From CNN’s Paul P. Murphy, Josh Pennington and Natalie Gallon
Weeks after first occupying the major Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian troops have taken control of the Kherson City Council, according to two members of the city government.
Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said on his Facebook that on Monday night, “armed men entered the building of the Kherson City Council, took the keys and replaced our guards with their own.”
Addressing rumors that the Ukrainian flag that flew over city council had also been taken down, Kolykhaev noted that the flag was still flying over the building when he left.
Yuri Sobolevsky, Kherson regional deputy, described the incident on his Facebook page as a “seizure,” saying it was “unfortunately, quite expected.”
“Kherson’s city hall was ‘allowed’ to function in a reduced format for a while, but that time seems to be over, too,” Sobolevsky continued4 hr 29 min ago
Two days ahead of Russia’s plans to stage a referendum in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed his people’s refusal to give their backing to Russia’s occupying forces.
“People [in occupied towns] have showed with their protest their attitude toward the occupiers; [they have] showed that Ukraine will definitely win,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday.
“Russia wants to stage a sham ‘referendum’ somewhere on our land? Even if they try, it will be as shameful as everything else that was “created” in Moscow to support the occupation of Ukraine,” he added.
Russian occupation: Russia has announced it will hold a vote in the southern region of Kherson — which It has occupied since the opening weeks of the war — on Wednesday, in which people will be asked to approve the “independence” of a new entity called “the Kherson People’s Republic.”
Meanwhile, as the war enters its third month, Zelensky said Russia had fired more than 1,100 missiles at Ukrainian targets, in addition to “countless bombs and artillery.”
The Ukrainian president said 931 settlements in Ukraine had been liberated by Ukrainian forces after temporary occupation by Russian forces.
In addition, since the start of hostilities some 9,781 Ukrainians had been presented with state awards for their defense of their country, and 142 people had been given a ‘Hero of Ukraine’ award.
“The lessons of history are well known. If you are going to build a millennial Reich, you lose. If you are going to destroy the neighbours — you lose. If you want to restore the old empire, you lose. And if you go against the Ukrainians — you lose,” Zelensky said.
EU membership: And he struck an upbeat note about Ukraine’s advance towards possible membership of the European Union, which has become a key goal for the Ukrainian leadership.
Joining the EU: And he struck an upbeat note about Ukraine’s advance towards possible membership of the European Union, which has become a key goal for the Ukrainian leadership.
“We are accelerating our movement to the European Union as much as possible. We have already passed a historic moment, an important stage — with the receipt and answering a special questionnaire, which was provided to each country before they acquired the status of a candidate for EU membership.”
