Pro-Moscow leaders of occupied region seek to join Russia, Zelenskiy slams 'collaborators' & More Trending News

Live-streamed footage reveals individuals carrying a banner within the colors of the Ukrainian flag as they protest amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine, March 13, 2022 on this nonetheless picture from a social media video obtained by REUTERS

May 11 (Reuters) – The Russian-occupied region of Kherson in Ukraine plans to ask President Vladimir Putin to incorporate it into Russia by the tip of 2022, Russia’s TASS information company reported on Wednesday, quoting the military-civilian administration there.

Kherson is the primary region set to be annexed since Moscow started its army marketing campaign in February saying it wanted to disarm Ukraine and shield its Russian-speakers from “fascists”. That rationale has been dismissed by Ukraine and the West as a baseless pretext for an imperialist conflict of aggression.

The Kremlin mentioned it was up to residents residing within the region to resolve whether or not they needed to join Russia.

But Hennadiy Lahuta, the ousted Ukrainian governor of the Kherson region, instructed reporters within the Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro that the inhabitants needed solely “a speedy liberation and return to the bosom of their homeland, their mother – Ukraine”.

Russia mentioned in April it had gained full management of the region, which has seen sporadic anti-Russian protests.

Kherson, residence to a port metropolis of the identical title, supplies half of the land hyperlink between the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, and Russian-backed separatist areas in jap Ukraine. learn extra

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned round that point that negotiations with Moscow can be in danger if Russia used “pseudo-referendums” to justify an annexation of the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia territories.

In a late night time video deal with on Wednesday, Zelenskiy condemned “these marginal people, who the Russian state has found to act as collaborators.” He mentioned they had been making statements of “cosmic stupidity”.

He added: “But no matter what the occupiers do, it doesn’t mean anything – they have no chance. I am confident that we will liberate our land and our people.”

‘NO REFERENDUMS’

In 2014, a month after occupying Crimea in a lightning invasion, Moscow organised a referendum there – dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine and the West – that overwhelmingly backed annexation by Russia.

Asked on Wednesday about Kherson becoming a member of Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned the residents should resolve their very own destiny, however that such choices wanted a transparent authorized foundation, “as was the case with Crimea”.

However, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-controlled military-civilian administration, was quoted by the RIA information company as telling reporters:

“There will be no referendums because it’s absolutely unimportant, given that the referendum that was held absolutely legally in the Crimean republic is not accepted by the world community.”

The administration didn’t instantly return Reuters’ calls requesting remark.

In Dnipro, Lahuta mentioned 300,000 of the region’s million or so inhabitants had left because of this of Russia’s takeover.

Ukraine has mentioned there have been protests in Kherson in opposition to Russian occupation, and {that a} rally two weeks in the past was dispersed with tear fuel.

“After repeated injuries of people in Kherson, in Nova Kakhovka … fewer people began to protest because the enemy began to act more and more harshly, began to detain people,” Lahuta mentioned.

Russia has already launched the rouble foreign money within the Kherson region, to exchange the Ukrainian hryvnia.

TASS cited the Russian-controlled administration as saying that pension our bodies and a banking system can be created from scratch for the region, and that branches of a Russian financial institution might be open there earlier than the tip of May.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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