War in Ukraine: curfew and hunt for "collaborators" in Mykolaiv
Communal workers sweep the debris from a student hostel destroyed by shelling in Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, in southern Ukraine, on August 2, 2022. AFP - OLEKSANDR GIMANOV
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2 mins
Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine continues to be shelled by the Russians, a new attack on Friday August 5 left 10 injured in inhabited areas.
The city has seen heavy shelling last week, probably "the
heaviest
" since the Russian invasion began on February 24, according to city mayor Oleksandr Senkevych.
The governor of the region Vitaly Kim placed the regional capital under curfew on Friday evening, until Monday morning August 8, to neutralize the “collaborators” of the Russians.
Justice is investigating various cases that have resulted in destruction but also in civilian deaths.
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Practiced since the beginning of the invasion, the curfew makes it possible to drive out infiltrated groups or collaborators and to prevent residents from being under fire.
And Mykolaiv is under constant fire, explains Tatiana Kozac, journalist for the online media Graty, specializing in justice issues.
“
These are mostly indiscriminate strikes, from what I understand, but they are of course trying to target military positions.
That's why the intelligence and the police hunt down citizens who help the Russians, it's a matter for security.
»
The Ministry of the Interior announced a few days ago that around a thousand people were in court for collaboration.
“
There is a case, in Lutsk – the airport was hit on the first day of the invasion – and a man confessed to having given the position of the military airport to an agent of the FSB, Russian intelligence.
There are a number of ongoing trials, for example the case of a school director in Kiev, accused of giving information, she did this in March
, ”says Tatiana Kozac.
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A bonus for flushing out indicators
The attack on the
Kramatorsk railway station
, and others, would have been similarly facilitated.
“
At the start of the invasion,
continues the journalist,
everyone was looking for collaborators, we bordered on paranoia, when for example people were making marks in the street… The police caught a few people, they were sentenced;
sometimes their reason for acting was very simple, they acted for money.
But some of course act out of ideology
.
»
The climate is no longer as tense as in the spring, notes Tatiana Kozac, but the governor of Kramatorsk promised in July a bonus of 100 euros to help flush out the indicators.
“
There are more in-depth checks in stations but fewer roadblocks.
Grain billionaire Oleski Vadatursky was killed in a recent bombing in Mykolaiv and one version of the story says he was personally targeted, although this has not yet been proven.
But we can understand the fact that it is necessary to drive out the collaborators at this moment.
»
► To read also: In
the Kherson region, pro-Kiev residents hope for an army counter-offensive
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