Moscow-imposed officials in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson – first captured by Russian troops during the occupation – intend to ask President Vladimir Putin to formally add the area to Russian territory.
The Kremlin said locals will have to decide their own fate – this seems to confirm Ukraine’s warning that Russia is planning to hold a referendum in the city, which Kyiv sees as a farce and an illegal act.
Russia is already promoting currency, media and internet services to Kherson and other parts of Ukraine occupied by the Russian military.
Why did Russia focus on Kherson?
Russian forces occupied Kherson in early March, a week after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
It was the first major city to fall. Before the occupation, its population was 290,000 – but according to the former mayor, about 40% of its residents have left the city since then.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, Kherson, located at the mouth of the Dnieper River on the Black Sea coast, will be critical if Russia wants to invade southern Ukraine and establish a land link with Crimea.
Image: Reuters
What changes did Russia bring to Kherson?
Russian military officials dismissed the elected mayor of Kherson. According to the Russian state news agency Ria, Ihor Kolykhaiev “did not cooperate” with the occupying forces. It was replaced by a pro-Russian administration for the city and region.
Access to Ukrainian TV channels was blocked and local internet service providers were replaced by Russian ones. Kherson residents had to listen to pro-Russian radio stations to get news.
Ukraine said Russia’s aim was to “make its false propaganda an undisputed source of information”.
The new regional government is also deprecating the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, and introducing the Russian ruble. The four-month transition period began on May 1, when authorities banned the transfer of Ukrainian money to banks.
Kherson residents told the BBC that military officials began paying their pensions in rubles, but many were trying to find secret ways to counter Russian forces, including exchanging the ruble for the hryvnia.
Is Russia considering going to a referendum?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned residents of Kherson that Russia intends to hold a referendum in that region to decide whether to secede from Ukraine and establish a “people’s republic”. Zelensky advised people not to give personal data such as passport numbers to Russian authorities, as they could be used to falsify votes.
The British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update in April that the referendum would be a way to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But former mayor Kolykhaiev claimed that this would be illegal, as Kherson is still officially part of Ukraine.
President Zelensky said the referendum was part of Russia’s plans to break up Ukraine and create “false republics” across the country. And “a request will be submitted to make the Kherson region a matter of the Russian Federation,” said Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson government formed by Moscow, which apparently confirmed the scenario, on Wednesday 11/5.
Soon after, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that local residents must decide for their own future, citing Crimea as an example.
Image: Reuters
How has Russia changed the lives of the separatist regions of Ukraine?
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 after a referendum that was declared invalid by the United Nations General Assembly.
Moscow established a link between Crimea and southern Russia, where it carried arms, brought in the ruble and eliminated the hryvnia. And the pro-Russian press now dominates the peninsula.
But the situation in Kherson is even closer to Crimea than the two regions of eastern Ukraine, which were captured by pro-Russian forces shortly after the annexation of the peninsula. Local pro-Russian leaders established so-called people’s republics in Luhansk and Donetsk, where they also adopted the ruble and provided the population with Russian passports.
Russia pays pensions and salaries to state employees in the region. In schools, children learn according to the Russian school curriculum, and Ukraine has complained to Moscow about the “Russification” of eastern Ukraine.
So far, there are no signs of the annexation of Kherson, only a sign of the creation of a people’s republic. Similar votes in Luhansk and Donetsk were largely rejected in May 2014 on charges of fraud and illegality.
However, Russia is said to be planning to hold more referendums in the two regions on its annexation to Russia. Ukraine said all votes deemed fraudulent would be voided.
source: Noticias
