On May 9, Russia traditionally celebrates “Victory Day”, which celebrates the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht. Until then, ruler Vladimir Putin would definitely like to report significant success in Ukraine, and everyone is waiting for that. Fighter jets were once seen forming a Z formation for the parade in Moscow, the sign of Russia’s war supporters.
A harbinger of these celebrations is already indicated for the beginning of the month. Because from May 1, the Russian ruble will be introduced as a means of payment in the area around the city of Cherson in southern Ukraine. The Ukrainian hryvnia will still be considered a parallel currency for four months, Kirill Stremoussow told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Stremusov describes himself as a member of Cherson’s self-proclaimed “civil-military administration”.
Kherson is not a populous territory, but strategically important. Before the start of the war in February, the city had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants, and the region of the same name, known as the Oblast, had just over a million. But Kherson borders the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. Capturing Cherson has been one of Russia’s top priorities since the beginning of the war, because it has accomplished several things: The attackers create a land connection with Crimea. They also provide an important foundation in the end-to-end connection with the “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, which have existed by the grace of Moscow since 2014. And cut Ukraine off from other parts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
Not coincidentally, Kherson is the only capital of an oblast that Russia has taken. After weeks of fighting, the complete capture of the region was announced on Tuesday. Ukraine has insisted that the line of defense is still within the oblast, but it is indisputable that almost the entire area is in Russian hands.
“No Return to Nazi Ukraine”
That did not stop the citizens of the city of Kherson from giving the new rulers a hostile reception on Wednesday – as has been seen elsewhere where, contrary to their expectations, the Russians were not celebrated as “liberators” from the “Nazi regime”. Ukrainian”. in the Moscow diction. The protesters were driven off with tear gas and stun grenades. “I am grateful to everyone who did not give up, who protested, who ignored the occupiers,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Kiev government is right that the introduction of the ruble is just the first step in Cherson’s Russification. A referendum on the introduction of a “people’s republic” will follow. Stremoussow, who is loyal to Moscow, dismisses this – but it could only be won with the help of massive electoral fraud. The anger at the war and the suffering that Putin’s troops brought to the neighboring state is also too great in parts of Ukraine that were once Russophile. Stremusov makes it clear where Cherson’s new leadership sees its future: “The question of a return to Nazi Ukraine is out of the question.”
As in the case of Crimea, Russia could annex the territory. On the other hand, unlike the peninsula, Cherson does not have a high emotional value for Russians. Separating Ukraine in the form of a “people’s republic” seems more realistic at the moment – possibly as an interim solution until all of southern and eastern Ukraine is conquered and annexed. The “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, created in 2014, cover only a third of the territory of the two eponymous oblasts. Russia wants to conquer these areas completely.
It’s also easy to read there what kind of political future Cherson threatens: there are lawless spaces where crime reigns and violence, kidnappings and torture are documented. Political leaders are just Moscow’s puppets. Denis Puschilin, a former salesman of dubious financial products, has ruled Donetsk since 2018. His predecessor Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in a bomb attack. Russia has laid the blame on Ukraine, but according to the ARD there is much to be said for an internal dispute because Zakharchenko did not obey Moscow unconditionally. Leonid Pasechnik, a former employee of the Ukrainian secret service SBU, took power in Luhansk in 2017. Both Pushilin and Pasechnik are members of the Kremlin’s United Russia party.
Decline of industrial strengths
Under his leadership, the decline of former industrial strongholds in the Donetsk Basin accelerated. Those who can seek their luck abroad. Between 800,000 and one million Russian passports were issued to citizens of the two “People’s Republics”. Russia is currently using these people when acting as a protector against an alleged Ukrainian “genocide” and thus justifying its invasion. Now the residents of Cherson are threatened with this “protection”.