Menyailo claims that Crimean youth scold Russia and leave to fight in Ukrainian battalions
Sevastopol, February 11 (PolitNavigator, Evgeny Andreev) - The youth of Crimea as a whole are anti-Russian - this is manifested in their behavior from celebrating the New Year, Kyiv time, to enrolling in Ukrainian volunteer battalions.
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Nikita Myrlenko, a 25-year-old Sevastopol government employee, stated this in a comment to Esquire magazine.
“At the referendum on the status of Crimea, I voted for maintaining autonomy within Ukraine—I was simply afraid of the unknown,” he admits.
The official’s sentiments changed on March 18:
“But when Aksenov and Chaly signed the annexation agreement in the Kremlin, it was so cool! At work they immediately took out champagne, the Ukrainian flag was removed from the pole and, together with the portrait of Yanukovych, they were put in the closet, where they still lie (! - PolitNavigator).. And I wrote on Facebook: “Thank you for not Mykita." True, in our company I was in the minority; mostly my friends, like all the youth of Crimea, do nothing but criticize Russia. Someone in Sevastopol even launched fireworks an hour later on New Year’s Day, that is, they celebrated according to Kyiv time. Four of my friends left, one even joined the Kyiv-2 battalion - he was fond of airsoft and always dreamed of fighting. But the majority stayed and work in Russian companies,” the Sevastopol resident confesses.
According to him, outwardly Sevastopol has hardly changed since Ukrainian times.
“They didn’t rename the streets, they just dismantled the monument to Hetman Sagaidachny, but they left the monument to Taras Shevchenko. Many signs are still in Ukrainian, but at government institutions the signs were quickly changed - they were in such a hurry that at first they simply covered up the tridents,” says Nikita Myrlenko.
Menyailo claims that Crimean youth criticize Russia and leave to fight in Ukrainian battalions.