Vitalii Nemerets, who, until April 1, headed the municipality that had been under occupation since the first days of the war, spoke about resistance against the rashists and the life on the other side of the front line.

Text by: Dmytro Syniak

Photo by: Pershyi Rehionalnyi

On April 7, Vitalii Nemerets, Mayor of Kakhovka, was forced to leave the city of Kakhovka on the left bank of the Dnipro River and move to territory controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite threats from the occupiers, he remained in his municipality until the end, doing his best to take care of its residents. However, serious threats from the occupation administration, addressed not only to him but also to members of his family and even children, forced Mr. Nemerets to evacuate. Decentralization talked to the head of the Kakhovka municipality.

There is a lot of news in the media about the occupiers’ struggle against the ‘pro-Ukrainian element’. What is the sentiment among the people of your municipality?

About 95% identify themselves as Ukrainians and consider Ukraine as their state. They want to return under the blue and yellow flag. It has always been so, it should be so, and I am positive it will be so.

There are also many reports online about the difficult humanitarian situation in the city. Is it true?

Residents of the Kakhovka municipality need information the most. Or, rather, communication with the Ukrainian government. The occupiers are doing everything to prevent them from having a chance to establish it. The first thing the rashists did in the city was to destroy the set-top box on the TV tower broadcasting Ukrainian channels and to start jamming the mobile Internet. Now, at best, you can sometimes access Ukrainian websites and watch the news. But no video can be watched. Watching satellite channels is also virtually impossible. That is, the Russians first created an information vacuum, and then began to fill it with their own TV channels.

Has your municipality received humanitarian aid from the territories controlled by our army?

Not once during the war! This would be a very difficult task. We were occupied very quickly: Russian paratroopers took control of the Kakhovka HPP dam on the morning of February 24, a few hours after the first explosions. Our municipality is now in great need of medicines and essentials. We still have food, because the city faced the war well-stocked. However, no one brings in new food, and we will not ask the Russians for it. Some categories of food are supplied by local farmers, whom we ask for help. I really hope that the Government of Ukraine will be able to provide green corridors and send at least something to the people. I know that some municipalities in the occupied territories receive humanitarian aid from our side. But the Ukrainian humanitarian aid is yet to reach the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Maybe it’s because of problems with bridges allocated purely for the movement of troops?

Yes, it is quite possible. After all, at present, you can only cross the Dnipro using the Kakhovka HPP dam and the Antonivskyi Bridge near Oleshky. However, the Russian occupiers do not allow civilian cars to cross these bridges.

Can residents of the Kakhovka municipality be evacuated to territory controlled by the Ukrainian army?

It is possible but only for those who have their own means of transport. There are several routes you can take at your own risk. I’d rather not tell the details so that these routes are not compromised. In addition, it must be understood that anyone who tries to cross the front line alone is seriously risking their life. Still, fed up with the ‘wonders of the occupation’, people prefer to take risks rather than stay and wait for Russians to come and take them ‘to the basement’ [to be imprisoned, tortured or killed]. Therefore, 70-80% of car owners have already left the city. However, you cannot flee the municipality without a car. And the Russian orcs have never allowed any green corridors.

Have you taken one of these ‘illegal’ routes as well?

Yes, I left in my own car, together with my family. It had to be done. Not only did the Russians threaten me personally, they said they would destroy my whole family. So I decided to go.

In Nova Kakhovka, Russians tried to organise a pro-Russian rally. Have there been similar attempts in your city?

No, there haven’t. And nothing would come of it. By the way, the rashists failed in Nova Kakhovka too. The occupiers brought in about twenty men from who knows where trying to pass them off as ‘local people’. Pathetic! Russian journalists are working all over the occupied left bank of Kherson, trying to show how wonderful everything is there. However, this is very difficult for them.

Instead, there are many reports about pro-Ukrainian rallies in the media. Are they still happening?

Yes, indeed. Russians disperse these rallies, throw light and noise grenades, but people still do not back down. Of course, everyone understands how risky it is, but they do not want to give up without a fight. The people of Kakhovka want to show the whole world that they are Ukrainians and that they do not need to be ‘liberated’ from anyone.

On April 3, we learned about the abducted citizens of Kakhovka, Vasyl Lotaniuk, Ihor Bahur, Anatolii Kachynskyi and Yurii Hedzyk. How are they now?

I personally monitor the fate of each abducted citizen of Kakhovka and, to the best of my abilities, facilitate their return home. To do this, I contact government officials and appeal to international organisations. I would prefer to avoid naming specific names so as not to harm people. I will only say that the abduction of pro-Ukrainian activists takes place not only in Kakhovka, but also in the villages of the municipality. Just yesterday, the occupiers kidnapped a father and a son. In total, I do not yet have information on the four abducted residents of our municipality, but this figure changes daily.

