerators fell, cabinets, all this fell and leaned it. So there even if they had already found it right away, then she had a very dissected face. Probably she was immediately killed.

Tanya Ermolaeva, 29 years old. There was such a nobody! And the wounded grandmother is Valentina Vasilievna Khmelnitskaya, she is 82 years old. Her grandson Sasha is called, he is now near Lugansk. That's their whole family.

Blockade

The city is actually in a blockade. The Russian military controls all departments from the city.

The most acute problem is medicine. There are no heart, antihypertensive drugs in pharmacies. L-thyroxine, which is necessary for people who do not operate the thyroid gland, disappeared-it is now impossible to buy throughout Ukraine. They were able to deliver insulin to the city with “smuggled channels” - it was distributed to hospitals. On pharmacies there is a list of missing drugs - it has 40-50 positions. These are mainly drugs that are taken constantly.

There are no drugs for chemotherapy.

There are no psychotropic drugs.

The chief physician of the Kherson city hospital named after Karabelesh Alla Pavlovna Malitskaya says:

In each medical institution there is still a supply of drugs. We always try to have a 1-3-month norm in reserve. The acute-hospital group of drugs is not on the agenda, but there is an outpatient group-due to the fact that a number of pharmacies were closed due to the fact that the pharmacies were plundered, due to the fact that there was a panic, people began to choose medicines for six months or more.

A big problem with cancer groups of drugs, that is, those that were ordered from the central warehouses, from federal pharmacies-they are mainly in Kyiv, maybe in Dnepropetrovsk, some part in Nikolaev. But due to the fact that we now have no logistics, we were torn off.

As for insulins, for 2-3 weeks we will provide for those in need, and then we think what will happen next. Every day it reduces this interval. We are worried that over time, we will end with leaving, that is, diapers, pawnshots. Because we had a small supply, moreover, we increased tender procedures, but we did not buy it, because we were delivered as necessary. Now there will be a problem with the consumables for dialysis, and I know that many medical centers of Ukraine has switched to two -time dialysis. I used to be at least three times. And this is the quality of life of people, and life itself in the end. We have dialysis consumables for three weeks.

“We have six clinics at the hospital - three children and three adults,” says Leonid Timofeevich Kraftye, head physician of the Tropy hospital. - But to write a prescription to get a medicine is a problem. Pharmacy network - retail - it is almost empty. Cream, ointment, vitamins.

Leonid Timofeevich talks about conversations with the occupation authorities. “On the first day, a Russian captain came from us with two machine gunners and a sick fighter, and the first condition was to remove the flag. We said that we would not remove it. He said: I allow you to leave it until the evening, I will come in the evening so that there is no. And he is still hanging. This captain conducted a training manual. Do you know what training manual? Well, that we are liberators, we will free you, then. Everything will be fine here. I say to them: let's take your patient already, we examined him, pneumonia. Then he arrived, as he introduced himself, the head of the medical service of the southern group of troops ... Well, a doctor. “We need to refuel oxygen.” I say you cannot refuel oxygen with us. Left. The next day I arrived again: it is necessary to place the staff of the military hospital. I say: I'm sorry, no. The next day no one arrived. ”

- The occupation authorities offered humanitarian assistance. They came to the hospital and asked, says Alla Pavlovna. “I said we don’t need.” There is an article by the Criminal Code that entails the punishment for cooperation with the occupation forces. We should not cooperate with them. And if there were no law, I would still not agree to cooperate with them. I really hope that we will not need to wait for someone to help, that help from our own will be timely and sufficient. Yesterday they wrapped the GUMKONVA, what explains this?

People go to rallies, the whole city. Our employee has disappeared a son. He is a football fan, shouted screamers about Putin. Andrey Solovy, 23 years old. It has disappeared, she has been silent for several days, there is no connection with him. They say that he was taken from the house on March 11. His mother cannot go to work, lies. He does not communicate with anyone, afraid. I am a gastroenterologist. Until 2014, I went to Moscow, to St. Petersburg at a conference. I talked there with doctors. After Crimea, I could no longer ride. My father died in Crimea in 2015, and in order to facilitate the financial burden of my mother, I ordered a monument for dad here in Kherson. Then I could not bring him to Russia, three times. The Ukrainian customs missed me with the monument, and Russia demanded either I paid a fee of four thousand euros for it, or something else. This is inhuman humiliation. Father lies there in the Crimea. I have already buried my mother here.

