Residents queued at a water distribution point in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, last month. Credit… Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — The embattled city of Mykolaiv emerged Monday from a 54-hour lockdown during which officers went door-to-door looking for collaborators who officials said were responsible for helping Russian forces identify targets for the missiles. that hit the city daily.
The governor of Nikolaev Oblast, Vitaly Kim, declared the dramatic operation, which sealed off the city, preventing residents from entering or leaving, a success. Five people were arrested, he said, and a number of weapons and communication devices were confiscated, but did not provide details.
“I’m sorry for the discomfort over the weekend, but it was worth it,” Mr Kim said in a video message on Monday morning.
He added: “Not a single Russian-speaking person was shot.”
According to Mr. Kim, the need to root out collaborators is particularly acute in Nikolaev. Few places in Ukraine have experienced the kind of sustained volley of Russian fire as this city on the southern coast. Since the start of the war nearly five and a half months ago, there have been barely two dozen days without violence.
The attacks destroyed about 1,200 homes and apartment buildings, according to the city’s mayor, Alexander Senkevich. Since the start of the war, he said, 132 residents have been killed and more than 619 injured in Russian attacks.
Amid the devastation, some residents said the co-op checks have brought some comfort, despite the inconvenience.
“It calmed us down a bit,” said Valentina Khontarenko, 74, who was at a kiosk selling kvass, a popular drink made from fermented bread. “We were asked about our ties with Russia. We don’t have any.”
During the lockdown, officers went door-to-door stopping people on the street, checking their documents and swiping their phones, looking for evidence they might be coordinating with Russian forces. A video of the operation released by local authorities shows officers checking computers and text messages on phones.
In one screenshot of a mobile phone text message exchange – the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed – someone using the pseudonym Mykolaiv People’s Republic described an area of the city as full of military equipment and soldiers. The answer: “Send the coordinates.”
A sign in Mykolaiv read “Kherson, keep in touch,” reinforcing residents’ support for the southern city of Kherson, which is currently under Russian occupation. Credit… Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times
Nikolaev is a predominantly Russian-speaking city with a pre-war population of nearly 500,000. It borders Kherson Oblast, which is largely occupied by Russian forces. That region is now the site of daily clashes as Ukrainian forces wage a counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian troops east back over the Dnieper River. Part of Ukraine’s defense lines pass through the Mykolaiv region, and Ukrainian troops often come to the city on rotation or to rest from the front lines.
Although most of the Russian artillery cannot reach Nikolaev, Russian forces have hit it with long-range missiles.
For weeks, Mr. Kim has warned of threats posed by collaborators, citizens sympathetic to Russia who help its military by providing information and the location of Ukrainian troops. But he released few details, and it’s unclear how damaging the problem is. Before this weekend’s lockdown, only a handful of people had been arrested on suspicion of aiding the enemy.
Last month, the wildly popular Mr. Kim posted a message to his roughly 677,000 Telegram followers offering a $100 reward for any information leading to the arrest of an associate.
“Help save Nikolaev from missile strikes,” he wrote.
The weekend lockdown was part of that effort.
Residents of Nikolaev described the inspections by law enforcement as non-confrontational, although they may make some civil libertarians in Western countries cringe.
“It wasn’t very comfortable,” said a 35-year-old woman named Jelena, who was standing in line with her husband to get water from a truck. “They came and checked everything – passports, phones. They looked at who lived where.”
She added: “What is there to fear if everything is fine?”
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