"I doubt that they can create some kind of republic." How the Kherson, the story of a local resident occupied by the Russian troops, lives

The only large Ukrainian city, fully occupied by Russian troops, remains Kherson. In recent days, the media report that the Kremlin is going to hold a referendum to annex the Kherson region to Russia and thus create a land corridor in the Crimea. At the same time, local residents cannot go to other regions of Ukraine. Farida Kurbangaleeva talked with a resident of Kherson to find out what is happening in the city now.

Maxim (name changed), Kherson:

- I do not observe any preparation for the elections. There are no agitation, there are no billboards on the streets. I do not see polling stations prepared. Perhaps campaigning goes on Russian television channels, but I do not watch them. Ukrainian media have not been broadcast in Kherson for more than a month, they were disconnected almost immediately after occupation. I learn all the news through the Internet and telegram channels.

None of my friends believe that a referendum can take place here, because there is practically no support [Russians]. I doubt that they can create some kind of republic. Of course, they can drive people and make a picture for Russian television. But it is realistic to hold [voting] now is a hypertension, because very few will come there.

As far as I understand, there are not even technical capabilities for the “referendum”. Ukraine several years ago switched to electronic databases, which for them [Russians] closed. To form a list of voters at the moment is just an overwhelming task. To do this, first, apparently, is a census of the population. But I can’t imagine how they will do it. So the only thing that can be done is a movie.

They say that they hit the television tower that night. I heard explosions, but I did not attach much importance to them. Something explodes every day-now closer, then further.

Those who live in the center said that they thundered strongly, the glass in the windows trembled. But the broadcasting of Russian channels did not stop. Although the vast majority of the population would want this. In general, in Ukraine in large cities, television consumes mainly cable. "On the antenna" sit, as a rule, in the villages. Well, maybe city pensioners.

It is clear that someone from the elderly is watching Russian TV. At the same time, I have a neighbor of advanced age, and she does not have a 100% smartphone. But she still does not include Russian television. Moreover, she categorically against taking the Russian humanitarian, even despite the fact that she did not have pensions in April, she lives on a penny. I help her if possible, buy products and bring water. So even those who cannot master the Internet do not believe Russian propagandists.

Among my friends and acquaintances, there are definitely no people who would like Kherson to become part of Russia. My mother used to have such an employee at work and a distant relative. Both Russians. Before the start of the war, they were configured pro -Russian. But now they have "seen".

Even if in Kherson there are people who support Russia, they are elementarily afraid to do this openly. It is not at all the fact that the Russian army will be able to gain a foothold for a long time. The Ukrainian army will return, and then it is fraught with very serious problems. All local residents are waiting for the Armed Forces.

More than 40% of the population left Kherson. Moreover, the mayor voiced this figure a week ago. Today, of course, she is even more. Almost all my friends left. First of all, those who have small children leave. For many, the nervous system simply does not take out what is happening now. Kherson's streets are very empty. I walked the other day and thought that this picture reminds me of the morning of January 1.

Most people are trying to leave in the territory controlled by Ukraine. But it is impossible to do it right now. I actively monitor the groups in Telegram, where people who want to leave the region are. They write that until May 1, [Russian troops] will not release anyone. On the Russian checkpoint there is an announcement that the fare is closed for a period of two to ten days. Therefore, those who tried to leave the last three days, either returned back, or remained to spend the night in the nearby villages.

At the checkpoints, this is explained by the fact that the Russian army is an active attack. And because of hostilities, it is supposedly unsafe to go through this territory. But in general, to believe these statements of [Russian troops] is to the detriment of yourself. People in Telegram, of course, are actively discussing the versions that the Russians are preparing a referendum or mobilization. But I have not yet seen such that I have openly hunt for men of draft age.

Many write that there are a lot of representatives of the so -called LPR and DPR on Russian checkpoints. According to the stories, they do not very adequately behave. Repeat the phrases about “eight years” and “killed children”. And they are engaged in frank extortion. The money is selected, the phones are selected. I read that someone left two phones at the checkpoint during the crossing, someone 3-5 thousand [hryvnia], because there was no military card.

Almost every car is stopped, the trunk is checked, the glove compartment is shaken. I definitely do not want to go [from Kherson] on these conditions, at my own risk. It is not clear how it ends. Now there is still the opportunity to go through the Zaporizhzhya region. That is, to drive along the highway to Melitopol and from there through Orekhovo in Zaporozhye. It will turn out about 600 kilometers. And there they are far from not only stopping on checkpoints. They say that every soldier [does it], who simply stands or goes along the road. Sometimes there are 5-10 people. Mostly they ask for cigarettes or eat something. Some people wrote that they had almost dismantled their car, rummaged around in the cabin, searched for something. Phones look, everyone reads, if you don’t like something-they put on handcuffs and take it off somewhere. I don’t want to go through such a trash.