Product prices rose about two times, three times for eggs. On the shelves of large supermarkets there were "festive", expensive products: gingerbread, Hamon, Bree, frozen salmon. There is no cereal, pasta, bread, sugar, only announcements remained from them - "no more than 1 kg in one hand." In the markets you can find everything, but more expensive. A week ago, the wholesale base under the village of Big Kopani resumed work, and vegetables began to be imported into the city. Private bakeries are baking bread - the price of a loaf reaches 25 hryvnias (86 rubles).

The Chernobaevskaya poultry farm located in the village of Vostochny, as a result of hostilities, was left without electricity, water and feed. The whole bird number - 3 million chickens - were distributed for free. Chickens were transported by checkpoints, unloaded at the 90th colony and transported to private cars to the city. They say that in the refrigerator each Kherson was visited by the Chernobaeva chicken.

It takes 2-3 hours to search for food for a day.

At the station every day they are gathering for humanitarian aid. Russian assistance - Ukrainian is not allowed into the city. Today, the queue is sluggish - they have already announced that there would be no humanities, but thirty people remained standing "just in case." We stood from 6 in the morning.

A very young guy is suitable, something quietly says to one of the women.

- I, young man, stand because I need it! Why did you come?

- The Russians have blocked yesterday your Russians with humanitarian help! - says the guy. - She was driving to Kherson, they said: leave, we have our own humanitarian. They themselves organize the humanitarian catastrophe, and then - oh, what we are well done, we saviors, we give out to poor people food. We are well done, we save you from our own!

- You do not promote here! - the woman crawls in a torn vest.

- The car arrived, standing. The photographer drove, took a picture that they give help and how many people are worth helping. They want to show photos that we were waiting for the Russians. And we did not wait for the Russians, we were waiting for ours!

“Where can I get food?” - says the woman.

- Look for the city, there are our Ukrainian volunteers! - says the guy. - I myself do not remember the addresses ...

- So you come with addresses!

- Yes, just an ass is burning from you! - the guy turns away. - How to talk to you?

“Thank you for your help, arrived and distribute food for free,” the woman says in a torn vest. - We have shops either closed or empty. And everything is in the market. The 4th military planned to be distributed on Freedom Square. They began to distribute - the rally of our Ukrainians rose. When I got - they already set sail, several cans of broken stews were lying on the square, its dogs were licked. I have not seen who was throwing at whom.

- Such a young boy with older people in this tone.

- The Russian officer talked with us, and quite culturally, calmly. He promised buses. He said that we are not fighting, we are fighting with the nationalists. We do not need your Kherson, he was both Ukrainian and will remain. We are fighting with nationalists to overthrow your power, restore order.

- For 30 years there is not a single owner, only thieves.

- Yes, thank God that they came. That's how much Putin is there?

- 22 years.

- There will be order with these. The Americans of the factory are developing all sorts of Covids. In Kherson, how many laboratories, they destroy us. Kovid, do you think from there from there? This is from us. 30 laboratories in Ukraine.

- From Ujan, Covid came!

- Yes, my neighbor worked in the laboratory in Kherson, so she was blown up, and her legs were inflated!

For some time, everyone is fiercely arguing whether coronavirus can be the same biological weapon, which, according to Russian television, is developing biolaboratories in Ukraine.

- Ukraine is the second Switzerland. Only so that the owner is, not thieves.

- If these are not overthrown, then thieves will remain, as they were.

- So we stood near the anniversary, the Russian military issued canned food, of course, there was a queue. About 1000 people were. They say: your mayor does not allow permission to give out products to people. What to do?

- But the red cross does not give, because people began to impudent, stand three times in the line, and then they are taken to the bazaar.

- Our people are starving!

- That's who taught Molotov cocktails to throw in them? Do not provoke! Do not touch them - and they will not touch. It is unlikely to be worse. And so you can live.

