War
Article reserved for subscribers
War between Ukraine and Russia File Placing the ruble on the market, organizing a fake independence referendum… Two months after capturing the city, the occupiers are attempting to wipe out any Ukrainian presence in the region.
The Ukrainian flag no longer flies over the city hall of Kherson. On Monday, Russian troops removed the blue and yellow banner that had hung on the municipal building since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country’s independence in 1991. The next day they dismissed the city’s Ukrainian leaders and appointed their own city and regional leaders.
In early March, Russian troops seized Kherson — the only major pre-war city of around 290,000 that they had taken complete control of since the invasion began — after days of intense fighting that killed up to 300 Ukrainian civilians and combatants. Barely two months later, the occupiers intensify their actions to “Russify” the entire region, which they have just announced that they will take over. The new government therefore announced on Thursday that it intends to introduce the ruble as the official currency instead of the Ukrainian hryvnia. Starting Sunday, the two currencies can circulate in parallel for a period of four months. “After that, we will completely switch to regulation in rubles,” said a local Russian official. A statement immediately condemned by Kyiv denouncing an “act of annexation and a serious violation by Russia of the Charter of the United Nations.”
“Russians are everywhere”
In the once-busy streets of the strategic port, “Russians are everywhere”…