Russia has not won the war with Ukraine, but it already lost peace. This is clearly visible by way of example of Kherson region, large part of which was occupied by the invaders within the first days of combat actions.
Alas, you see: the poor bastards allegedly captured the territory, and then it turned into a suitcase without a handle - it’s too heavy to carry but too difficult to leave. They tried to create the puppet “Kherson People’s Republic”, but the MPs of regional council refused to participate in this charade, sending the invaders a collective reply with the clear “f*** you” message in it. Leaders of Kherson city council publicly supported them. Sidekicks of the Russians tried to apply pressure of Henichesk mayor Oleksandr Tulupov so that he would agree to cooperate with Russian fascists; instead, they received resignation letters from him and his deputies and secretary of city council. Many MPs of local authorities are hiding now, to avoid forced participation in the creation of so-called “republic” or evacuated from the region at all.
Meanwhile, common citizens are not going to hide. They fear nothing. A wave of pro-Ukrainian rallies rolls in Kherson, Nova Kakhovka, Henichesk, Chaplynka. Furthermore, they grow stronger and stronger: the first such rally at Svobody Square involved hundreds of people, and now, dozens of thousands of citizens demand that invaders go home. Protesters do not even fear the gunshots to their legs, as Rosgvardia fighters opened fire from traumatic guns. On the contrary, a handful of traitors who agreed to collaborate are scared of the protesters: a group of them gathered at Slavy park in Kherson, carrying red banners. But they escaped almost instantly, as soon as they saw the angry protesters from Svobody Square. This is not Donetsk in 2014, gentlemen; it’s a Cossack land of lovers of liberty. Well, there’s a reason why Kherson is named a hero city.
You can send people to jail all you want and threaten to shoot them - the way the armed “de-Nazifiers” do in Ukraine’s peaceful cities today. But that doesn’t make them love or obey you. They’ve had enough of “Russian world”, and will not take even one little bit of it anymore - even looking down the barrel of a gun.
