At the end of the year MOST spoke with the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin.
Frankly — about corruption, the war, and his own mistakes — read our interview.
— More than a month has already passed since the president announced actions that will secure Kherson and the frontline communities of Kherson region. Can we say anything about it?
The security situation remains extremely difficult. Just this year, more than 220 thousand shells fell on Kherson region. Russian forces continue to strike every day. Due to the high intensity of shelling, 39.5 thousand civilian facilities have already been destroyed or damaged in the region: homes, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, administrative buildings and other non-military objects. You can count on your fingers the days in the year when there were no casualties. There were no days without shelling. Since the beginning of 2025 the enemy has killed 301 people, including 6 children. Another 2,479 people were injured, including 59 children. These are terrible numbers. Half of the injured and killed were from drones. There were 2.5 thousand drone attacks weekly.
— Is the presidential promise being fulfilled?
Yes. Additional means are coming to us. This is long-term work. Even if we had everything in the required amount right now, it would take 3–4 months to equip those positions where the camouflaged means that will deter enemy drones will be located.
Assistance was also announced for arranging net tunnels for us. It is being carried out. An alternative additional Kherson-Mykolaiv road was announced. It is also being built. They gave us fuel for critical infrastructure in case of a blackout, they provided money.
All promises are being fulfilled, except one — the transformer, which we cannot extract from the Ministry of Energy. It was supposed to be delivered by the Japanese company JICA. I probably reached the president to get it returned to us. They wanted to give it to another region, although it is our transformer. They referred to the fact that the power distribution companies are a private structure, and because of this they would not transfer anything to us. Although for two years before this they transferred from the same hub.
— I can’t not ask about the thermal power plant. A large part of Kherson residents will be left without heating this winter. We roughly know what alternatives there are in terms of heating devices. Have you appealed to the Cabinet to change the act that forbids people to install individual heating?
This is now possible under certain conditions. But there are certain obstacles, for example, the self-preparedness of buildings, the owners themselves. To change one heating riser, all residents must be present, open their apartments, check, start it up. Even if we change something in the resolution temporarily now, it will not provide safety. And if, for example, that entrance explodes, if something is done incorrectly, and people are not there? Technical specifications probably need to be discussed with Khersongaz, because they assume responsibility for technical conditions during the implementation of this story. Zangiev (head of “Khersongaz”, – MOST) and I argued for a long time and found a compromise, but there are still things that will be difficult to implement.
— Let’s move on to anti-drone nets. Mykolaiv police are conducting an investigation. And they say, that there is a 40% overpayment for the nets. Can you briefly comment on this situation? Why is Mykolaiv police investigating it and not Kherson?
Because Kherson’s [police] does not see any overpayments. We conducted an examination. Due to the resonance, an investigation began. The point is not about the nets, but about preparedness for these challenges. We tested the nets dozens of times, made a testing ground, even put them in freezers for a week or two, took them out and tested them on site. Our nets do not burn. We could have immediately taken some cucumber net through which any drone flies.
This whole story continues because they wanted to hand over to us those nets that were lying in the Armed Forces’ warehouses, unwanted, and wanted to give them to us. We refuse because this is people’s safety. We showed Shmyhal how quality nets work. We flew drones and realized that they really work.
Those fishing nets that the Netherlands provided us with — they are penetrated, they won’t last even one season.
Some nets were given to us from France, Spain — great ones, from the Netherlands they sent three trucks of great nets. We tested them and are installing them because they are great. Some we use for hospitals, some we put where we need protection from drops, some — at other positions.
We used and tested dozens of types of fabric. That’s why we now find explosives on nets, because we did everything correctly.
We lack funding. 370 servicemen work on the sections in our region. Approximately one kilometer per day is made. We have done 100 kilometers. As for the pricing issue — let law enforcement deal with it. I think the result will be zero.
— The main suspicion there is in fictitious sole proprietors. Your colleague responsible for communication with law enforcement said there are no fictitious sole proprietors, but they are present. Let’s continue. Tell me, does your police background help you detect and prevent manifestations of corruption?
It helps, but it’s still very difficult. Of course, it’s impossible to cover everything by one person. I myself try to analyze prices, I call suppliers myself, but the volume of information is enormous.