How exactly do the abductions happen?

Five or six dozen armed Russian soldiers approach the intended building in their armoured personnel carriers or other military equipment. Later they set up a perimeter and go to the targeted apartment. If people don’t open the door for them, they knock it down. Then they conduct an unauthorised search, after which they handcuff their victims and take them to the commandant’s office. The victims are mostly those who are the most active during the rallies, who openly express their position on social media, ex-military who took part in the Anti-Terrorist Operation, journalists...

Are representatives of local self-government targeted by the FSB?

Unfortunately yes. Several of my colleagues were arrested, but after the ‘re-education’ and a day in captivity, some of them were released. However, a few people are still in captivity. They are treated differently, but we can say that Russians do nothing good with the abductees. They intimidate, beat, torture…

You left Kakhovka only on April 7. How did you manage to stay in your municipality for so long?

Those 36 days were the hardest in my life. I was restless day and night, realising that I could be abducted at any moment. However, both I and my entire team continued to work, doing our best to ensure that the community did not feel that they were living during the war. This was the case until April 1, when armed men came to the City Council building and pushed us out into the street, telling us that we were ‘nobody’. On the same day—April Fools’ Day—the occupiers presented the new Gauleiter of Kakhovka.

Did both your position and the positions of the residents of the municipality, who were not afraid to go to pro-Ukrainian rallies, influence the Russian military? After all, they could not help but see that there was no one to liberate in Kakhovka.

It’s hard for me to say, because I didn’t talk to the occupiers. However, I am convinced that our rallies and our peaceful resistance demoralised some Russian orc units. They came to us with the idea of ​​liberating the enslaved people but later saw that they were simply fooled. Unfortunately, many Russian soldiers still remain under the influence of criminal orders, which they do not dare to violate.

Did the occupiers offer you cooperation?

More than once, both to me and to my entire team. We were threatened with ‘sanctions’ if we did not agree, but my team resolutely rejected these offers. We continued to work, did our best to secure the social sphere and the humanitarian direction, tried to help people with everything we could. We even organised free hot meals for the residents. We agreed with the farmers on the food supplies and later delivered it to the vulnerable populations. On April 1, under pressure from the Russians, my deputies, the secretary of the City Council and I wrote letters of dismissal. Almost all employees of separate units did the same. These papers are worth nothing, because, firstly, they were written under duress, and secondly, for example, only deputies can dismiss a mayor. I do not attach much importance to them.

The Russians are now called the army of looters. Were there looting cases in Kakhovka and in the villages of the municipality?

Of course, there were. Compared to Bucha and Irpin, the Kakhovka municipality got lucky. We definitely have it better here than elsewhere. However, there are numerous cases of the Russian military appropriating the property of private citizens and businesses.

Do you think the Russians will be able to hold on to the Kherson region?

I am sure they won’t, even if the Armed Forces of Ukraine fail to liberate these lands quickly by military means. In our region, people speak mostly Ukrainian and identify with Ukrainian culture. As for me personally, I will do my best to return the Ukrainian flags to all state institutions of the municipality.

Were there any attempts by the occupier to introduce the ruble in the Kakhovka region?

Yes, the Russians have tried several times to convince residents that ‘Kakhovka will benefit from the ruble’. We refused to assist them in this matter. Instead, we did everything possible to make the hryvnia circulation as efficient as possible. It was not an easy task, because the cash circulating in our municipality was basically the same, as there was no place to get more. Therefore, we asked our entrepreneurs, instead of keeping cash, to put it in bank accounts so that they can make at least some payments. We have POS-terminals, and the stores accept cards. The only problem is the bad Internet connection, which is why the terminals do not work as they should. Until April 1, the Ukrainian Treasury was still working with us, but since then, payments have not always been going through. Meanwhile, people are very much looking forward to the payments: salaries, pensions, subsidies. When money doesn’t come, some people despair…

The government is now calling for evacuations from Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Should people be evacuated from Kakhovka?

They should, but only through green corridors. Much more than evacuation, we need communication with the authorities. People in the occupied territories should know that they have not been abandoned. If there are no payments, the Treasury should explain this. If it is not possible to organise a green corridor because of the position of the Russians, we need to be loud about it. And most importantly, remember every captive. War is evil; the people of peaceful Ukraine need none of it. The truth is on our side! That is why I believe that we will win: we have no other way. Russian troops must leave the occupied territories! Then we will be able to live as we lived before, peacefully and prosperously!