The dead

When they talk about the dead, the city administration indicates that there are “approximately three hundred bodies” of the dead in the city. The head of the Kherson Regional Bureau Natalya Nikolaevna Filenko says that the figure can be considered true, but there are much more in the region of the dead. There are simply no summary data on the dead. The order of the Ministry of Health of March 9 simplified the issuance of bodies for burial in war. Now the bodies can be issued with a medical certificate of death that any doctor can issue, without referring to a forensic examination. In the conditions of occupation and military operations, the bodies are often buried independently, “in the field”.

No more than 10 people were brought from the Antonov bridge, and how many people were killed there. We have one body from the Lilac Park, but we have neither the total number of dead, nor names-there the priest and the locals simply gathered them, and all were dug up somewhere. The wife identified one of them, and now she reburied - with the name.

Now you know how they are at the same time? People come here. They see the deceased, they bring things. Here, our orderlies lay in the coffin, relatives say goodbye ... and the body is sent by car. Relatives do not go to the cemetery. Why? Because there are checkpoints. Gravemen send their photos of graves later. On March 16, the municipal service machine took the dead, and they were fired from weapons. So the guys who drove these dead, they lay in the cuvettes, waiting while it was ... cars came without glasses, without nothing. Then these glasses were stuck. They even see that mourning transport, and then manage to fire all this thing. Well, one day was not buried. Then again they began to slowly carry.

Some bodies are very damaged, destroyed. A lot of charred ones. Two -thirds of our bodies go unidentified. They ask me: "Send a photo to identify." I always ask: "Mom, do not show wives!" I send these photos only to men, and then I ask you to immediately delete them.

Two -thirds - without names. Those first days that were then the fights, they were smashed by some of them right in the columns, with sleepy ones - these were night blows to military units. This is a lot of charred ones. We had the shelling of the Antonovsky bridge, and reached Antonovka. And my mother brought, gathered in a blanket, said: this is my son. And when the guys went to the autopsy, there were fragments from two bodies. Therefore, you see, talk about something specifically now-how?

We take DNA samples. But we do not have a DNA laboratory in the city. The closest in Nikolaev, we are cut off.

The bodies of the Russians, thank God, did not come to us.

Here's how to get the bodies? People call, indicate the place: "Here is our son." I say: “I understand everything, but I have no transport to send people there, and I can’t risk people when shelling goes there. I can’t help your son in any way if you have already been told that he is dead there, you know? I can’t risk living people. ” Only a week later they brought when shelling slightly subsided. Get out from under the tank. And they decompose. They lie in our bags, do you understand? People say: "Well, this is a refrigerator." The refrigerator is not freezing. This is not freezers. Put a piece of meat in a regular refrigerator. When will it go bad? And this is the body.

We have a new building, there is just something still cold there. And we partially use the territory of this building to store bodies. Therefore, also on the floors, good that it is cold. Concrete floor. And so our guys, the orderlies, spread their blankets, tarpaulin, everything that was. And there ... But they are still in bags.

Here we do not have enough of these black packages. We turned to the hospitals, we helped us - we dropped a little who could. And then the communal service will highlight. We bury everyone in packages. Who can and who has money, they buy coffins, and while they are. And now the coffins are ending. Some come, the abundance, and the abundance-two or three shreds of different color.

The time is very terrible. All this is disgusting. I am very sorry for people. They are not to blame. Here we have one grandmother. Her boy died, from the Vinnitsa region. "Do not hide him!" We hold it, literally from the first days we have this boy. "You do not hide him, we will fly behind him." And she fools everyone! I say: “You know, no one will help the boy, and if you fold your head, who needs it? You think about the living, please. "

And all together this is a category - "persons who died from hostilities." There are also bullets, there are also mine-explosive ... Civil car was shot on the night of the 24th to 25th at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. The dead are a boy, he is three months old, his sister of 2015. And three adults: a woman of 1966, a man-1965 and another woman-born in 1995. They are all with one surname, family.

Hard. I communicate with the relatives of the deceased and the Zeses, and the peaceful ones ... Then I go to the shower and roar. In the evening, this is already a motorcycle - to cry, but in the morning - again to work. Well, what to do? We must do this work.

It would be better if everyone left. This is how they came, so they would quietly leave at night. But as I understand it, this is not a finish yet.

The regional council

At the side entrance of the regional council, a technician with white z on the sides, machine -gun nests from concrete blocks.

Relaxed military. Hands lie on kalasha. The masks are lowered.

A woman is approaching the military.

- Do you give humanitarian aid?

