Acting Mayor of Chernihiv Lomako resigns: "City has been taken hostage. Price is my position. I will pay this price for city to survive". VIDEO
The secretary of Chernihiv City Council, acting mayor, Oleksandr Lomako, announced on the day of local self-government that he was submitting his resignation.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the official's statement.
According to him, the heads of the military administrations laid siege to the city, blocking the work of kindergartens, hospitals, public transport, and the allocation of aid to the Armed Forces. Lomako is resigning from his post to unblock the city's work. He said this in a video message.
Officials from the military administrations took the city hostage on orders from above. Their condition is that Lomako must resign from his elected position. "They told me in simple words that if I didn't do this, they would plunge the city into chaos. And they showed me what would happen if I refused: disruption of the budget for 2025, complete shutdown of the city's largest hospital, stopping of meals in pre-schools, complete shutdown of public transport, not a single penny for the Armed Forces, and much more. They put the city under siege. I have to lift this siege. If the price is my position, I will pay it," said Oleksandr Lomako.
Application for resignation
"In order to free Chernihiv from hostages, today, on the day of local self-government, I am submitting my resignation from the post of city council secretary and asking it to be considered at the next session. For me, the life of the city is more important than any position," he stressed.
Lomako noted that the appointed officials of the military administrations had been trying to destroy local self-government in Chernihiv for two years in a row.
"Two so-called 'military administrators' appointed from above, together with some vermin in uniform, who have been disgracing the security service with their actions, are trying to deal with local self-government. When they failed to block the work of the city council, the pests decided to simply paralyze the entire city," he stressed.
They succeeded in achieving this goal after they won the right to manage the city's budget through the courts.
"The court, on a call, gave the sole right to manage the community budget to an official who was not elected by the people, who was sent down from above. This is the head of the military administration. Due to the actions of the head of the military administration, who is essentially just an executor of tasks from above, public transport was stopped in the city. The city faced the threat of disruption of the heating season. The construction of defensive structures near Chernihiv was blocked. The millions worth of aid to the Armed Forces allocated by the community was lying in warehouses for months," said Lomako.
He stressed that he considers such actions to be a crime.
"I don't know who you have to be to deprive children of food, the sick of treatment, and defenders of support: just to follow orders from above? I don't know what words to use to describe these people. But I know for sure that they have surnames. And there are relevant articles in the criminal code. I know that in civilized countries, they do not negotiate with such people. They are immediately dealt with accordingly. There is a limit to everything. And they have crossed it," said Lomako.
He thanked the community of Chernihiv for their trust and stated that he would continue to work for the benefit of Chernihiv.
"I am leaving office with a budget for 2025, heat and light in our homes, protection and recovery programsOleksandr Lomako, a decent pace of city reconstruction, and record-breaking assistance for the Armed Forces. I will continue to work and fight. Against the villains and for a better future for Chernihiv. No matter how difficult it is now, we know that the darkest times are before the dawn. And we will meet this dawn together," said Oleksandr Lomako.
