The former mayor of the previously Ukrainian-occupied town of Svyatogorsk, Vladimir Bandura, has crossed over to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Last Tuesday, the official appeared in a video, accusing the Ukrainian military of murdering Orthodox monks and setting a monastery ablaze in early June.
In his Telegram post on Monday, the president of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, revealed that he had “long been in touch” with Bandura, adding that the mayor “was waiting, just like many Svyatogorsk residents, for the liberation, and supports the special military operation.”
The DPR president accompanied his post with a photo, depicting him and Bandura, sitting at a table.
Pushilin explained that “for obvious reasons” the mayor “had to keep his stance secret,” so as to “save the people.”
The DPR leader went on to announce that he had decided to reinstate Bandura as the mayor of Svyatogorsk, which, according to him, has been taken over by the DPR and Russian forces.