Ukraine’s new Ambassador to Sweden, Svitlana Zalishchuk, presented King Carl XVI Gustaf with a photograph showing residents of the now-occupied village of Zmiivka holding a Swedish flag that the monarch himself had gifted during his 2008 visit to Kherson Oblast.

Zalishchuk shared the story on Facebook following her credentials presentation ceremony with the Swedish king. She reminded him of his 2008 visit to Kherson Oblast, when he traveled to the village then known as Staroshvedske, now called Zmiivka.

The village has unique historical significance. In the late 18th century, Russian Empress Catherine II relocated Swedes from present-day Estonia to the Kherson Oblast. “They essentially became internally displaced persons of imperial times. But despite several centuries spent away from their homeland, they preserved their identity: traditions, language, church rituals,” Zalishchuk explained. “I knew that the King cares deeply about this village.”

To gather current information about Zmiivka, one of the embassy’s diplomats contacted Oleksandr Alchiev, head of the Beryslav Civil-Military Administration. Alchiev reported that despite Russian shelling and damage to the school, church, and other buildings, residents managed to save the Swedish flag that the king had personally brought to the village community in 2008.

According to Zalishchuk’s account, the flag had hung in the village council building from the time of the royal visit until Russia’s full-scale invasion. When Russians occupied the village in 2022, they attempted to confiscate the flag “because Sweden is an ‘unfriendly’ country.”

“But then village head Mykola Kuryvchak, by hook or by crook, saved the flag and hid it for 8.5 months. The flag survived. Although it was damaged because it was stored in a house that was hit. And after the village’s liberation, it was taken to a safe place,” the ambassador recounted.

Zalishchuk showed the Swedish monarch a special photograph taken by Zmiivka residents featuring the preserved flag.

“To show that Russians may succeed in destroying our buildings. But they cannot reach some important things,” she said, adding: “You can imagine how touched he was.”

The residents of Zmiivka, who are now internally displaced due to ongoing shelling, quickly organized to create the commemorative photograph for the king. The ambassador noted the historical parallel, describing current villagers as displaced persons from “the same empire” that originally relocated their Swedish ancestors centuries earlier.

Russian forces launched a series of drone and artillery attacks on Kherson on the morning of 31 August, causing significant damage to civilian and public infrastructure, local officials reported.

Civilians are frequently targeted in the city, with homes, public spaces, and energy facilities regularly hit, leaving residents at constant risk.

“A woman was fatally injured in the Dniprovskyi district after an explosive device was dropped from a drone,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson Regional Military Administration.

The National Police of Ukraine also reported that Russian forces shelled a park in the Central district, killing a 74-year-old man. 

Other strikes damaged homes, garages, and vehicles, and left several residents and police officers injured across Kherson Oblast.

Kherson sits on the bank of the Dnipro River, directly opposite Russian-held territory, making it vulnerable to repeated short-range attacks.

Since its liberation in November 2022, residents have faced so-called “human safaris,” in which Russian forces hunt civilians in the streets using explosive drones.

Former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko, released from Russian captivity on Ukraine’s Independence Day, on 24 August, in a 146-for-146 prisoner exchange, gave his first interview to MOST.

He recounted his abduction, torture, life in prisons, and how the occupiers tried to make him “governor” instead of Volodymyr Saldo, Russia’s collaborator. 

“You can take Saldo’s place”

Mykolaienko was kidnapped in 2022. He was held in Kherson for 16 days before being transferred via Crimea to Voronezh Oblast.

“The main goal was to force me to cooperate. Saldo wasn’t even the ‘governor’ yet. They said, ‘You can take this place,’” he recalled.

FSB officers tried to make him recognize the occupation authorities: “Well, haven’t changed your mind? If not — you’ll go to Sevastopol, reconsider in a month or two, and recognize the new government.” But Mykolaienko refused.

Torture and broken ribs

In detention, he suffered systematic beatings: “Broken ribs. They broke them three times: once on Good Friday, second on Pioneer Day, third when we were ‘settling in’ Pakino.”

