The Russian-occupied territory of Kherson in Ukraine is preparing to ask the president Vladimir Putin to integrate it in Russia, the TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, citing an official of the Russian-controlled administration there.
Russia announced in April that it had acquired full control of the Peninsula, which is of strategic importance as it contributes to the land connection between its peninsula. Crimea and Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
According to the BBC, Russia is introducing its own currency, media and internet services to parts of Ukraine occupied by its army, especially in Kherson.
Ukraine claims that Russia may plan to hold a referendum in the city to see if its people want to create a pro-Russian secessionist “people’s democracy”, but the vote will be illegal and fictitious.
The Russian interventions
Russian military authorities have fired the elected mayor of Kherson. Ihor Kolykhaiev “did not cooperate” with the occupying forces, the Russian state news agency Ria reported.
A pro-Russian administration was established in its place for the city and the surrounding area.
Access to Ukrainian TV channels has been blocked and internet service providers have been replaced by Russian ones, while Hersonissos residents have been invited to listen to pro-Russian radio stations for their news.
The new regional government is also gradually abolishing the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, and introducing the Russian ruble. The four-month transition began on May 1, with authorities banning Ukrainian money deliveries to banks.
Residents of Hersonissos told the BBC that military authorities had begun paying people’s pensions in rubles. But many are trying to find ways to defy Russian moves.
South Ossetia: Moscow goes to referendum on annexation with OK
Meanwhile, the new leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia said today that he would wait for the “slogan” of Moscow before holding a referendum on the accession of this region of Georgia to Russia.
Moscow has recognized South Ossetia and the coastal region of Abkhazia as independent after a brief war with Georgia in 2008.
It has provided them with extensive financial support, Russian citizenship to their inhabitants, while it has sent military force there.
Speaking to TASS news agency, Alan Glagoev, who defeated Anatoly Bibilov in the weekend presidential election, said that South Ossetia, in order to hold a referendum on its membership in the Russian Federation, also wants Moscow to participate.
“This is not a one-sided process. We need to reach an agreement with our strategic partner (Russia). “Once the signal is given, as soon as there is an agreement that the time has come, we will clearly hold this referendum,” Glagoev told the agency.
Any move by South Ossetia to join the Russian Federation is sure to provoke Western condemnation.
Georgia has called the referendum plans unacceptable.
Glagoev’s comments contradict the position of his predecessor in the presidency, Bibilov, who said in March that the region would take legal action to join the Russian Federation in the near future.
The Kremlin has said in the past that there has been no legal action to hold such a referendum, but that Russia respects the opinion of the people of South Ossetia.
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