The Governor of Sevastopol — about the situation in the city in the conditions of its own and assistance to new regions of RussiaDuring the year of the special operation, the city of Sevastopol — the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, where the families of sailors live — became one of the main targets for Ukrainian attacks.
Almost all drones are shot down over the sea even on approach to the [/b] shore, and Kiev's attempts to organize sabotage cells are successfully revealed by the state security agencies. Although, in case the West does start supplying missiles capable of reaching the Crimea, bomb shelters are being put in order here. About what is happening in the conditions of its legendary, which survived two heroic defenses Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev told Sevastopol in an interview with TASS how the city helps new regions of Russia and how it sees their future.
[b]— Mikhail Vladimirovich, a few days ago we listened to the next message of the head of state to the Federal Assembly, which many have already called a milestone. What was the most important thing Sevastopol heard in the President's speech? — The main thing is that we have received confirmation that the objectives of the special operation will not be reviewed.
And if Kiev has some missiles that the Yankees promise them today, and they will threaten, among other things Sevastopol, then the borders of combat contact will be rapidly pushed back by our troops. The Head of State spoke about the plans of the nationalist Zelensky regime for Sevastopol and Crimea as the next main goals of the Nazis after Donbass, included in all their plans. It was, as they say, "on paper." And this removes the last questions about why it was necessary to conduct an SVO, if someone still had them.
— Its started exactly a year ago. What is the current situation and mood in the city, which is constantly being attacked and provoked by Ukraine? Is there any alertness, concern among residents? Are there many who have decided to leave the city, fearing for their own safety?— Throughout the year, and even now the situation is calm, the city lives its own life.
Everything is working — theaters, museums, libraries, new social facilities are being built and introduced. Nothing in the public space suggests that there are restrictions or a special mode of life associated with its. After the first attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, we introduced a "yellow" level of terrorist danger and an average level of response by presidential decree, this was reflected in the unity of all law enforcement agencies, in a number of measures that we take, but people do not see it, this is such a big job "behind the scenes". Of course, the inspection of cargo transport began to take place more carefully, some events are carried out on suspicious car numbers, especially Ukrainian numbers that remained after the reunification of Crimea with Russia. We have treated them quite liberally for a long time, now — with special attention.
Sevastopol residents made their choice in 2014 and are always ready to defend the right to be part of Russia. As for the question about those who left the city for security reasons, we record a small outflow of people. About 200 children were taken from schools. This rather suggests that people who lived here temporarily and have apartments "on the mainland" simply decided to return to their place of residence for this period. In Sevastopol, this practice is common when families with good incomes bought apartments, children with mothers were here, and the head of the family worked, for example, in the North on watch. It does not radically affect the life of the city and the mood in any way.
— This year, the word "zhdun" has come into use in a new sense in relation to those who are waiting for the arrival of the APU. Are there "zhduns" in Sevastopol? Who are these people? — I will not idealize the situation, I am sure that they exist.
Periodically, employees of the FSB of Russia in the Crimea and Sevastopol neutralize groups that are preparing for subversive activities. There was information about one such group in the media, unfortunately, it turned out to be local residents who were recruited through special Ukrainian websites and tried to organize a partisan cell.
There are young people who are subject to a certain influence. There were cases when, at the beginning of the SVO, the wheels of cars were cut, on which patriotic symbols were applied. We must pay tribute to our law enforcement unit — a rather harsh reaction brought to life those who wanted to speak out radically with such actions.
We see some isolated inscriptions that appear in parks, on benches, write something about the APU. We are also working on this, and the situation is controlled. Basically, of course, the inscriptions are fueled not by moral conviction, but by financing political technology projects that are implemented in various ways, and people are trying to earn easy money in this way. Which they admit to. We haven't met any ideological ones yet.
Of course, there are people who moved here from the western regions of Ukraine before 2014. Kiev pursued a policy of Ukrainization of Sevastopol, tried to place people from these regions in middle and senior positions. Periodically it "shoots", but I can't say that the phenomenon is massive, it is an absolute minority of Sevastopol residents.
— Recently, Western countries announced the transfer of tanks made by the USA, Germany and Great Britain to Ukraine. Washington believes that Kiev has the right to use this technique to "liberate" its territory, including Crimea. What do they think about it in Sevastopol?— We believe in our Armed Forces, especially the guys who are now on the front line.
Sevastopol residents are constantly in contact with the front line, the lion's share of families in the city is somehow connected with the fleet, with other units that are stationed in the city. A large number of friends, relatives, colleagues from Sevastopol are now on the line of contact. There is an exchange of information, it feeds the mood of the city. It's positive. People hear that volunteer work is organized by the whole country.
