Kherson Prepares For Referendum to Become Part of Russia

Kherson region, a city located south of Ukraine, is recently preparing for a referendum to formally join Russia, a Moscow-backed official said during a video shared on Telegram on Wednesday.

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Kherson is now fully controlled by Russian forces after around 4 months since the declaration of Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy chief of the Kherson region’s Moscow-installed administration, said in his video: “We’re preparing for the referendum and we will carry it out” adding that people in the Kherson region will be able to decide wether they want to join Russia and become part of it or no.

Applications to get Russian passports have already started weeks ago in the Russian-controlled areas months following Putin's 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

The Russian official further added that the Kherson region will become a united region with Moscow and the people there will be treated as Russian nationals. He also said to launch a passenger railway to link Moscow and Kherson beside sports facilities and schools.

When asked about the date of the referendum in the Kherson region, Russian officials added it could take place as early as July.

Ukraine has strongly condemned Russia's move accusing it of plans to annex the region claiming that Putin is violating the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Moreover, Moscow is also accused of plotting sham independence referendums in the occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, The Moscow Times revealed.