The mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk claimed there was a Russian connection to the protests over migrants
Protests against migrant workers in Ivano-Frankivsk could be exploited by Russian propaganda, the mayor said. According to him, the situation surrounding the issue of migration in the city is subject to information influence that is being stoked from outside.
According to the mayor, the story began when one of the housing and utilities agencies announced the possibility of employing migrant workers.
“Although there are only 36 of these migrant workers from India in the entire region,” said Martsinkiv.
Martsynkiv emphasized that he is categorically opposed to labor migration as such.
“After all, we need to find ways to staff various sectors of the economy with our own residents—through retraining, reskilling, and involving women, among other measures,” he added.
The mayor explained that he had noticed Russian propaganda exploiting this issue, so he decided to bring it into the public sphere.
According to him, he asked certain activists in Ivano-Frankivsk not to hold protests so as not to play into the hands of Russian propaganda.
“We are currently at war, and we must think things through ten times before taking any action, so as not to harm the Ukrainian state,” Martsinkiv emphasized.
He added that in peacetime, such protests would be a perfectly democratic phenomenon. However, he said, the enemy is currently exploiting such issues for its own propaganda.
“That’s why I’m against migrants, but I believe that exploiting this issue could harm Ukraine,” the mayor concluded in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
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