KYIV, Ukraine – After Russian forces captured the southern city of Kherson, much of what the outside world knew about life under Moscow’s rule came from the city’s mayor, who created a world of repression, insecurity and the mass detention of hundreds of people. described.
On Tuesday, the mayor, Ihor Kolykhaev, was himself arrested shortly after arriving at the municipal headquarters, where he had continued to work despite his resignation, local officials said. Russian soldiers put him on a bus decorated with the Moscow war emblem, “Z”, and took him to an unknown location.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian occupation administration, told Russian state media that Kolykhayev had been detained. He called the mayor “a hero to the Nazi community” and added: “Finally he has been neutralized.”
The mayor’s press secretary, Halna Liashevska, said the soldiers who took Kolykhaev had also stolen computer hard drives, opened safes and searched for documents. The mayor’s arrest, she said, appears to be in retaliation for his refusal to cooperate with the occupation. “I fear for the life of Ihor Kolykhaev,” Ms Liashevska wrote in a post on Mr Kolykhaev’s Facebook page.
For weeks, Kolykhaev has been posting regular updates on social media and giving interviews to Western journalists in a place where people routinely have their digital histories checked by the occupying forces. In an interview with DailyExpertNews on Sunday, he said he feared that by remaining loyal to Kiev, he would get him in trouble.
“Am I in danger?” he asked in a video call. “Yes, like any resident of the city of Kherson, I am in danger and there is insecurity. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, what will happen the day after tomorrow.”
Russian repression in Kherson has become more brutal as Ukrainian insurgents carried out a series of bombings and helped Ukrainian troops regain lost ground, Ukrainian officials and witnesses said.
In the interview, Mr Kolykhaev estimated that on April 26 – the last time he could get a proper assessment – about 300 Ukrainian people had been detained and about 140 of them were later released.
Mr Kolykhaev was elected president in 2020, defeating his pro-Kremlin opponent, Vladimir Saldo. When Russia invaded on February 24, Kherson fell in a matter of days, becoming the only regional capital to come under Kremlin control since the launch of the large-scale invasion.
On April 25, Kolykhaev reported on social media that “gunmen” had broken into the city council and replaced the security personnel. The next morning, the Russians installed their own government, led by Mr. Saldo, he said.
But Mr. Kolykhaev did not resign. In the interview, he said he consulted the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who advised him to continue working in Kherson.
In early June, he said the environment had become even more tense as “explosions can be heard every day in what the invaders call ‘the quiet Kherson'”. Medicine ran out and the humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate. “Thousands have lost their jobs and their source of income,” he said, estimating unemployment to be about 60 percent.
Mr Kolykhaev was invited to attend a meeting of the Russian-appointed government and the newly appointed mayor a few days ago, but he declined, Ms Liashevska said.
“We are all in danger,” said Ms. Liashevska. “Everyone is being attacked.”
Valerie Hopkins reported from Kiev, Ukraine, and Marc Santora from Warsaw. Oleksandr Chubko contributed reporting from Kiev.