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As it has already done in eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass, Russia is now trying to declare a “Kherson People’s Republic” in the south of the country, in the occupied Kherson region. How do people react?
Since the beginning of March, Russia has occupied the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Apparently, Moscow is trying to declare a pseudo-republic there, as in 2014 in the Luhansk and Donjeck regions. The methods are the same: a rigged referendum must legitimize the so-called “Kherson People’s Republic.”
This was reported by deputies of the Kherson regional council. They were invited by telephone by the occupiers to cooperate with them and to approve at a council meeting the creation of such a “people’s republic”.
The call for a “new administration”
“Those who call us call themselves the ‘new administration of the Kherson region,'” said Serhij Chlan, chairman of the European Solidarity party’s parliamentary group. According to him, the occupiers initially summoned the leaders of political groups.
“I immediately informed the Ukrainian presidency about the situation. “We immediately convened a special meeting of the regional council and underlined in a statement to all Ukrainian authorities that the Kherson region is an integral part of Ukraine.” Chlan. Even the elected members of the municipal council have unanimously approved this statement.
Meanwhile, the Kherson region prosecutor’s office has opened criminal proceedings for violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The authority also confirms that the occupiers are planning an illegal referendum to declare a so-called republic.
Intimidation and threats
So far, however, the Russian occupiers have failed to hold a pseudo-referendum, as thousands of residents of Kherson, as well as other cities in the region, staged pro-Ukrainian demonstrations in which they protested against the Russian occupiers.
“The protests have no leaders. People just take to the streets, despite the fact that Russian soldiers point their machine guns at them. “People want to show that any attempt to create a ‘popular republic’ in the Kherson region is illegal and futile,” said one activist, who did not want to be named for security reasons.
According to him, the Russian occupiers soon began to organize a false referendum. They are now reportedly intimidating social activists, human rights defenders and local government representatives to impose a pseudo-republic.
The mayor resigns
Thus, in the city of Kakhovka, the famous journalist Oleh Baturyn, a contributor to the regional newspaper “Novyj Den”, has disappeared. Separately, unidentified persons set fire to the house of Halyna Luhova, chairwoman of Kherson City Council. “I am homeless now. “I have to be on their death list,” the politician told Ukrainian state radio.
Due to intimidation and threats, local journalists are now deleting previously published articles and contributions. One of the largest newspapers in the city of Henichesk has completely ceased its activity.
Led by President Oleksandr Tulupov, Henice’s public administration refused to cooperate with the Russian occupiers and hold a pseudo-referendum. All city representatives have resigned together.
“The hardest day of our lives”
“This is the most difficult day of our lives for me and my team. “We have to understand that in such conditions we can no longer fulfill our duties as representatives of the local administration of Ukraine,” reads a press release published by Tulupov on the website of the Henichesk city council.
Tulupov is a member of the “Opposition Platform – For Life”. This party is in fact considered in Ukraine as a pro-Russian political force. The head of the party’s parliamentary group in Kherson city council, Yuri Stelmashenko, fears the region could be hit by a humanitarian crisis, as there has been no supplies of medicines, fuel, industrial products and food for two weeks.
“Isolated for two weeks”
So far, only a few isolated people have received “humanitarian aid” from the Russian military in Kherson. “But if the situation continues to deteriorate, Ukrainians may simply be forced to accept that aid and thus be pushed into a pseudo-referendum,” Stelmashenko suggested.
“We are doing everything to avoid this, but the city has been isolated for two weeks,” explains the municipal councilor. “The economy is at an all-time low, shops are closed. We have no connection with other regions of Ukraine. Aid columns are not allowed to cross, although humanitarian corridors are constantly being negotiated. We will stay until the end, but how many people will survive in these conditions? / DW
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