There have been many cheery photos from Kherson, the capital of the Ukrainian region, in recent days after Ukrainian forces recaptured it from Russia over the weekend. By that time, the city had been occupied for eight months.

The city is the only regional capital Putin captured during the first weeks of the war, so recapturing it is considered a major victory.

This is how Kherson could influence the war

Under the Russian government, Yekaterina Gubareva (39) held the position of deputy head of the regional administration.

Now she disappeared without a trace.

Yesterday, the independent Russian website Meduza reported that Gubareva, according to her husband Pavel Gubarev, had not made a sound since 16:30 on Tuesday.

It was last seen in the city of Henchisk in the far south of the Kherson region, where the Russian occupation administration sought refuge after Ukraine regained control of Kherson. Henitshesk is located about 180 kilometers southeast of Kherson.

According to the husband, the head of the Russian Kherson administration, Vladimir Saldo, is also unaware of Gubareva’s whereabouts.

– The biggest attack since the beginning

Arrested

Last night the case took an unexpected turn. Russian state-run media TASS claims that Gubareva was arrested and detained in Donetsk, on her way to Moscow.

Allegedly, she embezzled large sums of public money, was removed as deputy leader and was on her way to the Russian capital to plead her case. TASS also reported that it is now under investigation.

Gubarev has not yet commented on this.

Gubareva was the first foreign minister in the breakaway, pro-Russian republic of Donetsk since 2014, and has since been involved in parliament there. In April 2014, it referred to the then Ukrainian government as a “junta” and demanded a referendum on joining Russia, according to New York times.

I got the position of deputy head of the Kherson administration in June of this year.

separatist profile

Her husband, Pavel Gubarev, had previously led a pro-Russian protest group in Donetsk. In 2014, the Ukrainian authorities arrested him on charges of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the independence of the state.

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to me The telegraph He and the protest group were alleged to have occupied the municipal building in Donetsk and placed a Russian flag on the roof. He is then said to have declared himself “the ruler of the people”.

In 2022, Gubarev enlisted in the Russian Army and in a video he posted The Independent In October, he said he was ready to “erase” all Ukrainians who did not wish to become part of Russia.