Melitopol, Monday 3 April. A car is blown up in the middle of one of the main streets. In it sat Maksym Zubarev, a local leader in this Russian-occupied part of Ukraine. Zubarev was one of those who, after the occupation at the end of February 2022, chose to cooperate with the Russians. This was the car in which Maksym Zubarev was sitting when what was probably a car bomb exploded. Photo: Ria Melitopol It is still unknown whether he survived Monday’s attack. Moscow, April 5. President Vladimir Putin meets the heads of the Russian-appointed administrations in the occupied part of Ukraine, in connection with the meeting of his powerful Security Council. . Putin is clearly concerned about the security situation in the area, after more than a year of occupation. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Yevgeny Baltisky and Vladimir Saldo in Moscow on 5 April to discuss the security situation in the occupied parts of Ukraine. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov / AP – The enemy uses all methods to frighten people, including neo-Nazi and other radical groups. Action must be taken here decisively and effectively. Control of the situation must be secured, Putin said. Putin is worried The words of Vladimir Putin cannot be misunderstood. The Russian president is seriously concerned about the security situation in the areas of Ukraine that the Russian forces have now occupied for more than a year. Present at the meeting were Volodymyr Saldo and Yevgeny Baltiskyj, whom Putin has appointed as leaders in the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya counties in Ukraine that his forces control. In the meeting with Putin, the two men looked clearly worried, and for good reason. Saldo had to flee in a hurry when the Ukrainian forces retook control of Kherson city on 9 November. That same day, his second-in-command, Kirill Stremousov, was killed in what was officially a car accident but may have been an assassination attempt. Kirill Stremousov died in what may have been an assassination attempt on November 9, 2022. Photo: STRINGER / AFP Ukrainian authorities immediately launched a hunt for those who had collaborated with the Russian occupiers in Kherson. A few weeks later, Volodymyr Saldo was photographed together with President Putin’s emissary, former Russian Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko, in what appears to be a very makeshift and unostentatious venue precisely in Henitschek. Vladimir Saldo, here together with Russia’s former Prime Minister Sergej Kiriyenko, in their temporary headquarters in the city of Henitshesk in the far south of Kherson county. Photo: From Vladimir Saldo’s Telegram account Once upon a time, Volodymyr Saldo was Vladimir in Russian, mayor of the city of Kherson. And a relatively popular one. Vladimir Saldo now controls only the southern part of Kherson county, on behalf of the Russian occupying power. Photo: ALEXEY PAVLISHAK / Reuters New “opportunity” for former mayor After he had been mayor for ten years, he became a representative in the Ukrainian parliament in 2012. Later he was involved in corruption and scandals, and lost in several attempts to be re-elected as mayor of Kherson. But after the Russian occupation of his hometown in March 2022, he got a second chance. Now he is Russia’s man in the part of Zaporizhzhya county they control. Vladimir Saldo on the left, together with other pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin on September 30, 2022. Photo: AP It’s banging in Melitopol A little further east, in the town of Melitopol in the south of Zaporizhzhya county, Yevgeny Baltiskyj has set up his headquarters. He has a similar background to Saldo. Active in Ukrainian politics for several decades, including as an elected member of the parliament Verkhovna Rada in the capital Kyiv. But now it is literally banging around Baltiskyj. On 14 March, the car in which Ivan Tkach was sitting was blown up. The Russian occupiers had given him the important task of organizing the transport of, among other things, Russian forces to the front, including from the infamous Wagner group. Ivan Tkach was killed in a car bombing on 14 April. Photo: RIA Melitopol A Ukrainian partisan group later came forward and said that they were behind the assassination. Streets get new old names Their next victim may be Galina Danilchenko, whom the Russian occupiers have appointed mayor of Melitopol. According to Ukrainian sources, she hardly dares to move outside the city, and in any case not without a solid bunch of bodyguards around her. The Russian occupation authorities appointed Galina Daniltjsneko as mayor of Melitopol, after they took control of the city in the spring of 2022. Photo: YURI KADOBNOV / AFP But she still continues her work to make her hometown an integral part of Russia. On April 12, she issued a directive to change the names of a number of streets in Melitopol, to erase anything that might remind of Ukraine. Among other things, the street that used to be called “Heroes of Ukraine” will now be called “Kirovgaten”, named after the Soviet politician Sergei Kirov, who was killed under mysterious circumstances during Stalin’s regime in the 1930s. Many of the hubs date from when Melitopol and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union. On 23 October 2022, a bomb exploded outside a local pro-Russian TV station in Melitopol. Photo: STRINGER / AFP The terrorist group Ukraine On April 12, Yevgeny Baltiskyj also posted a message on Telegram, in which he said that three people had been arrested, suspected of having planned what he called a terrorist act. The three, who according to Baltiskyj should be 49, 30 and 26 years old, should belong to an intelligence group that bears the unoriginal name Ukraine. There are no more details, and the message may be an attempt to satisfy Putin’s demand for stricter measures to stop Ukrainian liquidations in the occupied territories. Baltiskyj also promises severe punishments for those who think of carrying out this type of action. Yevgeny Baltiskyj has himself participated in military training, as a preparation for a possible attack by the Ukrainian government forces. Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / Reuters Is the Ukrainian counter-offensive coming? At the same time, there are many in Melitopol, who have collaborated with the Russians, who are now afraid of what will happen next. When will the long-planned Ukrainian counteroffensive start, to take back Russian-occupied areas? A message on Telegram, the authenticity of which news cannot guarantee, states that leaders of the Russian occupying authorities in Melitopol have already moved their families to Crimea. Ukrainian soldiers, photographed somewhere in the Donetsk region, are preparing for a possible counterattack against the Russian forces. Photo: GENYA SAVILOV / AFP At the same time, a newspaper published by the occupation authorities also writes that plans have been drawn up to evacuate the civilian population from Melitopol, in the event of a Ukrainian attack. The big question is how extensive the Ukrainian counter-offensive will be, and whether it has enough power to take back cities like Melitopol. In any case, the many assassinations show that something is afoot and that those who have chosen to cooperate with the Russian occupiers face an uncertain future.
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Those who collaborate with the Russians in Ukraine live dangerously – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
