A man who was beaten by the occupiers died in Lysychansk

The police of the Luhansk Region continues to document all the crimes of the occupiers on the territory of the region.

Thus, the police registered a report that at the end of December 2022, Russian soldiers in the city of Lysychansk injured a 38-year-old man. It is noted that he died within a month.

In temporarily occupied Donetsk, a Russian tank ran over a car. Eyewitnesses report that the incident happened near the “Petrivske” cafe. It is claimed that there were no injuries as a result of the collision.

“The behavior of people who do not want to leave is not understood”

While the main attention of the media is focused on the battles for Bakhmut, the Russians are also trying to break through the defenses of Vugledar. The enemy needs this in order to advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

The occupiers have already captured most of the community’s settlements, but the city of Vugledar itself is holding on. Most of its 15,000 residents were evacuated. Mostly elderly people remained.

Serhii Novikov was appointed head of the Ugledar Military Administration in November 2021. There is very little information about him in open sources. Previously, he worked as the deputy head of the Pokrovsky District State Administration. He says that he comes from the Pokrovsky district, where his parents live.

In the interview, the head of the community talked about the conditions in which local residents live, which even the police sometimes cannot reach, what is happening in the occupied villages of the Vugledar community and why it is necessary to evacuate from the entire Donetsk region.

 Mr. Sergey, the military says that the occupiers have decided to change their tactics and are trying to bypass Vugledar. Does this mean that the city itself has become calmer, the shelling has stopped, or at least decreased?

First, I will not comment on the actions of the military. And secondly, shelling of varying intensity continues every day. Ugledar and the settlements of our community are under constant daily shelling.

The main focus is now on Bakhmut, there is not a single surviving house left. What is the situation in Ugledar?

The city is almost completely destroyed. That is, buildings are damaged or completely destroyed. Unfortunately, nothing works.

Before the full-scale war, about 15,000 people lived in Ugledar. How much is left?

I would not like to name the numbers, most have left

You are constantly urging the locals to evacuate. Why doesn’t everyone listen to you?

There is only one explanation – “we don’t want to leave our homes, we will endure it, we will stay.” Although we explain to people, tell them that they will be met, warmed, they will have a place to live, something to live for. But they probably don’t believe it, they refuse to leave. Evacuation is carried out constantly, but now the pace has decreased, because there are very few people left. Last week, with the help of the National Police, two families with children were taken out. I did not understand the behavior of people who do not want to leave. I am making every effort to convince the locals to leave, first of all, this concerns the residents of the city of Vugledar. Almost 100% of the city’s residents have been evacuated, but some flatly refuse to leave.

 Where are people being taken, in what conditions do the displaced people live?

We take it to Cherkasy region by train. We cooperate with the “Save Ukraine” charity fund, they have placed these two families in Kyiv.

But maybe not everyone wants to go that far. Do you host in neighboring cities, where it is safer than in Ugledar?

We cooperate with colleagues from other districts, share contacts of volunteers who help with resettlement. When the situation was calmer, we evacuated people to the city of Kurakhove, where there is a hospital that continues to work. But Kurakhove is now also under fire, so people are leaving somewhere further.

We also cooperate with the city of Selidove, where there is a hospital. Also Pokrovsk.

For example, my employees, who were evacuated from Vugledar and continue to work in the administration, settled in the city of Selidove, together with their relatives. But some of them are in Pokrovsk, some in Kurakhovo.

Does the military administration of Vugledar work remotely?

There are employees who work remotely – from Poltava, Dnipro. Our hubs are set up there. Most services work remotely, the Social Security Administration, for example. They are always in touch and advise people.

What do the locals need most, what problems do they come to you with?

Generators, fuel for them, medicines, diapers for adults, someone needs to be placed somewhere, someone needs to be given some reference.

“To catch a connection, you have to go up to the ninth floor”

Where do you work from, where is the military administration located?

We work from the city of Kurakhove. We are in Vugledar when the situation allows us to stop by.

And what are your responsibilities today, what can you influence?

Help for those who stay does not leave. In addition to Vugledar, our community includes five more (unoccupied) villages: Prechistivka, Novoukrainka, Maksimivka, Bogoyavlenka, and Vodyane. They need help from the state and our military administration. That is, it is medicine, humanitarian aid, issuing pensions, evacuation issues. We also help with the restoration of electricity and water supply. Unfortunately, this does not directly concern Vugledar, but concerns the surrounding villages.

We also deliver firewood to socially vulnerable segments of the population.

But most of our community is under temporary occupation.

You are a military administration. What is your direct cooperation with the military?

This is the deployment of the military. And they help us by, for example, evacuating the wounded from Vugledar.

What is the situation with gas, water, and electricity in the community? Is there a telephone connection, Internet?

There is no gas, electricity, or water. It is possible to catch communication in certain areas or on the ninth floor. In the village of Bogoyavlenka, for example, there are towers of mobile operators that were not damaged, but thanks to them, people can catch a connection.

But mostly people sit in basements without communication. Government officials work from outside the borders of Ugledar. Where do people turn in case of need, for example, to go to the hospital?

There are soldiers in the city. If there are critical situations, wounded, dead, we turn to them. They are evacuating from Ugledar to Bogoyavlenka. We take the person from there and take him to the hospital in Kurakhov.

