Valery Lytvyn no relation Order For Merit to the Fatherland III class
Collaboration with Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present)
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Saldo took a pro-Russian position. On 13 March, he took part in a pro-Russian rally in Kherson. However, Saldo stated that he did not support the creation of a "people's republic" in the Kherson Oblast, and claimed his collaborationism was driven by a desire to maintain Kherson as part of Ukraine. The head of the Volodymyr Saldo Bloc on the Kherson Oblast Council, Valery Lytvyn, sent a letter to the first deputy chairman of the Oblast Council Yuriy Sobolevsky, stating that the deputies did not agree with Saldo's choice to attend the 13 March rally. Deputies of the bloc announced that they would continue their activities in the Kherson Oblast Council as part of a new faction, titled the "Support to the programs of the President of Ukraine" faction.Saldo received attention following his participation in a meeting of the Salvation Committee for Peace and Order, a Russian-established government organ in Kherson Oblast. Following the meeting, Olga Spivakina, a deputy of the city council, posted Saldo's statement on Facebook, in which he claimed that he had been taken captive and forced to participate in the meeting. Saldo was officially appointed governor of Kherson Oblast by the Russian military on 26 April 2022. Following a Ukrainian missile attack on Kherson on 27 April, Saldo stated that "Kyiv abandoned people from Kherson".On 20 December 2022, President Putin awarded Saldo the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland".
no relation