«The mayor and the head of the RMA remained in place» — General Marchenko explains why Mykolaiv survived in 2022, while Kherson did not

Dmytro Marchenko, head of Mykolaiv's defence during Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February-March 2022. Archive photo by NikVesti

Former Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Marchenko believes that Mykolaiv avoided Russian occupation like neighbouring Kherson because the city and regional leadership remained in place.

He expressed his opinion in an interview on the YouTube channel of politician Boryslav Bereza, according to NikVesti.

The host reminded Dmytro Marchenko of a recent statement by the mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Mykolaienko, who had been released from captivity. The ex-mayor spoke about the flight of law enforcement and special agencies, including rescuers, from the city, and the defence of the city by ordinary civilians.

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The general acknowledged that the same situation had happened in Mykolaiv, but both the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, remained in place.

«It was the same in Mykolaiv. But both the mayor and the head of the regional military administration were in place. To be honest, I cooperated with them. They did their job, and we, the military, did ours. We differed from Kherson only in that there was no one to gather people together and distribute tasks. Thank God, it worked out for us, so we quickly found mutual understanding, shared tasks, forces and means. And we can say that we built a defence on our knees to prevent the city from being captured, although there were attempts and tanks almost entered the city. That unity is something I have never seen in my life. Everyone stood together, soldiers and ordinary people dug trenches. Everything was working like clockwork, and that's what gave us what we have today,» Dmytro Marchenko recalled.

In an interview in 2023, Dmytro Marchenko told journalists how the defence of Mykolaiv was organised. He said that Vitalii Kim «had taken over the civilian defence», while the general himself was in charge of the military.

General Dmytro Marchenko with the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitalii Kim and MP Roman Kostenko. Mykolaiv, 2022. Photo: Informant

A year ago, Dmytro Marchenko announced his retirement from the service.

Defence of Mykolaiv

The first explosions in Mykolaiv occurred around 5am on 24 February. On the same day, Russian troops tried to bypass Kherson from the east and continue their attack on Mykolaiv.

The occupiers tried to surround Mykolaiv. When attempting to enter Mykolaiv on 4 March 2023, Russian troops tried to divert the attention of the city's defence forces, Major General Dmytro Marchenko of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told NikVesti. To do so, several units of enemy vehicles entered the territory of Kulbakyne airport, but were repelled by a police group. After the unsuccessful manoeuvre in Kulbakyne, the Russians' attempt to enter Mykolaiv failed.

Since the beginning of the Great War, Major General Dmytro Marchenko, who was in charge of the defence of Mykolaiv, had been ordered to blow up the Varvarivskyi Bridge eight times. However, he managed to persuade the highest command not to blow up the bridge, because then the city could have been completely surrounded — at that time, Mykolaiv was blocked in three out of four directions.

Roman Kostenko, Secretary of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, Colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine, believes that the defence of Mykolaiv is one of the most tragic victories of this war. It helped to protect not only Odesa but also Moldova from the invasion of the occupiers.

Soldiers of the 406th Artillery Brigade played a key role in the defence of Mykolaiv in the spring of 2022, while the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade was responsible for the defence of Kulbakyne airfield. Thanks to their work, the enemy failed to occupy the city.

How was Voznesensk defended?

On 2-3 March, in Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defence fought off Russian invaders who had entered the city. About 700 buildings were damaged in Voznesensk as a result of the fighting, including 56 high-rise buildings.

Earlier, NikVesti described the battle for Voznesensk in a documentary project.

The journalists visited the site of the battle with the occupiers and learned about the details of the battle from the mayor of Voznesensk, Yevhen Velychko, and a member of the Mykolaiv Regional Council, Vladyslav Neveselyi.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine believe that the fall of Voznesensk in March 2022 would have put the entire south of Ukraine at risk, opening the way for the Russians to enter Transnistria. After all, the occupiers' goal was to secure access to the right bank of the Southern Bug River, gain operational space and then either close the encirclement of Mykolaiv or close the encirclement of the entire south with access to Transnistria, Kyrylo Nehymchuk, a participant in the battle for Voznesensk, told reporters.

The soldiers of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade who took part in the defence of Voznesensk said that they had never seen such support from civilians as they did there. This is shown in the video «Voznesensk. 2 years» 80th Air Assault Brigade.