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Bicycle-riding Ukrainian mayor patrolled town's streets during Russian occupation

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Posted at 9:23 AM, Aug 26, 2022
and last updated 2022-08-26 11:28:44-04

A small town in Ukraine resisted Russian soldiers thanks to its mayor and her bicycle.

"This is my means of transportation which I was riding all through the Russian occupation. I needed it to go about all my territory." Halyna Kozarchenko told French media outlet BFM-TV.

Kozarchenko is the mayor of Fenevychi, a town just outside Kyiv with less than 1,000 residents.

The news outlet reported that she is credited with negotiating with Russian soldiers during their 39-day occupation.

Despite the presence of enemy soldiers, Kozarchenko proudly flew the Ukrainian flag at town hall every day, the news outlet reported.

“This flag has survived the whole time we were under the Russian occupation," she told the news outlet. "It’s such a tough nut to crack. It is a tough flag. People woke up in the morning and saw the flag. They said, ‘everything’s fine, and the flag is flying.’”