Ukrainians search for informers in Mykolaiv
Officers go door to door during a long lockdown
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — The embattled city of Mykolaiv emerged Monday from a 54hour lockdown during which officers went door to door in search of collaborators who officials say are responsible for helping Russian forces identify targets for the rockets that pound the city daily.
The governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaliy Kim, declared the dramatic operation — which sealed the city, preventing residents from entering or leaving — a success. Five people were arrested, he said, and a number of weapons and communications devices confiscated, though he provided no details.
“I’m sorry for the discomfort over the weekend, but it was worth it,” Kim said in a video message Monday morning.
He added, “No Russianspeaking person was shot.”
The need to root out collaborators, according to Kim, has been particularly acute in Mykolaiv. Few places in Ukraine have experienced the kind of sustained barrage of Russian fire as this city on the southern coast. Since the war began nearly 5½ months ago, there have been barely two dozen days free of violence.
The attacks have destroyed about 1,200 homes and apartment buildings, according to the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych. Since the war began, he said, 132 residents have been killed and more than 619 injured in Russian attacks.
Amid the devastation, some residents said the checks for collaborators brought some comfort, despite the inconvenience.
“It calmed us down a bit,” said Valentina Hontarenko, 74, who was at a kiosk selling kvass, a popular drink made from fermented bread. “They asked about our connections to Russia. We don’t have any.”
During the lockdown, officers went door to door and stopped people in the street, checking their documents and scrolling through their phones, looking for evidence that they might be coordinating with Russian forces. Video of the operation released by local authorities shows officers checking computers and text messages on phones.
In one screenshot of a cellphone text exchange — whose authenticity could not be confirmed — someone with the screen name Mykolaiv People’s Republic describes an area of town as being full of military equipment and soldiers. The reply: “Send the coordinates.”
Mykolaiv is a largely Russian-speaking city with a prewar population of nearly 500,000. Since the days of imperial Russia, it has been an important center for shipbuilding and was home to the Soviet Union’s foremost universities specializing in that profession. It is the city that built the cruiser Moskva, the famous flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The sinking of the ship by Ukrainian forces in April provided a huge morale boost for Ukrainians and an embarrassment for the Kremlin.
The city borders the Kherson region, which is largely occupied by Russian forces. That region is now the site of daily skirmishes as Ukrainian forces wage a counteroffensive aimed at pushing the Russian troops eastward back over the Dnieper River. Part of Ukraine’s defensive lines run through the Mykolaiv region, and Ukrainian troops often come to the city on rotation or for a break from the front lines.
Though most Russian artillery cannot reach Mykolaiv, Russian forces have hit it with long-range rockets.