“Shockers and batons, boards they beat with — that’s all their prosecutors and lawyers,” he said.

The first days of captivity were the worst: “Three times a day consistently: morning inspection, evening inspection, and during the day either a dog bites or you get beaten in the bath.”

“I fulfilled my family duty”

The occupiers staged a mock execution.

“They lined me up against the wall and said, ‘We’re going to execute you now.’ I said, ‘Go ahead.’ They asked if I was scared. I said, scared, don’t want to die, but I fulfilled my family duty — I have two grandchildren,” said Mykolaienko. 

 

One of the Russians started shooting into the wall but others stopped him. 

He and other prisoners lived in complete informational isolation. Only from new prisoners did they learn about Kherson’s liberation.

“I said in the cell: ‘Kherson is Ukrainian.’ Everyone cheered,” he recalled.

 

Guilt and gratitude

The politician admits he feels discomfort surviving while others remain captive: “You can try to console yourself however you want, but the discomfort is still there. You get exchanged, and the same people remain.”

At the same time, he acknowledges that in Russian captivity, he “didn’t know if I would survive another year there.”

Russian forces killed an 81-year-old woman and wounded three other civilians during morning attacks on Kherson on 27 August, according to the Kherson Regional Military Administration and Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Artillery strikes hit the Dniprovskyi district at approximately 5:00 am, the Kherson Regional Military Administration reports. “Russian military forces shelled the Dniprovskyi district of Kherson with artillery. A woman born in 1972 who was at home came under enemy fire,” authorities stated.

The woman sustained blast injuries and multiple burns across her body and was hospitalized. The prosecutor’s office later confirmed that the artillery attack killed an 81-year-old woman.

Around 6:30 am, Russian forces launched a drone attack on central Kherson, injuring a 67-year-old resident. The man suffered concussion, shrapnel wounds to his temple, blast trauma, and closed traumatic brain injury. Medical personnel transported him to hospital in moderate-to-severe condition.

A third victim, a 56-year-old man, later sought medical treatment following the drone strike in central Kherson. Doctors diagnosed him with blast trauma, concussion, and facial shrapnel wounds, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.

Former Kherson Mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko has returned from Russian captivity as part of a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Ukraine’s Independence Day, Suspilne reports. 

His release coincided with the day before his mother’s birthday, making it especially significant for the family.

“It’s the greatest celebration we could have. We are all crying with joy and happiness. We can’t calm down, answering all calls,” his niece, Hanna Korshun-Samchuk, shared. 

Mykolaienko immediately called his wife, and his first words were: “Glory to Ukraine.”

Time behind bars 

Russian forces abducted Mykolaienko on 18 April 2022, following threats from local collaborators. For a long time, his whereabouts were unknown until the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed his detention.

Mykolaienko served as Kherson’s mayor from 2014 to 2020 and was active in local Euromaidan protests supporting Ukraine’s European integration.

Heroic decision in captivity

According to Andrii Yermak, Head of the President’s Office, Mykolaienko had the chance to return from captivity in 2022 but refused to save a critically ill cellmate first.

“Many young people break under this pressure. People of older age survived much, and the main task of the Russian authorities is to destroy us physically and morally. They are succeeding at it,” Mykolaienko said in his first address to the public after the release. 

Meanwhile, another Kherson mayor is still captive in Russia

After Volodymyr Mykolaienko, who served as Kherson’s mayor before the all-out war, Ihor Kolykhaiev was elected as the city’s mayor. He led Kherson until the Russian occupation in 2022, after which he was abducted by Russian forces.

Former Russian prisoner reveals he saw kidnapped Kherson mayor in FSB prison

On 25 April 2022, Russian forces seized the Kherson City Council building, and by 26 April, they installed their own “city government.” Kolyhaiev remained in the city, working remotely until his kidnapping on 28 June 2022.

Several reports have indicated that Ihor Kolykhaiev has serious health problems and is being subjected to torture while in Russian captivity, according to Kavun. He spent over a year in Taganrog, according to the Coordination Headquarters, before being transferred deeper into Russia. This is the latest information on the mayor as of February.