<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/17/kharkiv-mayor-dismisses-russian-claims-terrorism-crimea-kerch-bridge-attack>
"The mayor of Kharkiv has dismissed Russia’s claim that Monday’s attack on the
Kerch Bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to Russia was an act of Ukrainian
“terrorism” and said the Kremlin had brought death and destruction to his city
on an epic scale.
In an interview with the
Guardian, Ihor Terekhov said Moscow had been
bombarding Kharkiv’s civilian population since last year’s full-scale invasion.
On Sunday, one person was killed and seven injured in three separate attacks,
with S-300 missiles fired from across the Russian border.
“How can they speak about terrorism after unleashing war on Ukraine? They are
shooting and killing our people. They have destroyed thousands of buildings in
Kharkiv, leaving 150,000 homeless,” he said.
He added: “Half of our schools and kindergartens have been wrecked, not to
mention our cultural heritage. Our children can’t go to school. This weekend,
the Russians attacked us again. They strike our parks and gardens. How dare
they speak of terrorism?”
Terekhov said Russia’s army tortured and shot “thousands of people” living in
the Kharkiv region, which was occupied for six months. He cited the city of
Izium, where the bodies of 447 men, women and children were discovered in a
mass grave, including the bodies of 22 Ukrainian soldiers.
The mayor suggested the bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean
peninsula was a legitimate military target. “This will cause a lot of
logistical problems for Russia,” he observed. “It shows the Kremlin is weak.
The task of Ukraine and its allies is to make Moscow even weaker.”
When Russian tanks tried to seize Kharkiv last March, most citizens fled, with
only 300,000 remaining from a population of 2 million, he said. “Sometimes I
would drive around and I didn’t see anybody on the streets,” he recalled. Local
people returned in several waves after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive
last September.
Kharkiv’s population had gone back up to 1.2 million, he said, after many
families returned this summer. He described the city as “indomitable”. But he
stressed the situation was far from normal, with frequent air raid sirens, and
the threat of bombs and explosions hanging over daily life.
“They are trying to break us, to break Ukraine’s spirit. They will not
succeed,” he said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