- Today will not be.

- There will be no today, but when will it be?

- Nobody knows. You come every day. At nine in the morning, at ten. And ask. This is the best option.

A girl with a pigtail is suitable behind her.

- I ask about medicines. We just really need L-thyroxin. In our house, two people accept regularly, they have a thyroid gland removed, you know? As if if they do not accept, they will die. Here with who can I talk about this topic?

“Now I’ll ask, maybe someone knows something,” the fighter replies and leaves to speak the walkie-talkie.

- Thanks a lot!

Grandma with a large bag is trampled and speaks to the phone. The fighter offers her a chair, she sits down and cockroach: “ They were waiting, there was a sheet queue. I didn’t get that. What was distributed there? Same. The men stood, some men. How many days have you settled? How do we now? And the soldiers say - the mayor, the mayor forbade them! The mayor forbade the humanitarian aid to distribute! That we do not need! What kind of mayor are you?! How are you mayor? Get up, feed people! Why will you not feed people? "

- Is it such a mayor, good or sho? - asks the fighter.

- Then he needs it in FIG? - The grandmother rages.

Fighters nod, laugh.

- And you live far, right?

- Yes, I'm in the southern village. This is on foot.

- Come tomorrow.

- The humanitarian was not delivered today?

-Nope. And yesterday they distributed. Near Antonovka or on the island. I definitely can't say.

- Are you here for a long time? - the military girl asks.

- Don't know. To be honest, I don't think it will be worse. I think so.

- Worse than now?

- It won't, I think.

- Smart people live, right? - says the grandmother.

“There are few bad people here,” the fighter replies. -Therefore, everything is so quiet-peaceful.

“They don’t let people out in Mariupol, so everything is so,” the second fighter continues.

“Well, Mariupol is hiding behind civilians,” says the grandmother.

A woman comes quietly, asks: "How to sign up for Crimea?" On departure from Kherson to Crimea is recorded in the building of the regional administration.

“It will be, there, once every two or three days, the column goes with accompaniment,” the military advises her. - That is, you can be taken if you do not have your own car. If on your car, then there is another procedure.

- Did I give you icons? - asks the grandmother of the fighters.

- They did not give me. They already gave someone there. I don’t.

- Give you?

- Let's.

“There is worthy,” he extends a laminated icon with the Virgin and a baby with a sweat in his hand. - I still have an icon of the royal family. Our martyrs. Give you?

- Come on, we have one lover of this topic. Thank you.

- And this is my favorite icon - an indestructible wall. And there is also a sovereign icon. This is a Russian icon called the sovereign. When the royal family was tortured, the scepter accepted the Mother of God. She now leads all this. Well ... everything is by the will of God. Is it true?

- How else? - answers the fighter.

- And how do you feel like that? - the girl asks. - So you went to the city as it were, all the same, it is considered the occupation. How do you feel?

“I don't feel occupied,” the grandmother says.

- Calmly. Calmly. It is not felt that you are bad. But it is morally felt ... We do nothing wrong with anyone. If I did something bad, maybe it would have strained me.

- Well, you don’t care, when you were here, there, ZSU defended and you killed them there, it turns out.

- I did not kill anyone.

- How do you know?

- I feel inside that I did not kill.

“Girl, no one bother anyone here,” his partner says.

- Didn't you defend the city?

- Here everyone has already left for a long time. You still did not know that something would be, but they have already left. For a week.

“You have a beautiful city,” the fighter says to the girl. - But cold. I thought it was already warm for a long time.

- And I already saw, dandelions bloom! - says the grandmother. - Nothing, now this week, otherwise we are from the boots - immediately to the sandals.

- Yes, now everything will work out. It is necessary to endure. Life will work out, everything will open. And no one touches you.

- And people are scouring in apartments, pick up.

- Yes? Do not believe what they say. Here you see in the city, what is there, who is there? You see, this is propaganda. Here is your looting. Not a single military will fit there. At first we did not touch them, then we began to disperse the looters. Simply, you see, it’s easier to write off us ... that all the troubles are from the Russians.

- When you were going to the army, you thought at all that you can be in another country, for example?

- Certainly.

- You have the Ministry of Defense. It is therefore defense that defends the country from strangers, as it were, and does not go to other countries.

