The occupying troops have “already begun to rape our ladies,” according to a Ukrainian resident of the Russian-controlled city of Kherson.
Svetlana Zorina, a 27-year-old woman who lives with her grandmother in the Black Sea port city of around 290,000 people, spoke with CNN about the grim situation and accused the invading forces of sexually assaulting women.
“They’ve already begun rapping our women.” She told presenter John Berman on Friday, “There was information from folks that I personally know that a 17-year-old girl — it happened to her and then they killed her.” These assertions haven’t been independently verified yet.
When asked if city residents have mounted any protests, she stated that all they can do is “sit at home and take care of themselves.”
Zorina added: “We are terrified and scared but we are not going to give up.”
After “armed guests” stormed the municipal council on Wednesday, Mayor Igor Kolykhaiev issued additional rules for people, including allowing residents to go out only in pairs and requiring drivers to drive slowly and be “ready to display the contents of the conveyance at any point.”
“We will not be provoked by the military.” In a Facebook post, he said, “Stop at the first demand.”
Zorina previously stated on CNN that despite the Russian occupation, Kherson is a “Ukrainian city” that “wants to stay a Ukrainian city.”
“Our city is… swamped with Russian people,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, “but the flag is still Ukrainian and we hope it will stay Ukrainian.” “We have faith in our mayor.” We have faith in our government. We have faith in our soldiers. “We are confident in our win.”
“We try not to go outdoors because it’s unsafe,” she added. For the first time today, I thought I should check a store a hundred meters away to see if they had any food, but there was none because we are surrounded by Russians, and it is hard to transport food or medicine here.”
In the face of Russian disinformation, Zorina said the local administration is still trying to engage with its citizens.
“Our mayor is in touch with us, and city administration is in touch with us,” said the mayor.
“Russians tried to spread a lot of propaganda among Kherson and Ukrainians, as though we wanted to become a part of Crimea.” This isn’t the case. “We don’t want to,” she stated emphatically.
“The mayor merely informs us how the city will operate for the next few days, that transportation will be available for individuals who work in, say, electric stations, water stations, and so on.”