Ukraine’s best mayor 2008, an associate of Oleg Tsaryov: the Russia-appointed "leaders" of occupied cities
ROMAN PETRENKO — SATURDAY, 14 MAY 2022, 14:03
COLLABORATOR AND LONG-TERM MAYOR OF KHERSON VOLODYMYR SALDO, PHOTOS FROM SOCIAL NETWORKS
Some journalists have taken a look at the people whom Russia has put in place as "managers" of the occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. They include a deputy of the City Council from the Opposition Bloc, an associate of the odious Oleg Tsaryov, and Ukraine’s best mayor in 2008.
Source: Meduza
Details: The journalists report that when it comes to appointing "mayors" in occupied cities, the Russian Federation is having to rely on people who are unknown even to locals.
The self-appointed mayor of Melitopol is Vladimir Rogov, a former associate of Oleg Tsaryov and one of the organisers of the "anti-Maidan" movement in Zaporizhzhia. Following a prisoner exchange in September 2014, Rogov ended up in Russia, where he regularly appeared in the media as chairman of the "State Construction Committee of Novorossiya" and leader of the "Slavic Guard" movement. He also collected aid for the "Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics" ("DPR" and "LPR").
In March 2022, he began referring to himself as a member of the "Military Civil Administration of Zaporizhzhia Oblast".
The new "people's mayor" of Melitopol is Galina Danilchenko, a deputy of the City Council from the Opposition Bloc led by Yevhen Muraiev. This party is one of several remnants of the pro-Russian Party of Regions.
It is reported that self-appointed mayors have also appeared in Berdiansk (Oleksandr Saulenko, a representative of the tiny Union of Leftists) and Enerhodar (Andrii Shevchyk, an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant).
Meduza estimates that about two-thirds of Zaporizhzhia Oblast is currently under Russian control.
However, local pro-Russian activists are acting cautiously, probably fearing uncertainty and possible revenge from the Ukrainian underground.
The journalists also included a reminder that the head of the occupied administration in Kherson Oblast is now Volodymyr Saldo. He was mayor of Kherson for ten years, from 2002 to 2012 (in 2008 he was dubbed best mayor in Ukraine), and then a people's deputy representing the Party of Regions.
As a people's deputy, in January 2014, he voted for Yanukovych's "dictatorial laws" against the Maidan protest movement.
His deputy is Kirill Stremousov. During the coronavirus pandemic, Stremousov organised protests against quarantine restrictions. In 2020, he also ran for mayor of Kherson and received 1.3% of the vote.
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Background:
- On 25 April, the Russian military seized the building of Kherson City Council and took control. The Ukrainian flag was removed from the building. The mayor and employees of the City Council were given the opportunity to go home.
- On 26 April, the occupiers and collaborators held a meeting in the occupied Kherson City Council, at which they appointed Volodymyr Saldo as the so-called "head" of the Kherson Oblast State Administration and Oleksandr Kobets as "head" of the Kherson City Administration.
- On 27 April, Russian journalists’ sources in the Kremlin reported that in mid-May, Russian special services were preparing for "referendums" on the "accession" of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" formations to Russia, after which they would prepare for a similar scenario in Kherson Oblast.
Stremousov later said that the invaders would introduce Russian roubles in Kherson Oblast from 1 May.