-Girl, and you forgive, and you are not from Tel Aviv? - the grandmother asks.

The military laughs.

- No.

- Not from Jerusalem?

- I have no anyone in Israel! - The girl steps back.

-Yes, your medicine is hidden somewhere! At entrepreneurs. It’s just that they do not allow them, I think the local authorities open all these pharmacies. In any way, there are stocks there. You see that the mayor’s task is to configure against the Russians.

“So why isn't that?” Will not shock? - the grandmother asks.

“Well, officially he is a mayor,” says the military. “You shake him.”

Abduction

Oleg Baturin is 43 years old. He is a journalist, works in the newspaper New Day. Specializes in investigations of corruption. He lives in Kakhovka - a town 80 kilometers from Kherson. Everyone knows in the city.

On March 12, he was kidnapped.

I will not tell some things, because I am still in the occupied territories, understand me correctly. What I think it is possible to tell you is to tell you.

Last Saturday, somewhere in the region of 12-13 hours of the afternoon, a bell rang from an unknown number. It was my friend, Sergey Tsigipa, from the new Kakhovka. He is an ATO veteran, activist, blogger. I later realized that at the time of the call, he was already abducted. He said in a normal voice: “I need to urgently meet with you. Let me figure out how to get to Kakhovka, this is 12-15 kilometers, and we will meet there. Come on some simple, affordable location, for example at a bus station. ” Of course, one could suspect something was wrong, to avoid this meeting.

I went without documents, without phones, that is, with me there was nothing but personal things: a scarf, gloves. It was five in the evening. Only I managed to look out, he was not there, there is only some kind of bead. I leave, and then well -trained people jump out of this bead. I managed to see that they were in body armor, it seems remotely for men in the Crimea, the equipment is clearly military. They began to scream “Fall on the asphalt, on their knees,” they began to wring their hands very sharply, put on handcuffs, roll on asphalt, ask, “where is your documents, where is your phone.” They became very infuriated that I had nothing with me, they all checked very hard. At first I called them the first name that came to my head, they said, "You're lying." After that, they threw me on the floor of this bead, put my legs on my back, my feet are hard and automatically on the back. My jacket was quite dense, it smoothed out.

They had closed faces. Only the eyes are open a little, but I managed to see it only out of the corner of my eye. I could only see them in fits and storage, because all the time when they talked to me, they forced me to bow low, putting on a hood or wrapping the tape on the hood very tight so that it could not fly away. I could not identify them, I did not see their faces. They spoke Russian, and it was clearly the Russians, it was obvious. There are no Ukrainian troops in the Kherson region, and our police are not, so who else could steal me.

I know our roads, where are the railway tracks, where are some turns, and according to my feelings, they brought me to the city of New Kakhovka. I was taken to the building of the Novokakhovsky City Council. They began to interrogate me: the name, surname, date of birth, place of residence, place of work, here you are a journalist, why are you writing about ... I was asked about some nationalists if I know some local nationalists, about the rallies that took place in our region. After that, I was taken to the police building, not far from the city center, and I don’t want to talk about this either. I felt that some other detained people with me only when we were taken from the Council building to the police building. There was also an interrogation there, and there were also interrogated there. Then they chained me and others to the battery, and until the morning I sat there. They beat the machine guns with their feet and butt. They did not beat on the head, fortunately. On the legs, on the back, on the sides, but the jacket smoothed the blows. The legs were more painful. The handcuffs were very tightly tightened, I had very very swollen hands, and there were still scars. Constantly threatened with murder. On Sunday morning, it was probably the worst time. And when we were taken again, I thought - they are being taken to the field, shoot. Я мысленно попрощался с семьей.

В воскресенье меня и нескольких человек привезли в здание Херсонской областной администрации. Я спросил того, кто меня допрашивал: могу ли я вас спросить, где я нахожусь, не в Херсоне ли я. Мне сказали — да, в Херсоне. Их интересовали организаторы митингов везде и интересовали люди, которые ведут телеграм-каналы. Я не видел, с кем я разговариваю. У меня были очень низко наклонены спина и голова. Они все время следили за этим, во время допросов у меня руки были скованы наручниками то сзади, то спереди. Они следили, когда я пытался пошевелиться, когда у меня нос зачесался, они меня одергивали резко, чтобы я не рыпался.