— Did you find out how Nataliya Borshchevych (an entrepreneur from Lutsk with a porn past, – MOST) appeared among the suppliers of nets?
Yes.
— Tell us. Because she says she went, saw Kherson, and sold nets. Was it like that?
Of course not. There is a main supplier. Probably it was a trick to avoid paying some taxes. That’s probably how she appeared with that person. I had the same emotions when I saw it, I didn’t hold back with regard to my employees.
— In 2023 you said that you would “catch up” (referring to criminal prosecution, – MOST) your predecessor Yaroslav Yanushevych. But I see that in these 2 years no one has been caught up.
I couldn’t have said that. I understand that I couldn’t catch up with Yanushevych himself because he did not sign anything. I understand this as a law enforcement officer. If some cases that I saw were done incorrectly and had a corrupt component, all these things are now being investigated, some are in court. Including on civil protection.
— Who brought Pavlo Kozyriev to the position of director of the department for civil protection?
Me.
— And how did it happen that he began collecting kickbacks?
He himself cannot explain it. I asked him. I don’t know what happened to him.
— And before he came to work, did you know him as an honest person?
I knew that he was a builder, understands some issues, did some objects well. And at that moment there was no one else around.
— I can’t not ask about your relations with the regional prosecutor Serhiy Hrytsenko. Tell us, what’s the essence of the conflict?
In my opinion, the reason is his personal dislike of me. It reaches the absurd that meetings at the prosecutor’s office start with the question “What’s up with Prokudin?”. So, it seems, prosecutors have nothing else to do except to chase my employees — elderlies, heads of administrations.
— How many cases are there concerning your subordinates?
100%.
— So every procurement is immediately a criminal case?
Yes. Nothing has reached court.
— Have you personally talked to him about this?
Yes. Many times. We review all these things at the Defense Council, announce how much things cost. We vote. And the person votes for everything, and then — a criminal proceeding. These proceedings are constant only for village administrations, whereas when Mrochko was head of the RMA, we had no criminal cases. Well, about underground schools.
— But the Defense Council allowed the underground schools to be built. Who asked you to vote for this? It clearly wasn’t Mrochko who invented building them?
It was his proposal.
— So he found someone in the Cabinet, said that we need schools, and they said “Here is 400 million, build it”?
Yes, in the Ministry of Education.
— It wasn’t a story that the Office told to build schools?
No, it’s very far from that. I believe they should exist. That their construction at such a time in such a zone is wrong. But that they should exist in the future — that’s 100%.
— And the schools that have already been built in the region? Vysokopillia, Kochubeivska community — have they been launched?
They are being commissioned.
— The main question: how did it happen that we built schools for huge sums, and they stand idle because someone does not approve some documents?
They work, only officially we cannot launch the hybrid form process. In Bila Krynytsia construction is also completed.
— How did it happen that such a corruption machine unfolded practically under your nose, in Kherson, which is impossible to stop?
It’s better to ask the prosecutor and the head of police about that.
— Well, you could have dismissed Mrochko, as you dismissed the head of Borozenka community? By submission.
I did submit it.
— Was it your initiative to resign him? How did you justify it?
Yes. I saw it in the schools, in other issues that hindered the development of Kherson region more. Some irreversible processes.
— We wrote last week that Roman Mykolayovych began preparing for elections. How do you assess this?
Well, it’s just trash, it’s hard to find words.
@most_ks 🗣️The head of the KOVA told in an interview with MOST what he thinks about Roman Mrochko’s pre-election campaign and elections in general The full conversation 📹in the video on YouTube via the link in the profile header. #kherson #khersonregion #prokudin #mrochko #elections ♬ original sound – MOST KHERSON
— Do you have ambitions to run for mayor of Kherson?
No, I have no political ambitions. I want to work until the war ends and go to some other structure. But realistically I want to work until the elections, hold honest and fair elections so that people who will really do something come in.
— How do you assess whether local elections will be held in Kherson? Suppose the war has stopped or paused. The president announced elections — presidential, parliamentary. Next, local elections should be held. Will they be held in the region?
I think MPs will be elected, but local ones will not.
— So military administrations will continue to operate? They won’t let you go anyway?
Why? They will let go someday. If there is a team — I will gather myself and leave.
— Without regret?
