The Russian occupation of southern Ukraine is taking steps to secede from the Kherson region. Residents of Kherson should be given the right to Russian passports, a pro-Moscow regional politician said on Friday. Russia’s state-run Ria Novosti news agency named Kirill Stremusov as the deputy head of the Kherson regional military-civilian administration.
“We will maximally integrate ourselves into the construction of the Russian Federation,” he announced. In the coming months, Cherson will completely switch to the ruble as its currency. Ukrainian banks should stop their work. “We will organize the work of banks directly related to Russia,” Stremusov said.