‘Jokes are strategic’: how Mykolaiv’s leader uses humour to resist Putin

Vitaliy Kim, taekwondo-practising governor of Mykolaiv region, is famous for making anti-Russian gags on his social media channels, but deadly serious about defeating his foe in the Kremlin

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When Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine on 24 February, Vitaliy Kim was still in bed sound asleep.

I was dreaming something, but can't remember what, and when I woke up, everybody was panicking," said Kim, 41, governor of the industrial region of Mykolaiv. It was frightening. People were asking me what to do now."