The administrator and press attache of the Kherson "Kristall" Nikolay Komarenko spoke about life in the occupation, local traitors, partisan activities and saving the club's uniform from the Rashists.
11/11/2022 is a historical date for Kherson. On this day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city from Russian invaders. Nikolai Komarenko lived in occupied Kherson for almost five months and decided to leave only when the shelling of the Antonovsky bridge began.
- Nikolai, congratulations on the liberation of Kherson. Tell us, what emotions did you experience when the Ukrainian flag shone again over your hometown?
- Thanks for the compliments. To be honest, I have no euphoria. There is a certain devastation, anxiety and restrained optimism. It is very important that Kherson was liberated, but the danger in the city has become, perhaps, even greater than it was. I mean that the occupiers may start shelling the city, but I hope that this will not happen.
- Did any of your relatives stay in Kherson?
— I have quite a few friends left in the city.
- Do you have a connection with them now?
- For the last two days there has been virtually no contact with them. Sometimes messages reach Telegram very late, and not all of them. There are several places in Kherson where you can catch a connection. There is no light, no water, fortunately, there is gas.
- What did your friends say when you talked with them for the last time?
- They said that it is very noisy in Kherson, there are a lot of explosions. My friend lives not far from the Antonovsky Bridge, even the windows in her house were blown out by the explosions.
- Kherson has been without Ukrainian communications and TV for a long time. Did your friends understand at that moment that liberation was near?
- They were all aware, since they are members of pro-Ukrainian telegram channels. They understood everything, but did not believe that it would happen so quickly.
- Tell us about your trip to the controlled territory.
— I made a decision to leave at the end of July. I was driving in my car with my younger brother and mother through Vasilievka. My wife left a month earlier. We loaded a full trunk of things and my ill-fated laptop. We took food for four or five days, because we knew that the road was going to be long.
There were already holes on the Antonovsky Bridge from HIMARS strikes, but it was still possible to drive through. The road to Zaporozhye took four days.
- How did the rashists behave at the checkpoints?
“There were a lot of checkpoints. But they really checked it only at the last checkpoint in Vasilyevka. We got all the things, the equipment was checked separately. I was very worried because I had photos from the rallies in Kherson. There was a girl in front of me, about 18 years old. The orcs inserted some kind of flash drive into her laptop and say: “What is this deleted file?”.
She began to get nervous. The Russian called her father and had an educational conversation with him. That is, with the help of this flash drive, they saw the latest actions and deleted files. My laptop was checked for ten minutes, but no questions arose.
— When do you plan to return to Kherson?
- I can't say anything specific. Now the situation in Kherson is very difficult: no electricity, no water, no heating. Plus, it's a front-line city. Perhaps I will return there in the spring. If there is some work related to football or volunteering, then perhaps even earlier.
— What is happening with the Kristall football infrastructure now?
- Everything was bad with the football infrastructure in Kherson even before the war. She was and remains the same. Many things were looted after the start of the war, but this is all fixable, it can be restored. When the orcs entered the city in March, a certain level of looting began on the part of local scoundrels. At the same time, the Kristall base suffered: the camera, tripod, and large plasma TV disappeared.
- When the orcs announced the so-called "evacuation", they began to take out cars, equipment, documents from Kherson. Is something missing from the Krystal base?
“There was only furniture and a dozen old balls left. Unless they could take it out.
- How did you perceive the fact that the invaders decided to hold a football match in Kakhovka?
“We decided to hide the Krystal uniform so that its equipment would not be used for propaganda purposes. Our uniform is far from new, the team has played in it for three seasons. This is practiced only in poor clubs. But here the point is not the value of the form, but symbolism. So that it would not be used by the invaders and their few accomplices, who, unfortunately, were found in Kherson. For me it was important.
I had access to our storage room, where the "Crystal" form was stored. And I slowly began to endure it. The volume there is large and you can’t take it out at one time. Moreover, there were several occupied buildings around the stadium: on the one hand, the captured premises of the SBU, on the other, the building that belongs to the collaborator Saldo, on the third, the captured pre-trial detention center, on the fourth, the Yubileiny KKZ, where the rashists set up the humanitarian headquarters of United Russia .
Our stadium was the only unoccupied place in this area for a long time. I probably made a ten walker when I took out the uniform. I did not take the car, because it was possible to lose both the uniform and the car. I hid my equipment in various places throughout the city. I can say for sure that today the form of "Crystal" has survived.
— Orcs did not pay attention to what you carry in packages?
