Russian passports already distributed
Occupiers in the Cherson region want to join Russia
May 11, 2022, 7:12 p.m
The pro-Russian deputy chief of the Cherson region, Kirill Stremoussov, wants to be annexed to Russia. That should happen by the end of the year. Even though rubles are already being used to pay locally, the Kremlin has so far been reluctant to comment on the idea.
In southern Ukraine, the administration of the Cherson region, which is under Russian occupation, wants to submit a formal application to Moscow for membership. “The city of Kherson is Russia,” said pro-Russian deputy chief of the military and civil administration in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti.
There will be neither a people’s republic nor a referendum on accession in Cherson. Instead, his administration will directly ask Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin to “transfer the Kherson region as a full-fledged subject to Russia.” He justified the waiver of the referendum by saying that a referendum on the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, was not internationally recognized. According to Stremoussow, the integration should be completed by the end of the year. The pro-Russian administration of the region had previously announced that it would issue Russian passports to residents. The Russian ruble has been the official currency in Kherson since May 1st.
According to US intelligence coordinator Avril Haines, Russian President Vladimir Putin is still determined to establish a land link from Donbass in the east through southern Ukraine to Transnistria in Moldova.
Peskow: Secure accession legally
In the Kremlin, this initiative from the lower levels of functionaries was received with reservations. “There is no doubt that the residents of the Kherson region should decide whether or not to make such a request,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. In addition, such accession must also be legally secured. Crimea was declared part of Russia immediately after a referendum in 2014.
The political leadership in Kyiv reacted sharply to the advance. “The only letter that the ‘Gauleiter’ of the Cherson region can prepare is the request for pardon after the court verdict. The occupiers can ask to be connected to Mars or Jupiter,” said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak. The Ukrainian army will liberate Kherson, he added.