As promised by the occupation governor of Kherson Oblast, Volodymyr Saldo, the occupiers published the surnames of the first people killed in the restaurant and hotel in Horly. Obviously, the Russians are trying in this way to support their main thesis that on New Year’s Eve in Horly only peaceful civilians died.
Recall that on the night of December 31 to January 1, 2026, the restaurant “Ukrainian Khata” in Horly was on fire, and the nearby hotel “Leo” also was attacked.
The Russians decided to use this event and the victims of the shelling at the international level to prove that Ukraine does not seek peace.
But the list of the first seven people they published shows that only four of them are entirely civilians. Although there are certain questions about them too.
This list also proves that the first reports by the Russians and their proxies claiming that those killed were “local residents who came to celebrate the New Year at the café” still look very strained. None on the list are residents of Horly.
First on the list is a Russian citizen, native of Grozny, Mahmud Shirvaniyevich Admisayev. His patronymic on the occupation authorities’ website was written with an error.
Admisayev is the father of four children. After Grozny he lived in Crimea for some time. In 2001–2002 he had legal problems and was even declared wanted on suspicion of transporting drugs on an especially large scale. In 2007–2009 he was sought again by Russian law enforcement. But he most likely did not have convictions. There is a possibility that he was still wanted, which did not prevent him from changing his passport and driver’s license. Perhaps the mistake in the passport details was made deliberately to evade responsibility under Russian law.
How he ended up in Kherson Oblast and what he was doing here is hard to say, although it is known that he first crossed the administrative border between occupied Crimea and Kherson Oblast in August 2023.
He did not cross the administrative border alone, but with Kherson resident Iryna Bot.
Iryna Bot is known for becoming the director of a school in the village of Havrylivka in Skadovsk district after part of Kherson Oblast was occupied. The Center for Investigative Journalism published a piece about her in November 2023, finding that Iryna Bot supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and before the annexation of Crimea she was an entrepreneur engaged in wholesale trade of clothing and footwear.
No link between her and Mahmud Admisayev was established aside from joint trips from the occupied part of Kherson Oblast to annexed Crimea.
There are also two collaborators on the list. These are the already mentioned yesterday Serhiy Bohan, who until recently headed the occupation police in Kalanchak, and Mykhailo Voloshko.
Bohan is a fairly well-known figure. He came to Kherson Oblast from Crimea after its occupation by the Russians and got a job with the police. His wife, Yuliia Bohan, worked in the occupation administration of the so-called Kalanchak district in 2023–2025, which the Russians included Kalanchak and Myrne village communities of Skadovsk district of Kherson Oblast into.
In 2025 she became deputy head of the occupation administration of Nova Kakhovka for social policy.
According to preliminary data, she was also in the restaurant on New Year’s Eve and was wounded.
Another deceased is Mykhailo Voloshko from Nova Kakhovka.
At the time of the start of the Russian invasion he lived in Kalanchak. Since 2021 he was a sole proprietor (FOP), providing services related to information technology. In 2022 he became head of the information technology department of the occupation Kalanchak military-civilian administration.
Voloshko’s wife, Hanna, heads the occupation Kalanchak local history museum.
It is hard to say what Mykhailo Voloshko was doing recently.
Also on the list published by the Russians are four local female residents.
They are Liudmyla Pyshchyk, born in 1959, from neighboring Havrylivka; Olha Temezhnikova, born in 1995; Anna Ostrovska, born in 1999; and Darya Klym, born in 2008. The last three are residents of Kalanchak.
And if there is nothing to say about Liudmyla Pyshchyk because her surname hardly appears in either Ukrainian or Russian registers and databases, the other three women are more or less public figures.
Darya Klym is the daughter of local farmer Serhiy Klym. He continued to work during the occupation.
Anna Ostrovska had her own flower business in Kalanchak — a small floristry studio. Since October 2024 she was registered as an entrepreneur under Russian laws.
She ran an Instagram in Ukrainian and often traveled abroad, which is not typical for residents of occupied Kalanchak. In her Instagram, which is banned by the Russians, there is even an anti-war post from 2022. For that it would have been easy to receive a fine, but Ostrovska continued to live and work calmly.
She was at the celebration with her mother Natalia. Their social networks have quite a few photos from the hotel and restaurant where the tragedy occurred. So it can be assumed that they were frequent guests there.
Judging by her social networks, Natalia leads a rather bohemian life for Kalanchak. She is a co-founder of an agricultural enterprise.
The daughter also owns 25% of the charter capital of the Strilets 5 farming enterprise.
Olha Temezhnikova also lived in Kalanchak. She suffered domestic violence for many years.
It is known that she died in a hospital to which she was brought by private transport.
What she was doing at the celebration and what she had been doing since February 2022 is unknown.