После очередного допроса они открыли окно, а там в это время на площади Свободы происходил митинг, и он был просто грандиознейший, и я слышал очень четко, что происходило там. Я ощущал растерянность тех, кто меня допрашивал. Они говорили: мы пришли защищать этих людей, а они ходят и кричат, что-то непонятно.

Нас всех допрашивали в отдельных кабинетах. Там в первый раз за сутки разрешили сходить в туалет. Мне дали небольшой стакан воды в субботу вечером, и в воскресенье днем тоже дали попить немного воды. После допроса нас отвезли в какой-то, как мне показалось, следственный изолятор.

Я находился один. В каждой камере там был туалет и вода, то есть пить можно было. Краник с раковиной. Но не было ни туалетной бумаги, ни мыла, ни полотенца, ни сменной одежды, ничего этого не было, спали на голых нарах. В первые несколько дней было очень холодно, потому что был мороз, особенно по ночам, я замерзал. Потом стало лучше, потому что чуть-чуть грела батарея, в последние дни было уже намного легче. Первый раз дали покушать в понедельник днем, 350 грамм — каша пшенная с мясом, потом в следующие дни давали то одну, то две порции в день.

Они там постоянно допрашивали людей, допрашивали и меня, это все происходило в разное время. Я так понял, что в течение нескольких дней эти изоляторы пополнялись новыми людьми и постоянно вели допросы. Я слышал, как избивали людей. Их выводили и избивали в отдельном помещении, а некоторых избивали прямо в камерах. Некоторых избивали несколько дней подряд. Я не могу судить, потому что я не видел, я могу опираться только на то, что я слышал. По моим ощущениям, их дико избивали, до полусмерти. Я очень надеюсь, что эти ребята выживут.

Все, что происходило в изоляторе, было похоже на какое-то запугивание. Более-менее профессиональные допросы были в первый и во второй день. А потом все это было какое-то хаотическое. У меня спрашивали, когда День Победы и что вы тут в Украине День Победы уже не отмечаете. Спрашивали, когда началась Великая Отечественная война, когда она закончилась, кто с кем воевал.

И на восьмой день утром мне сказали: «Собирайте вещи, мы вас отвезем домой». Говорили: «Зачем вы ходите на митинги, зачем вам это нужно, зачем вы будоражите народ, зачем вам эта ерунда, сидите спокойно, мы пришли вас спасать, а вы тут чего-то бунтуете».

Я сейчас с семьей. Боль ощущаю. Мне больно, потому что я люблю Херсонскую область. Я не такой судьбы хотел себе самому или своим близким.

С начала оккупации в горсовет поступили заявления о 44 пропавших людях. Трое женщин, один гражданин Испании. Пятеро из пропавших исчезли на площади Свободы, там, где проходят мирные митинги против оккупации. Остальные были похищены на улицах, на блокпостах, из квартир.

По сообщениям херсонцев, похитители активно разыскивают сотрудников СБУ, ветеранов АТО, активистов, волонтеров, ведущих телеграм-каналов.

Из заявлений (орфография сохранена):

«Взяли в плен трех мужчин из села Змиевка Бериславского района, которые передвигались белому Форду Бусику, их женщины звонили многократно на телефоны и через несколько часов неизвестные взяли трубку и сказали, что ваши мужчины в плену в каком-то русском штабе. Также забрали сына одного из мужчин и его товарища, отправившихся на поиски, это произошло на отрезке трассы между селом Червоный Маяк и Змиевка».

«21.03.2022 к нам домой зашли орки, предварительно начав ломать двери. До этого они заходили в другие подъезды и искали моего мужа там. Когда они пришли мой муж спрятался и они допрашивали меня с ребенком, потом дозвонились мужу и сказали идти домой. Он пришел на него одели наручники и шапку на глаза и увезли в неизвестном направлении. Муж состоит в минуципальной варте (охране, — прим. автора). Их было 5 человек и 2 возле подъезда».

«Ехали домой на Чаплинку, доехали до Чернобаевки и пропали. Месяц уже ищем, были на машине Opel Astra».

«Утром позвонила по телефону мать курсанта и проинформировала, что курсант не вернулся с митинга».