There are people who leave for Crimea. There are even companies that take people there with large buses. From there, you can get further through the territory of Russia either to Georgia, or to Turkey, or to the Baltic states. Through Istanbul, you can leave for Bulgaria, Romania and further to Europe. I have friends who left for Georgia. There are friends who leave right tomorrow.

In principle, the mood in the city is not very good. So it was at the very beginning of the war - February 24 and several more subsequent days. And now the second is the same wave. The collective emotional background is very depressed.

Yesterday we again had an anti -Russian rally. Not to say that the numerous, but people came out. He was again dispersed, four people were injured.

Trade centers have not been working for us for a long time. The largest of them - the "factory" - was bombed at the very beginning of March. We also had grocery stores of the Selpo retail chain. The largest of them Russian troops shot when they entered the city, it burned down. The second "Selpo" the same Russian military was plundered with local looters (there is no official confirmation of this information. - Republic ). The remaining shopping centers closed on February 24. Single grocery stores in them continued to work for some time, but now even they are closed.

Furs with goods and humanitarian aid from the Ukrainian side [Russian troops] do not miss. There are still some remnants that we eat. Large retailers presented throughout Ukraine-such as ATB and EVA-today and tomorrow they work the last day, sell their goods completely and close stores.

Humanitarian aid distribution in Kherson

Frame Utube Canal "News of the Day"

Many goods began to be imported from Crimea, already clearly Russian production. They are trying to re-finish them somehow to hide the origin, but there are things that cannot be hidden. For example, Sausage "Cherkizovo". Many people are now trying to buy meat and home -made sausage, from local farmers. It is quite difficult to pull it to pensioners or people with a minimum salary. But my same neighbor who sits without a pension says about Russian goods that "he will die, but will not take this rubbish." And there are people who do not care, they are behind the Russian humanitarian.

The city is patrolled by the Russian military police. If you take specifically Kherson, then here [Russians] behave politely. As I understand it, they like a sanatorium in which they rest here. But when it comes to the front line, about the villages of the Kherson region, from there the certificate comes tough, such as Bucha and Irpen.

From there people came to us who were evacuated, and plus relatives live there. They say that Bucha and Irpen are what they could shoot and fixed. And the fact that in the Kherson villages is going on is simply no one sees. There, people are forcibly evicted from houses, products are taken away. A lot of cruelty. There the military with other moral and ethical principles and orders, and there they are not particularly ceremony with the local population.

The acquaintance of my mother was evacuated from Alexandrovka. This is a village on the border of the Nikolaev and Kherson regions, there are now fighting there. Russian troops are trying for more than one week to gain a foothold and go to the administrative border, but they can’t do it. That is, there are a lot of destruction. And this woman told a lot of things terrible. Including about mobile crematoriums. Since I myself have not seen this, I will not retell.

They [Russians] and the head of the Kherson region simply expelled our mayor Kolykhaev. Kolykhaev worked in the building of the city administration all this time, but he took the keys to him, set his guards. Yesterday I drove past [administration], there is no Russian flag there, but they took off all Ukrainian symbols. The mayor, as I understand it, switched to remote work to coordinate all services. Apparently, he is waiting for instructions from the Ukrainian president and the government, what should he do next.

His former driver was placed in the place of the mayor. This, of course, is some kind of absurdity. But we are already used to this absurdity.

And to the post of head of the regional administration [Russians] appointed Vladimir Saldo, who was the mayor in 2002-2012. Saldo in Ukraine is a political corpse. He has already bought so many things that it was completely unrealistic to get to this post for him, from the field of science fiction. On this act, its ethical principles are clearly visible. They were not very before.

I think that they [Russians] hope simply over time to filter the population as it was done in Lugansk and Donetsk. Those who were more or less pro-Ukrainian, and those who understood what everything was going to-they just left. There were only pro -Russian tuned or those who do not care. Perhaps it will be 10-15% of the population. But they do not need people [Russia], they need a territory. We need this very land corridor in the Crimea. Perhaps a land corridor to Transnistria. People are not needed. For people, for minds, no one fights for hearts. Yes, it is useless. Well, excellent, they say, I will bring their own. In Russia, I'm afraid there are plenty of people who want to populate the Ukrainian south.