According to the media and local officials, Russian-appointed deputy governor in Ukraine, Krill Stremousov, has been killed in a car crash. The deputy governor who was popular on social media due to his regular updates on the conditions of the war at the frontline, was appointed two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
He was one of the most important people in the Russian occupation yet he was wanted by the police for treason. The unfortunate incident of the death of the official, according to a news agency, happened on a road between Kherson city and Armyansk, a town which is located at the south-east part of Russian-annexed Crimea.
The Russian-appointed governor of Kherson confirmed the death of his deputy, stating that he left behind five children, with a sixth child underway. Ukrainian officials are however skeptical about the reports concerning the death of Krill which cannot be independently verified.
Mr. Stremousov in the past few weeks urged civilians to cross the river despite the advances made by the Ukrainians. Governor of the Crimea port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, described the deputy governor as a “real patriot of Russia, brave and fearless” terming his death as an irreplaceable loss.
Meanwhile, Mr. Stremousov is not the only Russian- appointed official in Ukraine who has been killed, several other Russian-appointed officials have either been killed or injured.
The City Of Kherson And Its Relevance To The War
Kherson is one of the closest cities to the Crimean Peninsula, with a population of about 380,000 before the Russian-Ukraine war occurred. Both sides of the war regard the city as a very important one to control, however military experts say a battle for the city may come at a very heavy price.
Ukrainian forces are currently closing in on Kherson, while Russian forces are already building up defenses inside the city. Due to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in the year 2014, there are still Russian military bases in Crimea, and Kherson is a “gateway” to Crimea according to a researcher named Marina Miron.
She stated that recapturing Kherson would be a way for Ukrainians to achieve one of their ultimate aims in this war and that is the reconquering of Crimea. The location of Kherson is also important because the Dnipro river; the river on whose banks Kherson lies, runs through the center of Ukraine.
According to Miron, recapturing Kherson also proves to the West that “it is still worthwhile spending the money on supporting Ukraine and supplying them with weapons.” On the contrary, Russia’s forces are also under massive pressure to defend Kherson from the Ukrainian forces since they already lost 6,000sq km of territory to Ukraine in the eastern part of the country.
Battle for Kherson has already begun with Ukrainian forces firing missiles at the bridges of Dnipro with the intention of cutting the supply lines of Russia from the east and south. Ukraine has slowly been progressing with its plan to reclaim the city and Miron explains that once they manage to take down their next major target which is the town of Beryslav, they will be able to successfully recapture Kherson in the next few weeks.
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