Probably the most famous contributor to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kirill Stremousov, died this Wednesday (9) in Kherson, in the south of the country. He was 45 years old.
The official cause of death was a car accident in Henitchesk, a port city in the region where Stremousov served as No. 2 in the civil-military administration led by Vladimir Saldo.
Few will believe the version, given the degree of animosity that the politician provoked in the country. He was on the Kiev secret service’s wanted list for treason, which suggests some form of attack.
Kherson is one of four areas annexed by President Vladimir Putin on September 30, an act not recognized by the international community and which faces practical difficulties: about 40% of Donetsk and parts of Kherson and Zaporijia are not under Russian control.
More: in Kherson, Moscow withdrew troops and evacuated civilians from the eponymous capital, targeting a battle that has been sold as decisive by both sides in the war that began on February 24.
Stremousov was an economist born in the Donetsk region and made his career as an entrepreneur in the fish sector. Gradually, he became politically radical, taking positions against the central government in Kiev after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the civil war in Donbass — the Russian-speaking east made up of Donetsk and Lugansk.
In 2020, he lost the mayoral election of Kherson, and the following year joined the radical pro-Russian Derjava party. With the invasion, he was one of the first organizers of the committee in support of Russian forces in the city, the main conquered in the initial phase of the war.
As a result, he became persona non grata in Kiev, with a price on his head, and is a constant target of the Ukrainian media due to his radical positions – his boss, Saldo, despite also being seen as a Ukrainian traitor, is known for some moderation.
Throughout the war, some local figures associated with the invaders were murdered or died in combat, but Stremousov is the most prominent person to have died so far, and the nature of the accident that killed him remains to be seen. In another notorious episode, a Ukrainian negotiator who participated in meetings aimed at ending the conflict with the Russians in Belarus was executed in Kiev.
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