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 on Thursday.

"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.

Russian military forces had complete control of the area, according to a report from the Russian MoD in mid-March, after which a military-civilian government was established in the area in late April. The officials of the area announced their intention to join Russia by conducting a referendum, but they have not yet chosen a date for it. According to a statement by Stremousov to TASS, the Kherson Region's officials backed the Zaporozhye Region's proposal to hold the referendums on the same day.

Earlier in June, the first 23 Russian passports have been issued in the Kherson region, including to Vladimir Saldo, the head of the region's administration, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday, June 11.

"This is a historic event for us. The confirmation of Russian citizenry was solemnly received in the Kherson Region. This is the most important document that exists in a person's life," the official told Sputnik.

Sergey Moroz, a press secretary of the military-civilian administration of Kherson, explained that the issuing of the passports has been timed to coincide with the coming celebration of Russia Day on Sunday.

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