“Kherson is Ukrainian”, “Go home”: Russian soldiers responded with fire to these slogans, which were shouted by the Kherson demonstrators on Freedom Square. For the first time since the occupation began on March 2, the peaceful demonstration was violently repressed. Four people are said to have been injured, two of whom were taken away by ambulance, including an elderly person, and one of the demonstrators is said to have been taken away by Russian soldiers. One of the first videos was published by a member of the regional council, Yurii Sobolevsky, who took part in the demonstration. “Today they tried to use force to disperse the peaceful demonstrators in Kherson. There were shots, they threw tear gas and stun grenades, Sobolevsky explained.
“At least one demonstrator was kidnapped by the Russians, there are injured. The heaviest is a pensioner, he has a deep wound on his leg, he has lost a lot of blood,” added Sobolevsky, who concluded by saying that many protesters returned to the square after a first flight from the soldiers. Kherson was the first city to fall into Russian hands since the February 24 invasion. As a result, it was also the first city where civil resistance took the place of armed struggle. For twenty days the residents of Cherson have been taking to the streets to demonstrate their resistance to the occupying forces.
In some cases, the protesters have become the protagonists of exemplary acts, such as when a man got into a Russian tank and waved the Ukrainian flag, or when the protesters pulled back Russian military vehicles with their bare hands. However, as early as yesterday, March 20, in some cities of southern Ukraine where demonstrations were taking place, a change in the attitude of the Russian occupying forces towards the demonstrators could be felt. In Berdyansk, some demonstrators were arrested. In Cherson, the occupiers had only fired in the air to disperse the crowd.
Video Nexta and Olga Bibus
