Propagandists do not stop trying to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine, the motives of which are hidden under the narrative of “the need to fire Russians in Ukraine”. To promote this message, Russian media again claim that the residents of Kherson are supposedly waiting for “Russian liberators” and “supporting” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this.

Russian media used the statements of the governor of the occupation authorities, collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, who cannot be considered a reliable source of information. Although the Kremlin calls him “the governor of the Kherson region of Russia”, this position is fictitious. In Ukraine, Saldo is wanted for high treason and violating the territorial integrity of the country. In addition, Volodymyr Saldo is under numerous sanctions from Ukraine, the EU, Great Britain, the USA, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

After massive shelling of peaceful cities, destruction of civilian infrastructure and mass murder of civilians, the level of self-identification of Ukrainians reached its highest level in all the years of the country’s independence. According to an all-Ukrainian sociological survey by the Rating group, published on January 29, 2024, very high rates of a sense of Ukrainian identity were registered in the Kherson region - the majority of respondents called themselves convinced Ukrainians from a European nation. At the same time, respondents most often noted Ukrainian identity as a conscious choice, aggravated by the war.

Russia regularly shells every district of the city, killing civilians in Kherson and causing enormous damage to critical infrastructure. It was the actions of Russian troops that led to significant material and human losses in Kherson, which caused negative emotions among the vast majority of local residents. According to a survey by the Protection Kherson Society Foundation (2023), only 8% of Kherson residents noted that they were not injured as a result of enemy shelling. Every third Kherson family lost property due to Russian aggression. A third (35%) of Kherson residents had their apartment or private house damaged, 27% of respondents noted that their apartment building was damaged, and another 23% had their property damaged. Significant damage has also been caused to the health of Kherson residents: 35% testify that in their families there are people who have begun to suffer from mental disorders, 3% in the family are injured. However, the worst thing is that people are dying due to shelling of the city. During the survey, 2% of Kherson residents said that there were deaths in their families.

The majority of respondents believe that the restoration of Kherson should occur primarily at the expense of the aggressor state (79%), which should be punished for its criminal actions.

The Russian myth about the “originally Russian southeast” of Ukraine, which, according to the occupiers, should include the Kherson region, has never been confirmed by facts. It should be recalled that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, during the all-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991, 93.13% of the residents of the Kherson region voted for the independence of Ukraine. Thus, they confirmed their desire to live in an independent and sovereign state - Ukraine. And during the 2001 All-Ukrainian Population Census, the majority of Kherson residents (82%) considered themselves Ukrainians.

Detector Media wrote that Russian propaganda is trying to create the impression that life is thriving and being restored in the temporarily occupied territories, while disorder reigns in those controlled by Ukraine.