Sergei Gaidai, the governor of a region in eastern Ukraine that has been relentlessly bombed by Russian forces, shows his bulletproof vest pockets full of ammunition and first aid supplies. “You have to be prepared for the worst,” he said.
Appointed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, this 46-year-old man heads the Lugansk region, which includes the city of Severodonetsk, which is fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, and the city of Lysychansk, which is under artillery fire.
“The situation in the city (in Lysychansk) and in the whole region is difficult,” he said in an interview with AFP, adding that the Russians were “bombing our positions 24 hours a day”.
Everything is being prepared for street fighting in Lysychansk: soldiers dig holes and spread barbed wire; and the police put burned cars on the streets to slow traffic.
“There is a saying: you have to prepare for the worst and the best will come,” says Gaidai.
“Of course we have to prepare,” the official repeats, who has warned several times that Russian troops will besiege Lysychansk and cut off the main supply routes.
“This is a war, anything can happen,” he reinforces.
Ukrainian artillery is attacking Russian positions in Severodonetsk from Lysychansk, and the Russians are responding with mortars and rockets.
‘There is no safe place’
“Look at how Severodonetsk is resisting: you can see that they can’t fully control (the area)… They can’t go any faster (or) they can’t put their big guns and tanks,” says the governor.
Like other Ukrainian officials, he hopes Ukraine’s western allies will deliver more “long-range weapons” “as soon as possible”.
“It’s good that the West is helping us, but it’s too late now,” he complained.
The governor says he could go to Severodonetsk to see how his troops are doing, “but it’s extremely risky.” Indeed, he admits, “There is no safe place in the entire Lugansk region,” as explosions were heard in the surrounding area.
His bulletproof vest is loaded with bullets and he has a semi-automatic rifle in his car. “I will fight if necessary,” he says.
Born in Severodonetsk, Gaidai was appointed by Zelensky after his election in 2019.
“I’m here to help people in any way I can,” she says of this wartime management job that forces her to “keep her feelings (to herself)”.
“It hurts me to see how my hometown was destroyed,” he said.
He’s also uncomfortable seeing how the war kills the people he meets: “I’m human, but I bury them all deep.”
Life is very difficult for the “10%” of Lysychansk residents who remain in the city without a telephone network, mains water or electricity. They cook with firewood and live sheltered in basements.
“We tried to persuade them to leave” but “some of them categorically refuse”. And only a “small percentage” expect Moscow to make their region the “Russian world,” he said.
Every day, Governor Gaidai uses social networks like Telegram and Facebook to report on the evolution of the conflict.
We must “raise our voices” to counter the Russian propaganda, but at the same time, he adds, “to make sure the people of the region understand that they have not been abandoned, that I am here with them.”
He also believes his messages have another possible use: to help convict Russian President Vladimir Putin “when we bring him to justice at The Hague (International Criminal Court)”.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
