The governor of the eastern Ukrainian region now seeing heavy fighting with Russia, Sergiy Gaiday, opened the pockets of his flak jacket Saturday to show gun cartridges and a tourniquet.<\/p>\n
Appointed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, the 46-year-old heads the Lugansk region, including the city of Severodonetsk, where Russians are fighting street battles, and Lysychansk, where bangs of artillery are near-constant.<\/p>\n
\"It's a tough situation, in the city (of Lysychansk) and in the region as a whole,\" he told AFP in an interview, as Russians \"are just shelling our troop positions 24 hours a day.\"<\/p>\n
In Lysychansk, there are signs of preparations for street fighting: soldiers digging in, putting up barbed wire and police placing burnt-out vehicles sideways across roads to slow traffic.<\/p>\n
\"There's an expression: prepare for the worst and the best will come by itself, Gaiday said. \"of course we need to prepare.\"<\/p>\n
Gaiday has warned of the danger that Russian troops will encircle Lysychansk by cutting off supply roads.<\/p>\n
\"Theoretically it's possible. This is a war, anything can happen, he said.<\/p>\n
\"It could turn out that they cut off the region and we really do end up encircled. Maybe there will be fighting even in Lysychansk -- this is war.\"<\/p>\n
From Lysychansk, Ukrainian artillery is firing at Severodonetsk, where smoke rises from the Azot factory and Russian troops fire back shells and rockets.<\/p>\n
\"Look how long Severodonetsk has held out: you can see they (the Russians) don't control the town fully... they can't go further in and they can't put their big guns or tanks there,\" the governor said.<\/p>\n
He called for for supplies of \"long-range weaponry to arrive as soon as possible\".<\/p>\n
\"The fact that the West is helping us is good, but it's (too) late.\"<\/p>\n
- 'No safe places' -<\/p>\n
The governor could still theoretically visit his home town of Severodonetsk accompanied by military, he said, \"but it's very highly risky\".<\/p>\n
In fact \"there are no safe places in Lugansk region,\" he said, as explosions rang out in the background.<\/p>\n
His flak jacket was stuffed with cartridge cases and he said he has a semi-automatic rifle in his car \"and if I need to, I will fight\".<\/p>\n
Gaiday was born in Severodonetsk and appointed by Zelensky after his election in 2019.<\/p>\n
Of his current role as a wartime administrator, Gaiday said: \"It's hard, but I don't let my emotions out.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's painful for me to see how my home city is being destroyed,\" he said, as well seeing those he knew die.<\/p>\n
\"It's all painful, I'm a human being but I bury this deep inside me,\" he said, adding that his task is to \"help people as much as possible\".<\/p>\n
- Social media -<\/p>\n
Conditions are grim for civilians left in Lysychansk, who have no mobile phone connection, running water or power. They cook on campfires and shelter in cellars.<\/p>\n
\"About 10 percent\" have stayed in the city, Gaiday said.<\/p>\n
\"We try to talk to people and persuade them to leave. Some point-blank refuse.\"<\/p>\n
There is a \"small percentage\" who are waiting for Moscow to build a \"Russian world\" in the region, he said.<\/p>\n
Gaiday has a prominent presence on social media including Telegram and Facebook, giving regular updates on the war.<\/p>\n
\"You need to talk,\" he said, saying this could counteract the powerful influence of Russia's state propaganda machine.<\/p>\n
He said he also wanted people in the conflict zone to \"understand that I haven't abandoned them, that I'm on the spot and with them.\"<\/p>\n
Referring to a potential war crimes tribunal, he also suggested his posts \"could even be a small element when we try (Russian President Vladimir) Putin at the Hague\".<\/p>\n
am\/har<\/p>\n
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The governor of the eastern Ukrainian region now seeing heavy fighting with Russia, Sergiy Gaiday, opened the pockets of his flak jacket Saturday to show gun cartridges and a tourniquet. Appointed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, the 46-year-old heads the Lugansk region, including the city of Severodonetsk, where Russians are fighting street battles, and Lysychansk, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553,1],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-102276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed","category-non-classifiee"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n