- There were no problems. I took out the uniform early in the morning. I think at that time they were not up to me.
- Did someone from the team help you with this?
— No, why would anyone take unjustified risks? The fact is that for a certain time I worked as a security guard at the stadium, since there was no other job. Therefore, I had access to the premises and there were no questions for me. When I worked there, the invaders did not touch the stadium, our administration was preserved there. During my time, no one from the Russians came there.
- Former Kristall coach Sergei Shevchenko collaborated with the occupiers and was involved in the creation of the Frigate football club. Were you surprised when you found out about it?
— I was not surprised, only disappointed. I hoped to the last that this well-deserved person in the past would not go for it. But there have been rumors about him since 2014.
— Not even rumors, but facts. After all, Shevchenko trained TSK Tavria in the occupied Crimea.
- Yes, but then they somehow forgot about it and invited him to train our Tavria, which played in the Second League. They also said that he had a Russian passport. The majority did not want to believe it, because Shevchenko was an honored person for Kristall in the past. Perhaps he stumbled in 2014, nothing was clear. But everything was clear to me even then.
— I know that you gave him money for the operation. Did you communicate with Shevchenko during the occupation?
— I am not his friend. Even before the war, we communicated at the “hello-bye” level. During the occupation, when he had not yet shown himself, I found out that he would be undergoing heart surgery. A cry went through our football community that help was needed for the operation, and I participated a little.
When I found out that Sergei Shevchenko began to cooperate with the invaders, I wrote him a single message on Viber, where I equated him with Judas, who sold himself for 30 pieces of silver. He read, but did not answer.
- "Fregat" held at least one training session, or was it all limited to the announcement of the creation of a quasi-club?
— We don’t have special fields for training in Kherson. A more or less decent field at the Crystal Stadium. According to my information, there were no trainings there and no one was going to. Sergei Shevchenko was seen at the stadium once. He came, smoked on a bench and left.
I do not think that the initiative to create the "Frigate" came from the orcs. I admit that this is an initiative of hungry coaches, like Sergei Shevchenko, who did not want to be without work. And the invaders are happy with this option to create the appearance of a peaceful life, so they picked it up.
- Do you know where Sergey Shevchenko is now: "evacuated" along with the occupiers or remained in Kherson?
- I have no idea, I'm not interested in his fate. If he stayed in Kherson, then he is a complete idiot.
- Did any other Kherson football personalities cooperate with the occupiers?
— This is a delicate question. I saw one screen of the news that a famous football person became the sports director of Frigate. But I don't have any proof, so I won't give my last name. Moreover, I repeatedly saw this person at pro-Ukrainian rallies in Kherson.
— What was February 24 like for the Kristall team?
— Everyone was in shock and fear of the unknown. In "Crystal" there was a question about non-resident football players. The correct decision was made in time to let them go home as soon as possible. They all managed to leave before the occupation, together with the head coach Yuriy Kulish, who is from Odessa.
The only one who remained from nonresident football players in Kherson was Viktor Martyan, who now serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We were constantly in touch with him, I supported him, because after all, I am a local. But Vitya did it himself. He spent about a month in Kherson in a rented apartment. Then he managed to leave through Stanislav, then the invaders released this road.
- Did you communicate with Martyan after he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine? What does he say about the service?
- He says that this is not an easy craft, but he does not lose his spirits. In the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, not only Victor, but also many fans of Crystal. They are our heroes and our pride. Glad to know them personally.
— What happened to the local players of "Crystal"?
“Everyone left gradually, each individually. There was no organized departure.
- "Crystal" is a communal club. Did the city leadership, represented by Mayor Igor Kolykhaev, help with the departure?
- The management fully fulfilled its contractual obligations and continued to pay salaries as much as they could. The players and staff were satisfied. As for the organized departure, Kolykhaev had enough other problems, for example, to maintain the life support of the city.
— There are many contradictory conversations about Kolykhaev. Some say that he was kidnapped, others that he actually collaborated with the invaders. What do you think of him?
— I can’t confirm any version. I will not express my personal opinion, because I am an employee of a utility company. I hope that he remains a decent person to the end and everything will be fine with him.
- After the start of the war, the team immediately realized that it would not function?
— What can be understood immediately? But when the invaders had already entered the city, it became clear that this would not end in a week. For several months, it was not at all clear whether the Ukrainian championship would be held at all. People thought about their families, safety, not about football.
Yevtushenko did not understand what difficulties he would have to face in the communal club
- After our victory, "Crystal" will be revived?