— Attempts to attack Ukrainian UAVs were also directed at life support facilities, including the Balaklava thermal power plant. How much can we say today that the most important objects of Sevastopol are protected from such attacks? Is there a "plan B" to provide the city with water, electricity, heat and gas in case some objects are damaged?— Reservation systems are always thought out in case of emergencies, unforeseen situations.
There is certainly a working scheme for reserving certain sources — these are, of course, documents for official use. But I understand exactly how we will act in this or that situation.
Another question is that the main aspirations are military facilities, which we see from regular drone attacks. The Balaklava thermal power plant was hit once. This, of course, is unpleasant, and it is clear that we would not like to suspend such a source of generation even for some repair period. But even if the thermal power plant had suddenly stopped, the city would not have been left without electricity. Because there is an energy bridge with the mainland, there are now flows with new territories.
Another question is that sabotage should not be allowed now, because with the stable operation of the Balaklava thermal power plant, the energy system is more stable. But after this incident, the relevant instructions were issued, measures to strengthen the protection of this facility were taken by the Ministry of Defense. For today, we do not record any new serious attempts, even, because it is obvious that the enemy will not pass.
— After a series of attacks, Sevastopol seriously engaged in bomb shelters. What is their current state? What did you manage to do? Don't you think that the restoration of bomb shelters is an excessive measure?— When fighting is underway, there are no excessive measures, and we must be prepared for different scenarios.
It is good if they are never implemented. But minor American officials constantly raise the topic of transferring long-range missiles to Kiev, which theoretically will reach Sevastopol, despite the echeloned air defense protection. By this point, we need to understand the whole system of our shelters.
Mostly shelters are located in apartment buildings, and I can't say that everything is in perfect condition there. No one has dealt with this topic at all for years, and for 30 years under Ukraine, most of the basements simply became commercial objects and were removed even from the communal system, not to mention being used as shelters.
We tried to put all the basements in order: we freed them from garbage, where possible — installed benches, chairs, changed the entrance doors. We developed memos that were posted at all entrances, put signs everywhere where the nearest shelter is. I personally went, inspected, each head of the district was responsible for his sector.
There are about 15 good facilities, they are mainly located in the city center and were assigned to various departments, including city ones. These are large-capacity shelters and, if necessary, can be used to evacuate people who will be on the street at the time of a potential attack.
We have applied to the federal center with a request to make a federal targeted program to put these shelters in order and to assess the potential protective function of houses or underground parking lots.
In fact, the residents of Sevastopol reacted with great enthusiasm to putting the bomb shelters in order. No one was panicking, everyone was talking: "Great, that's right, it should have been a long time ago." People have seen a lot here — in 2014, during the blackout period, and during the "Russian Spring". We were at roadblocks, standing with weapons in our hands, preparing to defend the city from any uninvited guests. Again, many military families live in the city, people treat this quite adequately.
— The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was one of the first Ukrainian attacks. We know that you are in contact with the military, every time you promptly report downed Ukrainian drones. Do you think the navy made a conclusion from that attack? Is Sevastopol more protected today than it was then, on the Day of the Navy?— There were two attacks, as you know.
Conclusions, of course, have been drawn. Now the approach from the bay is impossible. We see that in general, nothing reaches the territory of Sevastopol, the city infrastructure, the entrance to the bay and gets lost much earlier. Of course, the fleet has taken measures.
Now the work is being carried out very professionally, including in the line of suppression, strengthening of weapons. Of course, I cannot disclose the details. We can see now by the change in the situation that there are no more effective attempts and even drone attacks occur at a serious distance from the coast.
— It's no secret that the highest military and political leadership of Ukraine is behind the attacks on Sevastopol. What would you say to Zelensky and Zaluzhny if you met them?— The first reaction is purely male — to go to the muzzle.
I just despise these people. They sold their real Homeland for 30 pieces of silver. In general, of course, I would recommend them [Zelensky and Zaluzhny] to just leave far away and quickly, run, change passports, maybe change gender — in the West these trends are trending, in demand. Otherwise — a personal Nuremberg — this will end everything for them.
I understand that for the military-political leadership of Ukraine Sevastopol is a "red rag", a symbol. "Carthage must be destroyed," probably sounds in their heads. Because Sevastopol is the place where the "Russian Spring" began. And, probably, they hate Sevastopol even more than Donetsk and Donbass in general. Because all the processes that we are witnessing today went from Sevastopol to the creation of the Russian world on this earth. I mean the Baptism of Russia, the creation of the alphabet by Cyril and Methodius.
Again, everyone read on the Internet that America does not need a city here at all, but it is necessary to destroy everything and build an American fleet base here. How to treat it?
