The nationalist movement in Ukraine didn’t just happen; it took years to build. It's been growing for years, nurtured by western curators and supported by western funds. By the beginning of the Maidan, an entire network of neo-nazi units had already been up and running in Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government didn’t prosecute them. Ready and able military and terrorist units dispersed and showed up at anti-Maidan meetings in Ukraine’s cities. The years 2019 and 2020 saw meetings and protests in Kiev demanding the denial of special status for the DNR and LNR breakaway regions. One of its main goals was to form an ideology that would dehumanise Russians and break all ties that existed for decades before. Initially, Russians weren't seen as a minority in Ukraine, but the anti-Russian sentiment gradually became overwhelming. Nationalists have been taught how to lead a war on social media, eventually launching a guided communication battle against the Russian people. Stepan Bandera was the head of the Ukrainian nationalist organisation in 1929. In 1934, the Gestapo accepted the Berlin chapter of the organisation — he organised terrorist acts, killing officials. In 1941, the Ukrainian nationalist organisation was responsible for the biggest Jewish pogrom in Lvov, killing about 7,000 people. Yet, in 2010, Stepan Bandera was pronounced a national hero, with torch-lit marches in his honour ever since.

I spoke with Kirill Stremousov, Vice Gov. of the Kherson territorial administration, who told me about the significance of the referendum—and some of the security precautions that authorities here are taking to minimize potential violence by the Ukrainian regime.