Kherson is the only oblast center that the Russians have managed to capture since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the beginning of March, the city has been occupied, but its residents are thwarting the invadersʼ plans to hold a "referendum" on the creation of a so-called "Kherson Peopleʼs Republic". In response, the occupiers loot local shops and houses, abduct and kill civilians. One of the victims is 17-year-old Nastya Mostova, who was shot dead by Russians on the street on March 1. Albina Karman talked to Nastyaʼs mother Tetiana and tells her story.
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On the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, a large number of Russian military equipment entered Kherson Oblast. On February 25, the occupiers already managed to capture Antonovsky Bridge across the Dnipro River, which connects Kherson with the left bank, in particular with Oleshky and Hola Prystan towns. And on February 28, the Russians blocked the city and launched an offensive. On March 1, Russians stormed Kherson, and in the evening of the next day, the occupiers were already in all districts of the city.
Since then, Kherson has been under occupation. On March 4, Kherson residents began to hold peaceful rallies against the occupiers. The Russian military fired into the air to disperse the people, but the Ukrainians were not intimidated. In the following days, people went to rallies again and not only in Kherson but also in other cities of the oblast. In response, the occupiers detained people, used smoke, light, and noise grenades, and fired into the air and later at protesters.
Back in March, the occupiers planned to hold a "referendum" in Kherson to create a so-called "Kherson Peopleʼs Republic" and join Russia, as well as to put the Russian ruble into circulation. But so far they have not been able to realize their intentions due to the resistance and active position of Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories. Even the Kherson City Council, headed by Mayor Ihor Kolykhayev, worked under the Ukrainian flag until April 25, when the council building was seized by the occupiers.
From the first days of the invasion of Kherson, the occupiers began looting, kidnapping, and killing civilians. According to the Kherson City Council, about 40 civilians died in the city on March 1-2 alone. One of them was 17-year-old Nastya Mostova.
Nastyaʼs mother, Tetiana Mostova, moved to Kherson from Odesa in the 1990s. She was a servicewoman then. But in Kherson, she found a civilian job in a bakery.