In occupied Cherson, the journalist Ryzhenko runs a Telegram channel with offers of help for the population – and provides the Ukrainian army with data on the Russian bases. In view of the counter-offensive in the south, he warns of the horror that the Russians will leave in their wake.
When the war begins and Kherson falls to the Russians, the young Ukrainian journalist Konstantyn Ryzhenko decides to stay in his hometown and fight against the occupiers. Without ever picking up a weapon, the 28-year-old plays an important role in the Ukrainian resistance in the occupied region.
He runs a popular Telegram channel with offers of help for the population. More importantly, Ryzhenko and his cronies are the “eyes” of the Ukrainian secret service on the ground. For months they handed over data about the locations and equipment of the Russian bases to the Ukrainian army. In this way, a number of successful attacks can be carried out. When his further stay in Cherson became too dangerous, Ryzhenko left the occupied region.
In an interview with ntv.de he talks about his cooperation with the secret service and the mood in the city. In view of the possibility that Cherson will soon be liberated, the journalist warns of the horror that the Russians will leave in their wake.
ntv.de: Where are you now? How are you and what are you doing after leaving Kherson?
Konstantyn Ryzhenko: I am in Kyiv and continued my work here. The demand for information is so great that there is nothing else I can do. As soon as I arrived, I sat down at my computer and started collecting data. I run a Telegram channel, collecting information and requests for help, and consulting with people about what we can do to help them. With my colleagues, I coordinate a number of telegram channels that work for the population. With this, as strange as it sounds, we are replacing the regional authorities. We also collect data for our army, support the secret services and the partisans.
How exactly does your cooperation with the secret service work?
The key to artillery is to have “eyes” on the ground. Someone who can pinpoint exactly where the enemy targets are. Reconnaissance drones exist for this purpose, but they can never replace an informant on the ground. Because a human can say: “You missed the target by 30 meters”, and then it works with the next attack. I couldn’t be ubiquitous on my own, so I called on my followers to provide the data. We checked them, drew maps of Russian military bases and gave the information to the army.
Can you give an example of successful cooperation between you and the army?
Chaplynka (a settlement in Kherson Oblast, not far from Crimea – editor’s note) is a good example. We learned that a large Russian base is being built near the village. There was a bunch of helicopters, ammunition, they built a whole city there. We waited, observed, and when they had about a hundred vehicles and airplanes stationed there, then there was a direct hit: 15 helicopters destroyed, 300 soldiers liquidated. They also lost a large amount of equipment that could not be counted.
Why are the Russians setting up bases near towns and villages? Don’t they realize there are residents reporting their locations to the intelligence services?
Yet. But they have no choice. The bases have to be in a logistically favorable location, in the best case close to traffic arteries. And there are people living everywhere. Of course you can build a base in a remote field, but what is the use of such a base?
The main problem of the Ukrainian army is currently the lack of weapons?
Yes, we are short of long-range missile systems. There are, but they are very rare. For example, today we reported five targets to attack. However, the military only has two sets of ammunition available for this purpose. So you have to choose two targets that have higher priority. In addition, 20 to 50 percent of the missiles are intercepted by the Russian air defenses.
You are quite open about cooperation with the secret service and the way the army operates. Aren’t you worried that you’re revealing too much and possibly helping the enemy?
No, everything I tell is too general and superficial. These are things that people from other occupied territories have told before me.
Aren’t you afraid for yourself or your relatives and friends who stayed in Kherson?
If my interviews could have harmed anyone, I would have kept silent. My family is no longer in the occupied territories. And my friends and colleagues who stayed are happy when I tell them what they are doing there. The people of Cherson should know that they will not be abandoned, that there will be resistance.
You work with the secret service and at the same time you run a Telegram channel with more than 30,000 subscribers, on the profile picture of which you can see your photo. How were you not caught?
First of all, I changed my appearance a lot. Everything was different: the shape of the face, the color and length of the hair. Even people who knew me well didn’t always recognize me.
How did you change your face shape?
A make-up artist advised me. I didn’t do any surgery or anything like that, but I changed the geometry of the face and the skin tone a bit.
What else did you do to avoid getting caught?
Understandably, I didn’t live in my apartment. I moved between the many apartments that friends of mine had given me to look after while they were gone. Only one person in the occupied territory knew where to find me – she had to inform the comrades-in-arms if something bad had happened to me. The fewer social touches – the more reliable your personal security system.
And yet, at some point, did you understand that you had to get out?
At some point, far too many people recognized me on the street, it became too dangerous. When I was out and about in the city, people kept coming up to me who wanted to thank me for the Telegram channel or tell me about their problems. People thought I could solve their problems. For example, one asked me where to find food for a small python. Are you serious? Do I look like someone who’s about to forage for a little python in an occupied city? (laughs)
What is life like in the occupied city? Is there enough food, medicine?
You can only buy Russian food, it is very expensive and inedible. They stink of rancid oil and household chemicals. We call it “this is how the Russian spirit smells”. Medicines are also in short supply and they come from Russia too. A few small batches bring volunteers from the unoccupied territories, but only in extreme cases.
Is it even possible to travel to the free areas?
There is no green corridor. That means everyone travels at their own risk. It may happen that you appear suspicious to the soldiers at one of the checkpoints for some reason. Or you pass the last checkpoint and rejoice that soon you will be safe – and the Russian artillery will suddenly open fire. Simply that way; there is no guarantee, there is no schedule of when to shoot and when not to. Such is life in Kherson. There is no work, there is no money. You only leave the house to buy something quickly at the market – all the while hoping that you don’t look suspicious and that someone won’t pick you up.
How’s the mood in town?
People are waiting for liberation.
And how are the occupiers behaving?
You are impertinent. For example, there are cases when they take away all the hryvnia bills from the money changers – they want to enforce the ruble. And then they force them to sign a paper saying they donated the money to the Russian army. They can just stop you on the street to search your phone. And if they find anything they don’t like in your private messages – for example, if you call Russians orcs, that’s enough to arrest and torture you. And then they make you record a video saying you’ve taken a denazification course and are very glad your town was “liberated”.
Let’s imagine I have no idea what’s going on in Ukraine and suddenly end up in Kherson. What would I see or experience on a walk through the city?
Most likely, within half an hour you will be taken to the torture chamber.
Why? Is a person who simply takes a leisurely stroll suspicious?
If you can’t explain where you’re going and why, you look like a spy to the Russians, they’ll want to ask you a lot of questions.
In an interview you say that when Kherson is liberated, Bucha will not be such a horror in comparison. What do you mean by that?
The nightmare is that people are dying both in Bucha and in Kherson and in other places. The difference is how they die. In Bucha everything happened quickly, within a very short time: people were tortured and then shot. In Cherson, people sit in torture chambers and slowly die from the torture. For example, you are abused for two months – and then at some point your heart gives out and you die. People are dying here as a result of torture, and it’s a massive phenomenon.
It’s probably impossible to give an approximate number of victims?
Of course we don’t have casualty figures. But the number of missing is in the thousands. This is information from Telegram channels where people search for their loved ones. About ten new missing person reports are published every day.
Why do you think so many people were shot dead on the street in Bucha of all places? While in other liberated towns and villages one finds fewer such cases?
Well, the occupiers are of the opinion that the area between Kharkiv and Odessa belongs to “New Russia”, which according to them should become part of Russia. They counted on conquering us quickly – and after that we live together. For them, Ukraine begins behind this line. So while some are “liberated,” others must be intimidated. So that they keep quiet and don’t interfere in the “liberation”.
Mit Konstantiyn Ryzhenko sprach Uladzimir Zhyhachou
