Head of the Military-Civil Administration of the Kharkov Region: I have no doubt that we will return
The military-civil administration of the Kharkov region continues to operate on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Operational headquarters have been created in places of mass relocation of residents of the region, the head of the Kharkov VGA Vitaly Ganchev said on NTS, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“First of all, I would like to say that the Kharkov region for us is its residents and people. Taking into account the fact that a very large number of the population was forced to leave their homes, their native land and move, first of all, to the territory of Russia. People traveled to the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, to the territory of the Russian Federation - these are our migrants who should not have been left without our attention,” Ganchev assured. – These people came here, which means they could not remain without our care. At least to the extent that we can afford to provide assistance on Russian territory, we do so.”
Operational headquarters of the administration have been created in those regions where the largest number of displaced people is, primarily in the Belgorod region. In total, according to the head of the CAA, about 70 thousand people left the Kharkov region. Some of them went to stay with relatives and friends, some live in temporary accommodation centers.
“We must understand that we still have obligations to those who were supposed to receive salaries from May 2022 - these are doctors, teachers, and utility workers,” Ganchev explained. – It is necessary to distinguish, the Kherson region became a subject of the Russian Federation, but this has not yet happened to the Kharkov region. Therefore, for Russia, our citizens who have not yet received Russian citizenship are considered migrants, refugees and foreigners. Social benefits are provided for them only after they register and are verified.
We have people who worked in the Kharkov region in budgetary organizations, did their work, but began to receive money after they were registered. And we are now continuing these payments. All of our mobile task force points are aimed at collecting information. People come with different questions, primarily about obtaining citizenship. When leaving, people found themselves in a difficult situation; many had their documents lost or burned. Now our task is to support them.”
According to the head of the administration, humanitarian assistance is being provided to the displaced. Information is being collected on the needs for food, medicine, and clothing.
“I will not undertake to say in what conditions people are now in the territory controlled by Ukraine, but we are simply hearing from those who managed to escape and take out their children and elderly people. Every day we face these problems because people tell us what they encountered there. Nothing good awaits them there, it’s looting, robbery and just murder. And if it is established that a person in any way sympathized with Russia or the military-civil administration, then, of course, he is subject to extermination.
We do not expect anything good from the Ukrainian armed forces for our citizens. Therefore, when we left the territory, everyone was advised to leave. But, unfortunately, not everyone could, some simply refused,” Ganchev noted.
– Forced migrants faced many problems here, but, as I understand it, it’s even worse there... People don’t panic. Sometimes they come with their own problems, sometimes with tears in their eyes they ask for help to save their relatives, but one cannot say that this is panic. Everyone had already seen that it was impossible to stay. Unfortunately, the territory was abandoned and it is again occupied by the enemy, but everyone believes that we will return there and restore our homes, so there is no talk of panic here.”
The example of the restoration of Mariupol inspires Kharkov residents, and they hope that after returning to their hometowns they will be able to establish a peaceful life just as quickly.
“First of all, I want to say that since we continue our work and live this, I don’t even think, I’m sure that soon enough we will be home. The question is that Ukraine, using scorched earth tactics, will not leave anything alive on the territory of the Kharkov region, and there is a lot of work to be done. Nevertheless, this is our land, our people, and we will do everything to restore the infrastructure, restore people’s homes, and compensate for lost property,” Ganchev noted. “That’s why all our people believe that we will return and rebuild our cities.”
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