Kirill Stremousov addressed the residents of the Cherson region with a video message on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.

In it, he called Tuesday's announcement to hold "referendums" on Russia's accession in the Russian-held areas of Ukraine "a historic moment" that many people had been waiting for for a long time.

Reinhard Veser

Editor in Politics.

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Stremouzov is the face of the "military-civilian administration" set up by the Russian troops in the Kherson region.

For months he has been spreading the slogan that Cherson is a Russian city "in which only Russian people live" and will therefore always belong to Russia.

In his most recent video message, Stremousov calls on people to vote for accession to Russia.

He claims that the people of Kherson want to go to Russia in their hearts.

Addressing the residents themselves, he continues: "But many of you live in fear because they call you collaborators, because you live on your land and speak your language."

However, it is possible that the fear is currently circulating primarily within the Russian occupying forces.

After all, a “referendum” in the Cherson region had been announced several times and then repeatedly postponed, probably due to a lack of military success and growing popular resistance.

For Moscow, the situation is more delicate than in Donbass

In the Russian-occupied areas of Donbass, the Donetsk and Luhansk “people's republics” recognized by Putin as states in February, a “vote” on accession to Russia is also to be held at the weekend.

The biggest difference: While Russia has long been able to establish solid power structures in the “People's Republics” in the eight years since the beginning of the war in 2014, it has not made any real progress in the Cherson region due to resistance from the population.

Unlike in the Donbass, the Russian troops in the Cherson region are also under increasing pressure since the Ukrainian army managed to massively impede the occupier's supplies by destroying the bridges over the Dnipro.

Russia shows no interest whatsoever in giving the “referendums” that have been scheduled at short notice even the appearance of a legitimate election.

Stremousov claims on state television that polls show that 80 percent of residents want to take part in the vote;

95 percent of the Kherson region is under the control of the Russian armed forces.

In fact, a large part of the population has long since fled the area.

According to estimates, however, only a third of the original population still lives in the city of Cherson.

In addition, the Ukrainian troops have been advancing slowly but steadily since the beginning of the counter-offensive in the southern sector of the front.

One resident says the remaining population is divided into two groups: "There are those who are awaiting the liberation of the Ukrainian army with great impatience, and those who fear recapture because of their own collaboration."