None. I’m ready even now. I take this negativity very close, I’ve already accumulated enough of it. In any times people who held positions during the war were not elected to anything. I will still be associated with the war. Everyone is tired of the war. I never wanted to take part in elections, politics does not interest me as it is conducted — all these intrigues and so on. I see myself in some vertical structure.
— In the police?
In any ministry. I already have a lot of experience.
— And do you think you have coped in these three years?
I gained experience. History will tell. I feel that I did nothing wrong. I tried and try to do everything as best as possible. How well I do it, let people judge. I am honest with myself.
— How do people react to you? What do they say?
Some support. Some murmur something bad, probably. Everyone has their own. Different people — different perceptions.
— Your team is gradually filling with non-locals. From the very beginning there were people of Arakhamia, Kim, Putilov. How is it to work with these “not yours” people?
Each personality, each leader has their own qualities and must be given tasks they will cope with best. I look at professionalism.
— Well, you couldn’t refuse to appoint Klyutsevskyi? He is Putilov’s person, appointed through Tatarov.
Why couldn’t I? I can do anything. And now I can dismiss him.
— If he doesn’t build the museum in Bilohirka, he’ll have to be fired.
He has his pros and cons, like everyone. But as an executor he is useful — he goes, like a tractor, slowly to the result. Everyone has their own character. But he is not a threat to me.
— And how does it all happen. In Kherson Putilov’s bodyguard was appointed, you have Klyutsevskyi. Do they just tell you “You will have this deputy because he is Putilov’s person?”
No. There is a vacancy, we choose, we look for someone. You conduct interviews…
— And they appoint Putilov’s bodyguard.
We appoint. That bodyguard, Vitaliy, is now one of the best deputies.
— And Ignatenko, your new deputy — is he also someone’s quota?
No, I looked for him. Shanko left. I began to search for a person in his place. There’s no queue. I asked acquaintances if someone might accept. I was told that there is such a person, who had just been dismissed from the Maritime Ports Administration. I didn’t know him, I hadn’t communicated with him, although we are from the same region. When I was with Vadatursky (owner of “Nibulon”, killed by Russians in 2022, – MOST) I talked to him. Everyone I asked said that he is a professional and the right person.
— If we finish the staffing block, a question from colleagues: when will this Soviet style stop? All these laying wreaths at holidays, all those Soviet holidays that the culture department organizes? Isn’t there a desire not to participate in this?
There are specific events that we must hold. They come from the President’s Office, the Cabinet. We can only say from a security perspective that it is impossible because…
— Well, all these “unbreakable” concerts… Can you tone down the degree of “unbreakability”?
Well, for example, we will have Energy Day and Water Utility Day, 135 years. All these people ask if there will be a celebration, can people gather, will there be events? I would rather come, shake everyone’s hand, give certificates, gifts and leave. But there is state policy.
— Let’s move on to reconstruction. What are you proud of, and what on the contrary — should not be proud of?
7 thousand objects have been rebuilt. The vast majority are people’s housing. Through various programs — budget funds, donors, charitable foundations, the “Shoulder-to-Shoulder” program and so on. At the expense of state funds and donor funds, 62 social infrastructure objects have been restored — schools, medical institutions, social institutions. And 265 — critical infrastructure.
— Which of the landmark objects are you proud of?
Schools – Vysokopillia, Orlove, Bila Krynytsia. And hospitals — Luchanskyi, the perinatal center. Underground hospitals — 20 objects will be rebuilt by the end of the year. And probably the protection of critical infrastructure. What we show, doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Sarcophagi that protect from all kinds of shelling.
– And what are you ashamed of?
Of these underground schools in Kherson. They need to be redone. Some layers of reinforcement and concrete are missing. Now they cannot be accepted as shelters. The issue is not even about inflated prices, but that it is unfinished.
— Has this been said somewhere before, or are you saying it for the first time?
There is a criminal case. And what’s interesting. In Velyka Oleksandrivka for 230 thousand hryvnias a suspicion was given to the manager at the same time when the contractor without suspicion returned that money, i.e. returned it to the state, there were no losses, but Nataliya Korniienko still received a suspicion. At the same time in Kherson we see 40-million losses on schools and the criminal case is slowly moving. I ask “When is the expertise?”, and the prosecutor says “In half a year, in a queue”. So what’s the point?
— Have you talked to the new Prosecutor General about the regional prosecutor?
