Warning shots at protest
Ukrainians defend themselves against occupiers in Cherson
03/13/2022, 4:49 p.m
At the beginning of March, the Russian army took Cherson as the first major Ukrainian city. According to Ukraine’s government, Moscow wants to turn the region into a pro-Russian people’s republic by means of a pseudo-referendum. Thousands of residents took to the streets against the occupiers.
Russian soldiers apparently fired warning shots during a peaceful demonstration by residents in Kherson, Ukraine. The soldiers fired a salvo as a “warning,” the Suspilne Cherson broadcaster reported. The southern Ukrainian city has been controlled by the Russian army since the beginning of March. The Ukrainian government accuses Russia of organizing a fake referendum to establish a “people’s republic” in the city.
Thousands of people took part in the protest on the central Freedom Square in Kherson. They waved Ukrainian flags and shouted “Kherson belongs to Ukraine” and “Glory to Ukraine”. As protesters walked past a column of Russian army vehicles, some demonstrators shouted “fascists” and “go home” in Russian.
In a video published by Suspilne Kherson on Telegram, demonstrators were seen standing next to anti-tank obstacles, wrapped in Ukrainian flags. A protester held up a sign that read “Kherson is Ukrainian.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the demonstrators in Kherson on Telegram. He is grateful to everyone “who does not surrender” and protests to “show the occupiers that Ukraine is our country,” he wrote.
Cherson, located near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, was the first major city in Ukraine to be taken by the Russian army after a three-day siege in early March. 290,000 people live in the port city.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian government accused Russia of wanting to hold a pseudo-referendum on the establishment of a “people’s republic” in Kherson. “The Russians are now desperately trying to organize a sham ‘referendum’ for a fake ‘people’s republic,'” tweeted Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Kuleba explained that the referendum would be completely falsified because there was no popular support for this. Should Russia go through with the referendum, severe sanctions would have to follow. “Kherson is and always will be in Ukraine.”
Human rights commissioner in the Ukrainian parliament Lyudmila Denizova wrote on Telegram that the occupiers are organizing support for the referendum in the city council. However, such voting is illegal. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin held a referendum there as well, which Kyiv and the West regard as illegal.