As the war between Ukraine and Russia rages on, the pro-Russian military administration who is ruling the area around the recently occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson has announced that it is making some preparations to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
Kirill Stremoussov who is the Deputy Head of Kherson’s military and civil administration made this announcement in a video published on Telegram.
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“Yes, we are preparing for a referendum, and we will hold it,’’ Stremoussov said.
He added that Kherson should become a fully-fledged member of Russia.
The possibility of holding such a referendum in the southern Ukrainian region is not a fresh one and some previous announcements by the Moscow-imposed administration indicated it could be held in the autumn.
According to reports that emerged on Tuesday, the elected mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolychaev, had been taken into Russian forces’ custody. Ukraine’s government has long expected that such a referendum modelled on the annexed Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, could be in the works for Kherson.
Kherson, an important port on the Black Sea, has been under full Russian control since early March.
In another report, one of the Senior United States defence officials has revealed that the Russian Nation has increased its rate of destructive strikes by launching some more strikes on Ukraine in the past week than America has seen in recent weeks.
The official had also revealed that the Ukrainians are using the (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) HIMARS that were delivered to their country in security assistance packages “very well.”
According to CNN, the official said this “could be related to the G7. It certainly could be related to the Ukrainian movement of HIMARS into the war theatre.
“Or it could be a larger portion of their long-term battle strategy here. I’m just not sure,” said the official.
