"The earth will burn under their feet." As the invaders prepare Melitopol for the "referendum" and settle in abandoned homes - mayor Ivan Fedorov
It happened as soon as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address that any "referendums" in the occupied territories would prevent Moscow from any negotiations with Ukraine. For almost six months of occupation, which came here in the first days of the war, once 155,000 Melitopol lost more than 50% of the population-local massively left the enslaved city. But the remaining ones did not resign with the enemy - guerrillas are active in the region.
And the support of the "referendum" is extremely low. Melitopol Ivan Fedorov told about all this NV. - On August 8, collaborators in Melitopol held a so -called "Forum", on which they agreed to hold a pseudo -referendum in the Zaporozhye region. Is it clear today who participated in this meeting? - Yes, of course. Of the 600 people who were in the concert hall of Shevchenko, about 15% were Melitopol.
And all the other 85% are people from all temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya region - Berdyansk, Tokmak, Energodar in other settlements brought here. This is definitely not a representative representation of either the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol or any other territory. Because this "forum" does not correspond to the real moods of the residents of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya region. - How did they take it? - No one perceives this action under the name "referendum".
This is evidenced by several facts. First of all, two weeks ago, a persecuted bypassed volunteers and older homes who agreed to cooperate to find out the reaction: who would support. We clearly have information that less than 10% of Melitopol residents who are left in occupation] are ready to support the Russian Federation. I want to emphasize this: less than 10% are ready to support after 6 months of occupation, after 50% of our citizens left the temporarily occupied city.
That is why this forum arose, which is why they have already departed from the idea of a "referendum" in the Russian so -called "single voting day" [held in the Russian Federation on September 11], which is why today there is such a strategy that it should be not one day " referendum ”, and for 5 days with a storage vote - with a measure in every apartment.
- Why do the invaders want to spend it in this way? - Because they understand that on a single voting day, they will not collect mass queues near the precincts: no one will come there and it is not interesting to anyone. - When can this pseudo -referendum happen? - Today it is said that it will be held from September 5 to September 11. They announce this date when instructing people who will participate in this "referendum".
- What is the whole life of the city and the humanitarian situation in it? - It is too depressed. The first question that worries our inhabitants is security. The second is the communal problems that accumulate every day. Today there is no gas in the territory of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya region, and therefore there is no water. We also clearly understand that the city will have problems with heating.
Last day, there was no electricity after detonation of warehouses with enemies: light was not in one of the areas of Melitopol, in which more than 30,000 people lived in a regular life. And it is also a continuous discomfort. Therefore, people today continue to leave the temporarily occupied territory massively. - Where do Melitopols come from? - First of all, this savings. Because 80% of our residents are unemployed as of now.
Of course, Ukraine fulfills all its obligations in terms of payment of wages, pensions, social payments, any other payments. Therefore, it is the only source of income of people that we can now provide. - Are there any problems with buying products? -Today there is no such urgent problem, because our region is agricultural and we grow a lot of vegetables, fruits that we usually feed most of our country, and today we cannot take them out.
Therefore, there are a large number of such products in the markets. But all other products imported from the territory of Crimea costs 3-4 times more expensive than the same in the territory of Zaporozhye, Dnieper, or Kiev. - How did six months of life affect the local residents? How did the propaganda affect those who stayed there? - Of course, propaganda affects.
And this is the main goal of the enemy to put in the head of our inhabitants, that Ukraine will never be here, that the state has forgotten and left our city Melitopol. But those measures that are taken by our resistance forces, the beginning of the south, which our armed forces of Ukraine make, are accurately inspiring our residents. They are waiting for the return of the Armed Forces and the state of Ukraine to our territory. - There are many reports of explosions in the city lately.
How do the occupiers feel in such conditions? - They are looking for options how to escape from Melitopol. For example, at 10 o'clock in the evening, the headquarters of a single Russia in the city was destroyed. And then there was a statement of our guerrilla resistance that all those involved in the referendum will be caught and punished.
Therefore, we clearly understand that the conversations are not only about visiting invaders, but of collaborators, including who have agreed to work during the organization of the referendum. Therefore, the earth will burn under their feet.
- How widespread is this guerrilla movement? - If it destroys the iron road to stop the delivery of heavy weapons, ammunition, if two armored tracks are descended from the track, if they are constantly reminiscent of the main collaborators and the occupiers, then of course it is widespread and gaining momentum now. - Do the occupiers continue to detain local residents massively? - Unfortunately yes. We clearly see that it is increasing now again.
Because after each explosion, after each destroyed military base, we see that it is only increasing. The pressure on our inhabitants is intensified by kidnapping, murder, repression, torture and so on. - To what extent is the city militarized today? Does the number of Russian soldiers and equipment grow? - Over the past two weeks, military equipment is thrown through Melitopol on the outskirts of the city.
These are thousands of pieces of equipment that move both from Berdyansk, Donetsk, and towards Kherson, Crimea. We cannot say exactly when they are thrown. But hundreds of vehicles pass through the city of Melitopol. - Russian military brought their families to live in Melitopol? - Yes, there are really such cases. For the most part, these are families from the Far East, who occupy the apartments of our residents who left for the temporarily occupied Melitopol.
- How massive is this? - This is a mass phenomenon. These are not hundreds of apartments, but probably two. - How do the local residents respond to it? - Unfortunately, they can't respond to it. Because it is difficult to respond under the muzzle of the machine gun. - What are the ways of leaving the city today? - Unfortunately, he is the only one.
The city of Vasylivka [between Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia, on the left bank of the Dnieper] is the only connection between the temporarily occupied territory and controlled Ukraine. Through it there is a connection for both Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, and for Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Today, more than a thousand cars have accumulated there - more than 5,000 people are waiting in line to go to Ukraine -controlled territory.