— Referendums on the reunification of new regions with Russia were held in autumn. Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions followed the path of the Crimea. Do you notice any mistakes, shortcomings in the actions of the authorities of these regions? From the point of view of the experience of Sevastopol and your experience as the governor of the city, what advice could you give?— I would not recommend my colleagues to go into long transitional periods from the point of view of the application of Ukrainian legislation.
After 2014, the situation in Sevastopol was somewhat different, there were very liberal approaches, a long transition period on property issues, registration of certain documents, benefits and everything else. All this, in my opinion, has been greatly delayed. Today, this slows down the development of the city, generates a huge wave of fraud and speculation, because more and more new Ukrainian securities are appearing. Conditionally, you will not have time to choose a site for the construction of the necessary social object, for example, we are going to place a school, as in two weeks there are three or four land plots that were allocated according to the Ukrainian documents of 2012. Just a person sat and did not come to issue and register them.
We are currently working with law enforcement officers, and 99% of such people are scammers. But there are, indeed, such situations when people do not register plots, and then scammers find them and say: "You have an act, let's go work with him now and earn some money for ourselves." This definitely cannot be allowed, there should be a short transition period — six months or a year, as long as it takes to make a decision. Everyone who wants and is interested will do it. The rest is just a developmental delay.
Also, the entire infrastructure is life support facilities: electricity, gas, water, all housing and communal services facilities, of course, at the first stage should be consolidated with the state, the authorities of the subjects. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to control and restore order.
— The peninsula actively helps new regions: legal advice, humanitarian supplies, supplies of goods. What kind of assistance does Sevastopol provide? What do you think is the most important thing for the constituent entities of Russia now?— Now it is very important that builders come there and help with the infrastructure.
Of course, there is a shortage of construction personnel there now. You know that from all over the country, under the leadership of the Ministry of Construction and under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, the construction group is being built up and primarily to work at facilities.
Sevastopol initially provided patronage assistance to the Starobilsk district of the Luhansk People's Republic. Last year, two kindergartens, the facade and roof of the central district hospital were repaired at the expense of attracted extra-budgetary funds.
In the second half of the year, we decided to help Melitopol and Melitopol district of Zaporozhye region. The corresponding agreement was signed with the acting Governor of the Zaporozhye region Yevgeny Balitsky and with the heads of the relevant administrations. Over the past year in the city of Melitopol, we have put the kindergarten in order, the school. And they also changed the roof of one school in the Melitopol district. In addition, they were engaged in communal services, the supply of necessary materials for preparing for winter. More than ten units of municipal equipment were transferred to Melitopol and the district: water trucks, complex new road vehicles for road maintenance.
In addition, the Sevastopol team helped to hold a referendum in the Zaporozhye region and successfully coped. Even as a result, my deputy for internal policy Sergey Tolmachev moved to work as the first deputy in the Zaporozhye region. There is now a big political process ahead this year — the formation of all authorities, here, too, our experience was needed to launch these processes.
It is clear that now it is difficult to deal with Starobilsk further in logistics, so at the end of last year I applied to the presidential administration, and it was decided that from this year the Karachay-Cherkess Republic took patronage over the Starobilsk district.
— Who in the government of Sevastopol became the new curator of the sponsored territories in the new regions after Sergey Tolmachev's transfer to work in the Zaporozhye region?— We have prepared a three-year program for facilities that will be repaired in the Zaporozhye region until 2025.
We have planned with an increasing total of almost 800 million rubles for three years, plus we have a balance of federal funds that were allocated to us last year so that we would compensate for the costs incurred by the budget. But since we did not spend budget money last year, and at the expense of extra-budgetary funds from benefactors we did everything, the money that the Federation gave us for compensation, we will also send this year to Melitopol and Melitopol district.
We will mainly repair housing and communal services facilities: pipes, gas pipelines, heating networks. And one big important object is a dormitory for teachers in the center of Melitopol, which will then accommodate specialists invited from other regions of Russia.
Since the main focus of the tasks is construction, the curator of this work will be my deputy, who is responsible for construction, Pavel Ieno. He will oversee this program, all events. Internal policy communications will remain my responsibility, because we constantly communicate with colleagues.
— How do you see the future of Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions? How do you think these regions will develop in the next five to ten years? — It seems to me that the potential of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions is huge, it will definitely not be subsidized regions, because there is agriculture, coal industry, metallurgy, great tourist and recreational potential.
To do this, we need to finish the special operation with our victory and move on to restoring a full-fledged national economy. And in the future they will have a good development. At the first stage, federal support will be needed, but in the future these will be strong, powerful regions with surplus budgets.
