A former official from Russia’s powerful Federal Security Service (FSB), the intelligence agency that replaced the KGB, took over the government of Ukraine’s Kherson region, which was occupied by Moscow forces on Tuesday.
Vladimir Saldo, who heads Russia’s occupation administration, said that 51-year-old Sergei Eliseyev, who has so far been the first deputy governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad (northwest) region, “has assumed the post of head of government of the Kherson region.”
Former Ukrainian Deputy Alexei Kovalev, who went to the Russian side, was appointed as deputy to Eliseyev in charge of agricultural issues.
“Russia is here forever,” he said.
Since the Kherson conquest, Moscow has embarked on a policy of “Russification”. The country introduced the use of rubles in the region, issued Russian passports and opened a bank.
Also, the economy is largely under the control of the occupation administration and critics are suffering from repression.
At the beginning of the operation against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country will not invade Ukraine.
Now the Kremlin says residents must decide their fate, suggesting that Moscow would favor a referendum on annexation to Russia, as in Crimea.
But pro-Kremlin officials in occupied areas have been targeted in recent weeks. Kovalev had escaped an assassination attempt in late June.
source: Noticias
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