- I think that after the victory, Kherson will have much more important expenses than financing the football club. But we, for our part, will intensively look for investors. If there are such, then Kristall will definitely return to the football map of Ukraine.
I can say that over the past years, private investors have not been in Kherson. Although such people are, for example, in Ternopil.
- Why is that?
- Probably, Kherson lacks some football traditions and infrastructure. To do everything right, you need a significant investment.
- Igor Kolykhaev maintained the Prodexim futsal club, which became the champion of Ukraine and played in the Champions League. Why was it impossible to increase funding for Kristall, because the year before last the team played in the first league?
- As far as I understand, Kolykhaev prefers to finance elite sports. In futsal, the competition is much lower than in football. It is one thing to compete with Hurricane and Energia, and quite another to compete with Dynamo and Shakhtar.
Kolykhaev always wanted to be at the very top, and Prodexim is the champion of Ukraine and a participant in European cups. Apparently, "Crystal" was not interesting to him. To achieve success in football and compete with Shakhtar and Dynamo, you need a lot of money.
- Did Kolykhaev attend Kristall's matches?
- Kolykhaev is a busy man. He came once when the team was coached by Vadim Yevtushenko, who was appointed just by Kolykhaev.
- Where was the former director and coach of Kristall Sergei Shevtsov during the occupation?
- For a long time he stayed in the occupation and left Kherson much later than I did. We kept in touch with him. What he did, it is better to ask him. I can say for sure that he did not cooperate with the invaders in any way.
People started cursing orcs, they didn't care, they called them "fascists". The invaders opened fire with everything they had.
- At the beginning of the war, Kherson thundered throughout Ukraine. Thousands of people, including you, went to pro-Ukrainian rallies against the invaders. Tell me how it was.
- It happened spontaneously. Of course, there were certain leaders and activists from whom the initiative came. People gathered at the Freedom Square. The most massive rally was on March 13, on the Day of the liberation of Kherson from the Nazi invaders, which is very symbolic. Then, just for the first time, local collaborators showed up: Stremousov, Saldo, Semenchev.
We gathered at Freedom Square and went to the eternal flame. There were about ten thousand people, maybe more. On Perekopskaya Street, not far from the stadium, there were Russian vehicles. Rashist soldiers in masks with weapons were sitting upstairs. People started cursing, spitting, calling them "fascists".
The invaders opened fire with everything they had. Heavy machine guns made a particularly terrible sound. They fired into the air, trying to drive the crowd away from their vehicles. But at that moment we did not understand where they were shooting and it was scary. But no one ran away.
- Rashists abducted many people in Kherson and sent them "to the basement", where they were tortured. Did you have any conflicts with the invaders during the occupation?
“Fortunately, I got away with it. They came to my entrance, on the floor below, looking for an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but he was not at home. It was the closest contact, and so I tried to avoid them.
Several times I was stopped in the city, the car was inspected, but not too thoroughly. The checkpoints of the invaders were wandering: today they are in one point of the city, tomorrow - in another. I tried to avoid them, but sometimes it happened that there was nowhere to turn.
- In a recent interview, you said that you were engaged in "primitive partisan activity" in Kherson. Tell me more.
- My comrade and I put on special "bugs" to pierce the wheels of the invaders in vehicles. Of course, they would not be able to damage the serious wheels of trucks. We threw them under the wheels of cars, but quickly realized that it was useless. They can pierce tires in cars, but there is a risk that you will be seen, caught and nothing good will happen. In addition, we understood that they would not even change damaged wheels, but simply wring a new car from the locals, draw a “Z” on it and drive on.
We also engaged in patriotic vandalism. When today's funny billboards "Russia is here forever" appeared, I had to spoil them a little. Now they laugh at this - "Russia is here until November", but then these inscriptions were strongly suppressed.
— You mentioned local collaborators. How often did you cross paths with them before the war? As far as I know, Saldo has been to Kristall matches.
- In fact, he came very rarely - to promote himself. When Kristall started in the First League with a match against MFK Nikolaev, he came only once in Kristall's T-shirt. I don't know where he got it. He sat for one half, took a picture and left.
We all remember that five years of the absence of "Crystal" in the second league was during his term as mayor. The balance removed the club from professional competitions, arguing that there was no money. He is essentially a pest.
- Stremousov has already been eliminated. What do you think will happen to the Balance?
“I think the same fate awaits him. Nobody needs traitors.
Andrey Piskun