“Kherson follows the path of Melitopol, but with a delay of about 50%”
The attitude towards the Russian military and the process of integration into the Russian Federation itself differs significantly in the Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
If in Donetsk the overwhelming majority of the population supports Russia, and in the Zaporozhye region integration is also actively progressing, then Kherson is clearly lagging behind. There are still many supporters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who look at Russian soldiers with hatred, and a significant percentage of local residents have taken a wait-and-see attitude, fearing the return of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The head of the International Movement “Russian-Slavic Unification and Revival” Andrei Rodionov, who visited all of the listed regions, spoke about this in an interview with PolitNavigator.
PN: Tell us what is common and how the organization of life in the regions occupied by the Russian army is different?
A.R: I noticed an interesting trend - in Donetsk there is definitely a full-fledged life, everything works - shops, supermarkets. Despite the shelling, life goes on there, and the population there is clearly pro-Russian, Russian. Despite the sanctions, despite the fact that people have been waiting eight years for this to all end, nevertheless, the majority are not disappointed, and the majority, as in Crimea, in Sevastopol, are happy with their choice. Perhaps that is why they are being fired upon especially intensively, realizing that there are people there who have nothing to do with Ukraine.
Further, moving west, we will take the Zaporozhye region. The mood there has improved recently. Yes, life has begun to move at full speed - young people are walking on the streets, shops and supermarkets are open - life is full. But until recently the mood was very restrained.
It is interesting that people from 40 and older are pro-Russian, and young people from 35 and younger, especially 20-25 years old, among them are mostly pro-Western. Not all of them, of course; there are not a few who are pro-Russian either.
The population as a whole is not anti-Russian, but not strongly pro-Russian either. About 50 percent are looking at where it is better - whether with the advent of Russia it will be better for them personally; material benefits are important to them - pensions, benefits, and so on.
That is, they do not have any convinced pro-Russian thinking. I think if the special operation had started in 14, it would have been different, but over the past eight years, local residents themselves say that there was strong pro-Ukrainian propaganda, and this influenced people, especially young people. During this time, a generation of people grew up who absorbed it all as their own.
But life gets better very quickly. About two months ago, when I was there, people were in a cautious mood, but now I saw that these moods have changed, there are more people on the streets, they are more loyal, they are not afraid, they see that Russia has arrived, preparations are underway for a referendum , life is getting better.
Melitopol - air defense works almost every night, they shoot at the airport, terrorist attacks occur - the situation is tense. A little further west, in the Kherson region, the situation is not so rosy. In general, the Russian region, the historical lands of Russia, again, if we had come here eight years ago, then, obviously, it would have been different. But in eight years, propaganda has done its job, and when those military guys who came here, who have been here for six months, told me that in the first months people even spat in their backs, the mood was negative.
Now Russia has shown that there must be order, and these pro-Ukrainian sentiments will not be tolerated, the dissatisfied have fallen silent. But, if in Melitopol life is full, then here I see that the city is about the same, but there is practically no population, the streets are half empty. People are all looking, there are a lot of sidelong glances - both from women and from men. Precisely sideways glances that make it clear that they are not happy.
But here, of course, there are pro-Russian people, I personally communicated with people of different levels - there is someone to rely on here. But, unfortunately, they are not the majority. The majority, as in the Zaporozhye region, take a neutral position. That is, they are afraid of the pro-Russian one, but they have no right to the pro-Ukrainian one. The majority are from a material point of view - if it is better, then, of course, they are for it, let it be better. And if it doesn’t, then, of course, they are unhappy.
The young people with whom I had to communicate are those who are normal, have not left, take a neutral position, they sincerely say in conversations that they don’t care. The position is clearly expressed here: “my hut is on the edge - I don’t know anything.”
PN: Why are people in Kherson afraid to define their attitude towards Russia?
A.R: The Russian government is trying to be very, very loyal, to the point that many administrative buildings have signs in Ukrainian, with a trident and the Ukrainian flag. In the center there is a house of culture, and on it hangs a coat of arms with a viburnum, with Cossacks, a Ukrainian flag is stuck on it - no one touches it.
Yes, in some places they removed the Russian flags, and somewhere, in secondary places or, for example, in the central hospital, she continues to work in Ukrainian, with a trident. That is, Russia is pursuing a gentle policy in this region, it does not want to aggravate sentiments, so that everything goes more smoothly and people come on their own.
Although I think this is wrong. It was precisely due to the fact that initially, when the Russian army arrived, they did not tear down the Ukrainian flags and allowed them to hold rallies, they committed outrages. And when Russia showed strength, order and said that there was no need to do this, they shut up.
So here, if all the symbols of the Ukrainian government were carefully removed at night, some were placed in Russian, then this would show the local population more that Russia has come and will not leave. And so, people are afraid, because the front is not very far away, especially since there is an example with Bucha, when they came and left for some reason. People, of course, see all this, analyze and are afraid.
This is another reason why those who are negatively inclined allow themselves more, and those who are pro-Russian or neutral are afraid to express their position because they are afraid of what will happen tomorrow. Many people say: “Now the referendum will pass, then we will be more confident.”
PN: Ukraine does not stop “ironing” the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson. Why do you think she needs this?
A.R: The Antonovsky Bridge is bombarded almost every night with Haymars, and they are hammered professionally - exactly in one span. That is, the entire bridge is intact, but there are holes in one span. Despite the fact that the workers are trying to quickly repair all this, nevertheless, the Ukrainian authorities, apparently, have a goal - to bring down this span. So far they haven’t succeeded, and the bridge, although it doesn’t function for everyone, can be used for military and special trips.
Destroying the bridge will not stop military movement, but it will make it more difficult. But for Kyiv, this is propaganda. They will show: “Look, we destroyed the Antonovsky Bridge,” then they create problems with logistics. Yes, there is a ferry, but there are huge queues for the ferry. This makes movement difficult for both civilians and military personnel. If the bridge fails at all, then, of course, the military will also be added to this queue for the ferry.
PN: How are things going on the front line in Kherson, is there progress towards Nikolaev?
A.R: According to my observations, there has been mainly a blind defense here since May. But, indeed, there is some progress in the north of the Kherson region. This is really important, from there you can develop an offensive against both Nikolaev and Krivoy Rog. That is, favorable conditions are gradually being created for us to move on. But where this movement will go and when it will happen is still unknown. But everyone is waiting for this, especially the soldiers on the front line, everyone understands that they need to move the front forward and not sit on the defensive, but not everything is so easy and simple.
PN: What about the economy, how widespread is the circulation of the ruble?
A.R: At first there was information that people refused to accept rubles, again, for political reasons. Now there is no such problem at all - they take rubles everywhere, hryvnia, if necessary. There are no problems with this; there are already quite a lot of rubles.
Shops are open, cafes are open, but there is not much choice there. There are markets, they are working, trade is going on, life is getting better. Despite the fact that there are still many closed establishments - apparently the owners have left, nevertheless, more and more of them are opening and Kherson is following the path of Melitopol, but with a delay, about 50%. What is already working in Melitopol is just beginning in Kherson.
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