I wrote him letters about the problems we have that affect the life activities of communities, because all community leaders wrote resignation letters due to pressure.
— Did all 17 write letters?
Yes. When there is no procurement without a criminal proceeding. As soon as we post on Prozorro, there are neither acts nor money — documents are already being seized.
A vivid example is Anatoliy Didur (head of Daryaivska TG – MOST), who went through years in courts and won. The man lost his health, his employees lost their health, they traveled to courts, lost money. Millions lost by the state. And the prosecutor will have no consequences.
Also Korniienko, who is effective, who does a lot for the community, works with donors.
— The viewer will now watch and say “Well, it’s clear that they work with money and want the prosecutor not to watch them”.
Let him watch. We are not saying the prosecutor is bad. One must analyze actions, not constantly register them. We have not yet built the Security Center, and there is already a criminal case for misuse. It’s just some kind of trash. And so with everything. There was never a criminal proceeding based on an investigator’s or operative’s report without evidence. There were punishments, internal investigations. Police officers did not have the right to do this. If that happens, the police officer will bear responsibility. Even a judge, if he makes some decision, will later bear punishment. Except for the employees of the prosecutor’s office.
— About Velyka Oleksandrivka there is a question. Driving by, I look at the multimillion repair of the village council building. And every time I ask — why?
Everything will be there. A TSNAP, a Security Center, a service center, passport service. There will even be on the upper floors a hall for dances, we rebuilt it for sambo and judo. It will be a large center with a shelter that the whole community will use. We do not plan to do anything else there. We want all services that people want to receive in Velyka Oleksandrivka to be in this building.
The latest conflict of interest. Have you heard about this story?
– No.
In short, we receive requests about 8 conflicts of interest that the regional prosecutor’s office sees in other administrations. What’s it about? First case: a man works in administration, and his wife in some school in that community works as a teacher and teaches children remotely. That’s it — conflict of interest.
— Some heads of occupied communities did it cunningly — they swapped wives. Did you know about this story?
That’s exactly it. The wife works for one head of the community, and the other wife for another. They wrote those 8 anonymous complaints themselves and now they’re being checked.
There are cases where the wife is the head and her husband is a driver at a municipal enterprise. That’s it — corruption. Or there’s a case where a deputy head of an occupied community, for example, has some distant relative working in the district. So it’s a story that a wife cannot live with her husband in the same community if he is the head. And if he will be in a state position, then she must leave the country altogether, because that’s how it would be. That’s the logic we have.
— What awaits us next year?
We have budgeted 1.5 billion for 32 planned objects. They passed the investment council. The medium-term plan of priority public procurements has been approved. Without a budget, we will only look for money for this. This is municipal administrative infrastructure, security centers, healthcare and education institutions, shelters, water supply and energy independence.
— What about Novovorontsovka? I was there in September and it was already scary there .
It will be even worse. We understand that now is the peak, and it will be worse. Nets and other measures will be implemented to ensure security.
— What is the region’s budget for next year?
At about the same level as it was. We added more than 30% to healthcare and education taking into account salary increases. Civil protection, sports are at the same level.
— Speaking of sports. You changed the head of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports. I understand that hockey will again be our main sport?
No. We allocated less for hockey. They found a good sponsor for next year, and it will go minimally for hockey, we will reallocate those funds to other areas.
— I thank you for this interview, although perhaps it contained little positive, as in our lives.
You asked about plans for next year. The main plan is to survive. We must try to do that.
— There is a plan, and do we have chances?
There are chances. I think the war will end in 2027. Even if elections take place, after the elections a new stage of the war will begin.
— Will you run for parliament?
No. What elections? Anything can happen, but I don’t want to be in that role, like Serhiy Kozyr (MP, – MOST)..
— What are your relations with him?
Normal. He helps. If I cannot physically influence Kyiv, he helps, appeals to ministers.
— And with other MPs?
Viktoriya Vagner gets involved when I ask for help. Pavlo Pavlish also does. I don’t communicate with Ivanov — there was neither desire nor opportunity.
— Well, we hope we’ll all survive.
We are doing the maximum. There is much that cannot be said. At the end of the war we will tell such stories about how we held everything together, how we did things and received negativity from the population. Much that if said now would play into the hands of the enemy, and history will show everything.