«Из съемной квартиры военные России забрали наших детей с мешками на головах. Возле дома стояли два джипа, микроавтобус и „Урал“ со знаком Z».

«Сын вышел из дома вместе с другом, и пошли посмотреть на последствия боевых действий в нашей местности. Больше их никто не видел с того дня. Телефон выключен, не выходил на связь».

«Люди в масках, с оружием в руках, забрали моего младшего брата. Увезли в неизвестном направлении».

«Пропала человек. Уехала из Антоновки на рынок, была без средств связи, в 12:00 последний раз вышла на связь с семьей. Сказала, что стоит в очереди и скоро будет возвращаться домой. Была одета в дутое пальто стального цвета с мехом, джинсы и за сапожную обувь с мехом».

«Пропала сестра и ребята, с которыми она снимала квартиру. Люди в российской форме с буквой з и авто с буквой з».

«Мы шли с сыном за покупками, на блокпосту оркам что-то не понравилось в телефоне сына, они его забрали и сказали, что он позже со мной свяжется, но так никто и не связался на сей момент».

«Мой Папа и два брата ехали домой. Заехали в Чернобаевку и пропали».

«12 марта ворвались военные РФ в квартиру, где я живу у своего родственника, и провели допрос, запугивали и угрожали расправой!»

«Искали оружие, проверяли мое причастность к „национальному корпусу“, теробороне, ВСУ и другим войскам специального назначения, думали выявить мое причастность к организации митингов, где я был только один раз 5 марта, думали, что я администратор националистической группы. За то, что я пошел на митинг 5 марта, угрожали отрезать ногу или прострелить ее».

«Исчез мой брат. Умоляю, помогите. Ибо ночные звонки от мошенников с требованием выкупа сведут с ума».

«5-го марта около 12-13:00 Саша и Женя и еще несколько мужчин стояли в центре села. К ним подъехали русские солдаты на „тиграх“ и стали проверять телефоны. У Саши и Жени нашли какую-то информацию и забрали их. Когда забирали, сказали, что вернут. Увезли в сторону Херсона по полевым дорогам. Затем включили их телефоны, и мы стали им писать и звонить. На сообщения отвечали, что отпустят и все будет хорошо, потом подняли один раз трубку и тоже сказали, что отпустят. Обещали отпустить. 7 марта, перестали отвечать и уже не читают сообщения».

«Исчез мужчина, украли военные РФ, черный бус, надели черный пакет на голову и вывезли».

«Около 10 утра 16.03.2022 в дом вошли российские военные. После проверки тату (их не было) и телефона (телефон несколько раз блокировался автоматически во время проверки, это очень не нравилось проверяющим) Максима забрали для дальнейшей беседы. По информации от соседей, по дороге его избили и вместе с еще одним мужчиной вывезли в неизвестном направлении. Вывезли, но куда именно выяснить невозможно».

«Был на мирной акции протеста город Херсон».

«Пропал отец в понедельник 21.03.23, пошел на митинг и не вернулся».

«Моего мужа похитили 9 марта. Утром исчезли также его знакомые. Они звонили по телефону родным и сказали, что находятся в плену российских оккупантов».

«Связь с ними пропала после русского блокпоста».

«Телефоны переодически начали появляться в связи, но когда звоним, гудки идут, но трубку не берут. Потом вообще не в сети. Мы начали писать смс им на телефоны, в ответ приходят „жив, здоров, скоро будет дома“. Мы не знаем, где они и что с ними».

Несколько человек вернулись. Мне удалось поговорить с ними и установить местоположение «тюрьмы». Это здание СИЗО и детского приемника-распределителя — улица Теплоэнергетиков, 3. Перед тем как российские войска заняли Херсон, власти города перевезли арестантов в колонию, здание было пустым. Теперь его заняли российские военные. Похищенные одинаково описывают вид из окна, расположение и обстановку камер. По их словам, в «тюрьме» сейчас находятся и двое иностранцев — граждане Испании и Нидерландов. Гражданин Нидерландов, со слов других «заключенных», болен и находится при смерти.

Rally

Митинги против оккупации проходят на площади Свободы. Каждый день в полдень.

Самые большие митинги бывают по воскресеньям.

Люди собрались через дорогу от облсовета, напротив кинотеатра «Украина». 500 человек, и толпа продолжает расти.

