Former mayor of Kherson freed from captivity says Russians wanted to make him "governor"

Volodymyr Mykolaienko, a former mayor of the city of Kherson, who was recently freed after three years of Russian captivity, has revealed the Russians' main goal was to force him into collaboration and make him "governor".

Source: Mykolaienko in an interview with the media outlet Most

Quote: "The most important task for the Russians was to force me into cooperation. Even before Saldo [Volodymyr Saldo is a Russian-appointed leader of the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast – ed.] became ‘governor’ [appointed by the Russians – ed.], they told me, ‘You can take this post'. And when they were taking me to Sevastopol, it was around 04:00-05:00, and one of the FSB officers came out and said: ‘Well, have you changed your mind? If you haven’t, now you’ll go to Sevastopol, you’ll come to your senses there in a month or two, recognise the new authorities, and work with us. And in a week or two we’ll smash your Special Operations Forces to pieces.’

It turned out it wasn’t a month or two, and they didn’t smash the Special Operations Forces.

When they appointed him [Saldo – ed.], they said there was now a ‘governor’. I asked who. They handed me a printout and it said Saldo. I started laughing, and they asked, ‘Why are you laughing?’ I said, ‘Well, I know him; he once offered to teach me bad things.’ And they said, ‘He won’t mess around with us.’ And I said, ‘He’s fooled far bigger fish than that.’

Then I saw that Stremousov [Kirill Stremousov was the so-called ‘deputy head’ of the occupation ‘administration’ of Kherson Oblast. He was killed on 9 November 2022 – ed.] had appeared on their side. And then Kobets [Oleksandr Kobets was a pseudo-mayor of occupied Kherson, who had previously worked for the KGB – ed.] appeared. They said: ‘So you didn’t agree; we found a mayor. What can you tell us?’ I said I’d never heard of him. Then I realised that Kolykhaiev [Ihor Kolykhaiev is a mayor of Kherson, captured by the Russians in June 2022] had either been removed or had left on his own. That was the end of April. Roughly just before I was sent to Sevastopol."

Details: Mykolaienko also said he was beaten repeatedly in captivity and suffered several broken ribs. He added that the occupiers once took him out to be shot.

Quote: "And then they stood me against the wall and said, ‘Now we’re going to shoot you.’ I said, ‘Go ahead,’ and stood facing the wall. They asked if I wasn’t afraid. I said I was afraid; I didn’t want to die, but I had fulfilled my family duty – continuing the line – I have two grandchildren. If the time has come, then the time has come. One of them started shooting into the wall, and the others started shouting, ‘Knock it off!’"

Background: 

• On 24 August 2025, Volodymyr Mykolaienko, abducted by the Russians in April 2022, was freed from Russian captivity.
• Saldo served three terms as Kherson’s mayor, elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
• In 2015, Saldo headed the city organisation of the Our Land party. That same year he ran for Kherson mayor but lost, remaining only a member of Kherson City Council.
• In April 2022, after Russia’s occupation, local collaborators together with the Russians held a meeting in the seized Kherson City Council at which Saldo was appointed the so-called "head" of Kherson Oblast State Administration.

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