In which villages is the most difficult situation? How many people stay there?

Cleaning and Watering. There are very few people left there, they don’t want to leave either. We cooperate with international organizations and volunteers to accommodate evacuees. We are supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, “Man in Need”, UNICEF, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, GEM organizations and the Howard Buffet Foundation. 290 families that remain in the community received assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross – UAH 25,000 each.

I personally accompany “Ukrposhta” workers when we deliver pensions to local residents.

“All roads to Vugledar are shot through”

Recently, an American volunteer died in Bakhmut – the road the volunteers were traveling on was fired upon by the enemy. How safe is it to drive in and out of Vugledar?

All roads are shot through. But both civilians drive in and the police in armored vehicles. The “White Angels” police group works in the Ugledarsk community. But it’s hard for them too. Last weekend, the police wanted to enter the city, but came under fire and moved back.

You were appointed the head of the city military-civilian administration of Vugledar in November 2021. What tasks were set before you then, was it about preparing the community for a full-scale war?

No, there were no such conversations (about preparations for war). There were many tasks. For Ugledar to function, for all institutions to work, for all people to be provided with heat and water supply, for hospitals and communal services to work.

How did full-scale war start for you?

There was artillery shelling on February 24, and it hit the hospital. Four people died, six were injured. All day everyone sat in the basements, because there were very loud artillery shells.

Did you immediately realize that this was a full-scale war? How surprising was that to you?

Yes, I understood that a full-scale war had begun. They began to attack the entire territory of Ukraine. And even before that, we lived near the front for eight years, the settlements of the Ugledar community were on the demarcation line. We have the village of Taramchuk, from which Olenivka and Debaltseve are across the field. That is, there was a demarcation line.

But what happened on the morning of February 24 was, of course, a surprise for me. I did not expect that.

In conversations, Mariupol residents repeatedly complained about the local authorities, which, according to them, did not prepare a shelter at all. How many shelters and bomb shelters were prepared in Ugledar?

Shelter was being prepared. All the heads of the Associations of co-owners of multi-apartment buildings were warned that the shelters were ready, that there was access to the basements of the houses, that lighting was installed there.

Previously, you worked as the deputy head of the Pokrovsk district state administration. Do you advise the residents of Pokrovsk to evacuate already, because the front line is closer to Pokrovsk than at the beginning of the war?

My personal opinion is that you should evacuate to safer places. Because it is dangerous to stay in the Donetsk region. I emphasize every time that evacuation will save lives, in particular, children.

“In the occupied villages, the Russians drive local residents out of their homes”

Do you know what the situation is in the recently occupied territories, in the villages near Vugledar, for example, Mykilskyi, Pavlivka?

As far as I know, there are very few people left there, because the active phase of hostilities continues. Constant shelling. We evacuated most of the residents from Pavlivka. I know that the occupiers drive the locals out of their homes, misbehave with people. You see, there is information, but more are rumors.

How do people get information, learn news?

When the situation was calmer, we went to the city and delivered humanitarian aid. Then they talked, reported news. Now works at Ugledar “Point of Invincibility”. So we come to it, unload humanitarian aid and communicate with the people who come there. In general, there are three “Points of Invincibility” operating in the community, there are also in Novoukrainets and Bogoyavlenkas.

Are there many among the local so-called “Zhduns”(the one who waits) who are waiting for the arrival of the “Russian Peace”?

I don’t want to pick on people like this – are they “Zhduns” or not. These are our people. Each person has his own thoughts. My task is to provide them with everything they need, to convince them to evacuate, since it is dangerous to stay where they live.

The postal code has changed in temporarily occupied cities in Luhansk Region. Indexes changed from five-digit to six-digit numbers.

This is reported by propaganda resources.

“When writing an address, the number “2” is added to the five-digit postal code at the beginning (for example, the postal code of the central office of Lysychansk has changed from “93100” to “293100”, by analogy, the codes of other offices in the region are changing),” the message says .

The index changed not only in Lysychansk, but also in Severodonetsk and Rubizhny.

At night, the Russian military shelled Kramatorsk, Kostyantynivka, Siversk, Grodivska, Vugledarska, Kurakhivska communities of the Donetsk region.

This was announced by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

“Around midnight, the Russians shelled the Grodivsk community, which is relatively far from the front, with artillery – 1 person was wounded in Novoeconomichny, the church was damaged. The outskirts of Kramatorsk also came under fire – the territory of the enterprise was damaged.

On the Volnovakha direction, 2 houses were damaged in Bogoyavlenka of Ugledarska hromada; a building in Bagatyr was damaged by a rocket strike,” the message reads.

Last day, the Russians shelled the Kurakhiv community 5 times. Novoselydove was the most affected, a kindergarten, a dispensary, a family recreation center, a residential building and an enterprise were damaged. The surroundings of Kurakhovo and Trudovoy came under enemy fire – fortunately, there were no casualties.

“On the Oryol direction, the Russians launched a rocket attack on Kostyantynivka and shelled Ivanopil’s artillery twice – a house and a warehouse were damaged in the village. A 9-story building was damaged in New York. A two-story residential building was damaged in Siversk on the Lysychansky direction – no one was injured.” – Kyrylenko noted.