Украинский флаг — главный символ. Флагов много. Люди держат их в руках, поднимают в небо, накидывают на плечи, девушки вплетают желто-синие ленты в волосы.

На асфальте растянули нарисованное цветочное поле. Священник держит икону святого Владимира. Немолодая пара разворачивает самодельный плакат — «Украина вам не по Zубам». Совсем юные цветными мелками пишут на плакате: «Родину за гречку не продаем». На защитной сетке на дорожном ограждении написали: «Слава ВСУ, смерть ворогам». По толпе гуляют два мегафона.

- One! Едина! Соборна Украина!

Люди поют гимн, прижав правую руку к сердцу.

Движение, толпа увидела, что на противоположной стороне два военных задерживают парня в коричневой куртке.

- A! Let go!

Люди перелезают через заграждение, перебегают дорогу. Военные машины с маркировкой Z выезжают из-за облсовета на Ушакова, и часть толпы отделяется, перегораживает машинам путь — и машины пятятся. Люди останавливаются у ежей, сваренных из рельс. Между ними и военными 80 метров. Граница, за которую никто не переступает.

На ежи пожилая женщина прилаживает куколку-младенца и плакат «Рашисты — убийцы детей».

— Хотите нашу землю заграбастать? Сволочи, вы! — кричит женщина лет 50 в мегафон.

— Убийцы детей! — подхватывает толпа.

В ответ военные выносят колонку и включают музыку. Играет гимн Советского Союза.

Митингующие тоже находят колонку. Играет гимн Украины.

Музыкальная дуэль продолжается. Россияне включают «Встаньте, дети, встаньте в круг», «И Ленин такой молодой», «Я на солнышке лежу».

— Иди домой, пока живой! The crowd shouts.

Российский военный пританцовывает под крики.

— Какое-то водяное перемирие, — говорит женщина с перевязанными лентой волосами.

— Война, а не перемирие с орками! — одергивает совсем молодой парень.

— Водяное, водяное перемирие. Речка одна, всем надо пить. И город один, и они тут, и мы.

В ночь с воскресенья на понедельник «водяное перемирие» было нарушено. Перед горсоветом есть стела с украинским флагом, в основании — портреты погибших в Донбассе херсонцев. Кто-то написал на портретах красным по лицам: «ВСУ — убийцы детей Донбасса».

В понедельник митингующих собралось немного, меньше сотни человек. Люди перешли дорогу и начали стирать надпись с портретов. Успели стереть две буквы. Российские военные открыли по толпе стрельбу светошумовыми и газовыми гранатами. Один мужчина упал и остался лежать — по левой ноге быстро текла ярко-красная кровь.

Его увезли в больницу. Ранения оказались пулевыми — но, со слов врачей, стреляли, вероятно, пневматикой или резиновыми. Ранений оказалось несколько, большинство оставили ссадины, но одна пуля прошла навылет и повредила большеберцовую кость на голени, перебила идущий внутри сосуд.

На следующий день митингующие вышли вновь. Их оказалось еще меньше — не более 60 человек. Мегафона никто не принес. Люди кричали: «Идите домой!» Пели гимн. Тех, кто кричал оскорбительное, называли провокаторами и зашикивали. Один из автозаков двинулся вперед и произнес: «Уважаемые граждане! Кто не разойдется в течение пяти минут, будет задержан». Люди остались стоять. Кричали: «Не розуміємо!» Машины на Ушакова подбадривали их гудками. Через улицу, перед белой обладминистрацией, выстраивалась линия российских военных — 80 человек. Они стояли уверенно, переминались с ноги на ногу. Торопливости в их движениях не было.

Газовая граната летит с шорохом. Взрыв, свист, граната падает на ступеньку кинотеатра, дымит. Люди стоят, и гранаты летят опять. Одна попадает в бок мужчине, он начал задыхаться. Его тащат под руки, кладут на лавочку, ждут скорую.

Люди убегают в переулки. Продышавшись от газа, возвращаются на площадь вновь и вновь. Кричат, уже не выбирая слов. They shoot at them.

Мэр Херсона Игорь Колыхаев приказал повесить на горсовете новый украинский флаг — пятиметровый, он закрывает несколько этажей. Старый, выгоревший, выцветший, убрали со здания.

Елена Костюченко , Херсон