Civic Chamber in Kherson asks for referendum on joining Russia

• 

The civic chamber of the Kherson region on Tuesday asked Volodymyr Saldo, the regional head, to promptly hold a referendum on joining Russia, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Earlier this week, the Public Chamber of the Lugansk People’s Republic comes out with an initiative to hold a referendum on the accession of the Lugansk People’s Republic to Russia immediately," the statement read.

The republic’s accession to Russia will ensure its security and open up new possibilities for the post-war revival, the LPR Public Chamber said.

"We think it is high time to pass a strong-willed decision to hold a referendum in the Lugansk People's Republic immediately," the statement added, noting that the people of the LPR would widely support the accession to Russia and consider it a "triumph of historic justice."

"Moreover, it will ensure the security of the republic’s territory, open up new possibilities on a path of the revival and restoration of the strength of our land, its return to a peaceful life."

A referendum to join Russia 

It is worth noting that since the beginning of the war, the Russian military took control of the Azov part of Zaparozhye and Kherson, liberating large cities such as Kherson, Melitopol, and Berdiansk, as well as cutting off Kiev from the Sea of Azov.

Kherson and Zaparozhye had new administrations formed in them, with Russian TV channels and radio stations broadcasting there and trade and transport ties with Crimea being restored. Both regions have announced plans to become part of Russia.

Read next: Zaporozhye referendum set for September: Official

The Kherson Region in Ukraine is set to hold a referendum to become a full-fledged entity of the Russian Federation, according to the deputy head of the region’s military-civilian administration, Kirill Stremousov in July. 

"The Kherson Region will forget about neo-Nazism already in the near future. We are getting ready for the referendum, we will hold it. I hope that in the near future already we will become a full-fledged territorial entity of the Russian Federation," Kirill Stremousov said in a video published on his Telegram channel.

US specialists behind attack on Kherson

The Ukrainian armed forces fired a barrage of missiles at Kherson on September 10, which targeted a highly important hydropower plant, the district administration said.

"No visible hits by Ukrainian missiles were reported in the city. The Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was one of the usual targets," the administration said on social media. 

The power plant's significance stems from the fact that it supplies the entire district with electricity while providing for the irrigation of large areas of southern Ukraine and Crimea. The district authorities said the Russian air defenses fired at 14 missiles.

Read next: IAEA to issue report on mission to Zaporozhye, Kiev strikes ZNPP again

Moreover, US specialists were behind the attacks launched by Ukrainian forces against the Kherson Region using the US-supplied multiple rocket launcher HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), according to deputy head of the Kherson regional military-civil administration Kirill Stremousov.

Ukrainian troops attacked the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and the Antonovsky Bridge in July, which spans the Dnieper River in Kherson Region. Air defense shot down at least a dozen HIMARS missiles used in the attacks.

"It is not Ukrainian nationalists who are behind the shelling of the Antonovsky bridge. These are specific actions of the Americans. American specialists who have arrived in Ukraine are firing at the bridge," Stremousov told Sputnik, adding that the bridge will be restored in any case, military and civil engineers are already working on it.

Ukrainian troops have shelled Kherson's residential districts using US-supplied multiple rocket launcher HIMARS to target the city of Nova Kakhovka. As a result, a hospital and several residential buildings were damaged, and several people died.