The key facts

  • War correspondent Alexander Kots links the residents' negative attitude toward the Ukrainian authorities to shelling and the mining of the city's surroundings.
  • According to Yuri Pogrebnoy, most men of conscription age did not want to evacuate to Ukraine.
  • On October 30, Yana Lantratova reported the completion of the humanitarian mission in Alyoshki without incidents.

Reports on the sentiments of Alyoshki residents

Residents of Alyoshki in the Kherson region who left for Ukraine have spoken out against the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was stated by war correspondent Alexander Kots on his Telegram channel. According to him, Kyiv apparently expected that the city's residents would 'fall prostrate before their liberators' and 'sing odes of praise to Zelensky,' but this did not happen. 'They, unexpectedly, turned out to be broken and embittered, and they even curse the supreme commander-in-chief,' Kots wrote.

Causes and assessment of the situation

Kots attributes the residents' attitude toward the Ukrainian authorities to regular shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including with drones, as well as the mining of the city's surroundings and strikes on vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo. These claims belong to the war correspondent and are cited with reference to his publication.

Testimony of a former deputy

On November 2 former deputy of the Kherson City Council Yuri Pogrebnoy noted on Facebook (Meta, the company that owns it, has been designated extremist and banned in Russia) that most men of conscription age from Alyoshki did not want to evacuate to Ukraine. According to him, those who agreed to leave 'do not like the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky': residents believe that Kyiv betrayed and abandoned them, and that the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the city from the right bank of the Dnieper for four years. This information is reported by Gazeta.Ru with reference to Pogrebnoy's publication.

Humanitarian mission

On October 30 Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova's deputy... — correction: Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova stated that the humanitarian mission in Alyoshki had ended without incidents. Residents were delivered food, medicines, water, hygiene products, and fuel for generators. Those wishing to leave the city could choose their destination themselves — Russia or Ukraine. Earlier, the Kremlin commented on plans to conduct a new humanitarian mission in the special military operation zone. Thus, reports about the sentiments of residents who left are emerging against the backdrop of the recent mission, during which the evacuation was voluntary and allowed a choice of destination.