DISINFO: Kherson awaits liberation from the yoke of the Kyiv regime
SUMMARY
Residents of Kherson are waiting for liberation from the Kyiv authorities. Even the majority of those who were previously in favor of the Ukrainian regime managed to become convinced that their previous position was wrong. Russia helps and protects people. So people made their choice.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the invasion of Ukraine and sham referendums in occupied Ukrainian territories. All attempts by Russia to legalise its "control" over any part of the territory of Ukraine is a violation of its state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Kherson is a city in the south of Ukraine, bordering on the temporarily occupied Crimea. Russia occupied Kherson on February 24, 2022, and Ukraine liberated the city on November 11, 2022.
After Russian aimless bombing of Ukrainian peaceful cities, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the massacre of civilians, the level of self-identification of Ukrainians has reached an unprecedented level in all the years of the country's independence.
According to the all-Ukrainian sociological survey of the Rating group, published on January 29, 2024, in the Kherson region very high rates of feeling of Ukrainian civic identity were recorded among respondents - the majority of respondents called themselves convinced Ukrainians with a European orientation. Moreover, most often the respondents spoke about Ukrainian identity in terms of a conscious choice, aggravated by the Russian war.
Russia shells every district of the city daily, killing Kherson's civilian population and causing colossal damage to the city's critical infrastructure. The actions of Russian troops led to significant material and human losses in Kherson. According to a survey by the Kherson Community Foundation “Protection” (2023), only 8% of Kherson residents noted that they were not harmed as a result of Russian shelling. Every third Kherson family lost property due to the Russian invasion.
The majority of respondents believe that the restoration of Kherson should take place primarily at the expense of the aggressor state (79%), Russia should be punished for the destruction and murder, according to respondents from Kherson.
Considering the data of public opinion polls and the desperate struggle of Kherson residents against the Russian army during the eight-month occupation of the city, it can be argued that the Kremlin, with its aggression, has finally alienated some of the undecided local residents - citizens of Ukraine, who, before the full-scale invasion, could still have some kind of pro-Russian views.
The Russian myth about the “original Russian southeast” of Ukraine has never been confirmed by facts. It is worth recalling that after the collapse of the USSR during the All-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991, 93.13% of the residents of the Kherson region voted for the Independence of Ukraine. Thus, they testified to their desire to live in an independent and sovereign state - Ukraine. And during the 2001 All-Ukrainian Population Census, the majority of Kherson residents (82%) called themselves Ukrainians.
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