Serguiï Gaïdaï, governor of a region in eastern Ukraine constantly bombed by the Russians, opens the pockets of his bulletproof vest, which is filled with ammunition and first-aid kit. “We have to prepare for the worst,” he said.
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Appointed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the 46-year-old heads the Lugansk region, which includes the city of Severodonetsk, where Russian and Ukrainian forces clash in the streets, and the city of Lysyhansk, which is almost constantly under artillery fire.
“The situation is difficult in the city (Lysychansk) and in the whole region,” he said in an interview with AFP, because the Russians are “bombing our positions 24 hours a day.”
Preparations for street fighting can be seen in Lysychansk: soldiers dig holes and erect barbed wire, police officers park burned-out vehicles across the streets to slow traffic.
“A proverb says: you have to prepare for the worst and the best will come by itself,” emphasizes Mr. Gaïdaï. “Of course we have to prepare,” adds the man, who has repeatedly warned that the Russians would end up encircling Lysychansk and cutting off the main supply routes.
“It’s a war, anything can happen,” he said.
From Lysytchansk, Ukrainian artillery fired on the Russian positions in Severodonetsk, and the Russians responded with mortars and rockets.
“Not a safe place”
“Look how Severodonetsk fought back: you can see that they (the Russians) don’t control it completely… They can’t go any faster (or) put their big guns and tanks there,” the governor explained.
Like other Ukrainian officials, he hopes that Ukraine’s western allies will supply him with more “long-range weapons” “as soon as possible”. “It’s good that the West is helping us, but it’s late,” he regrets.
The governor could theoretically take a look at the situation in Severodonetsk with his troops, “but it’s extremely risky.”
In fact, “there is no safe place in the entire Lugansk region,” he admits as explosions echo.
His body armor is covered in bullet casings and he has a semi-automatic rifle in his car. “If necessary, I will fight,” he said.
Born in Severodonetsk, Sergiï Gaïdaï was appointed by President Zelenskyy after his election in 2019.
“I’m here to help people as best I can,” he says of the wartime administrator’s job, which requires him to “keep (his) feelings with (him).”
“It hurts me to see my hometown being destroyed,” he said. Just as people were killed in war, they knew: “I am human, but I bury everything deep inside me”.
“need to talk”
Life is very hard for the approximately “10%” of Lysytchansk’s remaining residents who no longer have a telephone network, running water or electricity, cook over a wood fire and have taken refuge in basements.
“We try to persuade them to leave,” but “some categorically refuse.” And only a “small percentage” hope Moscow will turn the region into a “Russian world,” he said.
Governor Gaïdaï communicates daily about the status of the conflict, especially on social networks like Telegram or Facebook.
“We need to talk” to counter Russian propaganda, but also so that people in the region “understand that we haven’t let them down, that I’m with them,” he stresses.
He also sees another use for his numerous communications: to help in the sentencing of Russian President Vladimir Putin “if we bring him to justice before[the International Criminal Court in]The Hague”.