"Днепр Оперативный"
In Kyrylivka, which, like the entire Ukrainian coast of Azov, has been occupied since the first days of the full-scale invasion, a real arbitrariness is taking place. The occupiers, with the help of the local Gualite Kateryna Umanets, illegally appointed “head of administration” of the seaside resort, literally cut the village into pieces. They dismantle the houses of the rest bases, the outlets of the central market, removing everything that can be used for the construction of defensive lines in the Zaporizhzhia region. There are also known facts of mass robberies in tourist resorts and the accommodation of military and mobilized people in sanatoriums, hotels, children’s camps and even the private sector. I will tell you more about what is happening in Kyrylivka”Dnipro Officer” with reference to Kyrylivka.IN.UA.
Kyrylivka is under occupation
Kyrylivka is one of the most popular and largest resorts on the Sea of Azov, located a three-hour drive from Zaporizhzhia and one hour from Melitopol. In past seasons, vacationers began to arrive there from the Easter and May holidays, and left in the second half of September. On both sides of the settlement there are two spits with wide and clean sandy beaches – Fedotova and Peresyp, which are territorially part of Kyrylivka. There are more than 400 different tourist facilities here – hotels, boarding houses, sanatoriums, recreation centers, children’s camps, campsites, where hundreds of thousands of tourists rested during the summer. Some still retain the “Soviet charm” in the form of armored beds, a fan, summer shower and shared toilets, but most were modernized or rebuilt after 2014, when Crimea fell between the Putin’s hands. As a result, everyone here has found options to suit their tastes and wallet.
In February 2022, Kyrylivka had already been captured. There were no large-scale anti-Russian rallies and actions here, as the occupiers themselves were not observed for a long time. But somewhere in April they already started visiting, scaring people with their looks alone. They twice abducted the village head, Ivan Maleev, who refused to cooperate with them. Fortunately, they returned home safe and sound. And at the end of May, the collaborator Kateryna Umanets, who returned from Moscow to her native country, was appointed “head of administration”.
Who is “Katya the alcoholic”
Kateryna Umanets, or, as she is also called “Katya the alcoholic” for her love of partying and drinking, is a well-known personality both in the Zaporizhzhia region and beyond. In 2014, she was the head of Antimaidan in Melitopol, promoting the ideals of the “Russian world” among her followers. Of course, not for free. For instructions and payment, she often visited the Russian capital. As a result, she fled there when in 2017 a case was brought against her in Ukraine under the high treason article. She worked there modestly. And again, as an agent, but in a different field – in the field of selling apartments.
In Kyrylivka, immediately after her arrival, she started active activity: she imposed a tribute of 59 UAH per day on entrepreneurs in the market, although before that people sold their goods for free. In addition, it obliged the owners of recreation centers or their representatives to pay remuneration in the amount of 1,000 hryvnias each month.
From the very beginning of his “tenure”, Umanets actively organizes entertainment events with drinking parties and song-dances, where his single fans come. She even runs her own Telegram channel, where she has gathered several hundred followers. In it he glorifies “Mother Russia” and boasts of her husband’s nude photos. But in order not to be a traitor, trying to curry favor with its Kremlin curators, the people of Kyrylivka understand that Russia only released them from a peaceful life with the opportunity to receive tourists, develop their business and earn money.
Theft and the poor
In autumn, the situation in Kyrylivka worsened. Ukrainian officer and blogger Anatolii Shtefan “Stirlitz” announced on his Telegram channel that mass looting had begun. Russian occupiers take away boilers, air conditioners and other household appliances from recreation centers whose officials have refused to cooperate with them. Burglaries of private property have also been recorded in the nearby village – First Stepanivtsi, which is territorially a continuation of the Peresyp Spit. This seaside resort, despite its poorly developed infrastructure, has developed very well in recent years. Lovers of quiet rest, families with small children, for whom proximity to the sea and empty beaches are the main thing, went here.
Worse still, the coast of Azov receives more and more labor from the occupiers. They are preparing to spend the winter there. They settle both in Kyrylivka and in other villages of OTG Yakymiv. It is known, for example, that another convoy recently visited a children’s health camp in the village of Bogatyr (Altagir) on the shore of the Milk Estuary. New and new parties of mobilized people arrive, who are thrown into the construction of defensive lines on the outskirts of Melitopol. The inhabitants fear having to coexist so closely with the enemy, whose presence brings only destruction, death and destitution.