The TASS news agency quoted Kirill Strimosov, deputy head of the military and civil administration in Kherson, that the region had begun preparations for a referendum on joining Russia, after which it would become an all-Russian territory.
Strimosov added on his Telegram channel: “We are preparing for the referendum and we will conduct it. The Kherson region will make a decision and join Russia, and it will become a fully Russian entity, it can be like one state, where not only multinational peoples coexist in it where they are united, complete, like One family of the peoples of Russia”.
Strimosov had said earlier that “the referendum will give the Kherson region the right to self-determination, while the next stage will include direct elections in the liberated Kherson region,” according to the Russian TASS news agency.
Kherson, which overlooks the Black Sea, was the first major Ukrainian city to fall into the hands of Russian forces, and it played a crucial role in their control of southern Ukraine.
Kherson on May 1st introduced the ruble into circulation alongside the hryvnia, as the two currencies will be accepted for four months, after which the Russian currency will be fully adopted.
Kherson is located in southern Ukraine, and is considered an important and major port on the Black Sea and on the Dnipro River, with a population of about 300,000. It overlooks the Azov Sea from the southeast and the Black Sea from the southwest, in addition to forming a link between the Crimea and the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.
Kherson has Ukraine’s largest shipbuilding port in the Black Sea, and is a major center for shipping. The city grew steadily during the nineteenth century, due to shipping and shipbuilding, and remained a major shipbuilding center throughout the twentieth century.
#Referendum #accession #strategic #Ukrainian #region #Russia