Some of the councilors of the main cities of the country even pay with their lives for their resistance to the invasion
Since this past weekend nothing has been known about the whereabouts of Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol. The Ukrainian authorities had denounced his kidnapping by Russian forces and his neighbors had demonstrated demanding his release. This Tuesday, while a new citizen protest was suppressed by the invading troops, it was made public that Fedorov has been accused of terrorism and remains imprisoned in the pro-Russian separatist region of Lugansk.
His case is just one example of the new role being played by many mayors in Ukraine. They have gone from signing decrees to decide in which square new lampposts are placed to being part of the first line of defense of their neighbors and with it, war objectives.
Hostómel has been one of the hardest hit towns in these 21 days of invasion. Located a few kilometers from kyiv, it was one of those objectives that are called strategic for having an airfield. At the head of the defense and encouraging his neighbors, Yuri Prilipko, the alderman. On the 7th he fell dead while participating in a distribution of food and medicine during one of the ceasefires agreed with Russia and rarely fulfilled. This was announced by the local council of Hostómel on its Facebook page. “No one forced him to stand under the bullets of the occupants. He was able, like thousands of others, to sit in a basement. Who would have blamed him? He made his choice. He died for Hostómel. He died a hero,” the statement proclaimed.
Prilipko thus became one more symbol of a war in which emblems abound since its inception. Perhaps pushed by the attitude of President Volodimir Zelensky, the rest of his cabinet and the mayors of many besieged cities have stepped forward. Literally.
Almost everyone uses social networks to send their messages and inform Ukrainians and the world of the course of the conflict. The municipal leaders of besieged cities such as Mariúpol, Sumy or Kharkov (Sergiy Orlov, Oleksandr Lysenko and Igor Terehov, respectively), have become spokesmen for terror. Above them stands the mayor of kyiv, one of the first to mourn the loss of his counterpart Hostomel. «He was killed while distributing bread and medicines among his people. He was my partner, we worked together in the Association of Ukrainian Cities. He can rest in peace!” he stated.
The defiant Klichko
Klichko was elected in 2014 and is a 15-time boxing world champion. With an imposing physique, he is, along with his brother and Zelensky, an icon of the resistance and a constant source of encouragement to his fellow citizens. He goes out on the street after each bombing, has married couples dressed as soldiers and speaks openly to the media stationed there. With his defiant attitude, he has become one of the main targets of the Russians who, according to ‘The Times’, have sent 400 mercenaries to eliminate them. Interestingly, the father of the Klichkos was a general in the Russian Air Force.
Among those who have not had any luck is Yevhen Matveyev, head of the Dniprorudne local administration, who has been missing for several days. The Russian authorities are silent about his whereabouts, as they have done about that of Ivan Fedorov, whom by the way they have already replaced. They have appointed Galina Danilchenko as mayor of Melitopol, who in her first public message urged her neighbors not to participate in “extremist actions”. Muted opposition.
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