People in Russian-controlled region of Ukraine describe nervous atmosphere over Moscow’s next steps
city with a Russian history,” proclaim billboards across the Ukrainian city of Kherson, occupied by the Russian army since the first days of March. Others display the Russian flag, or quotes from Vladimir Putin.
Residents remain unsure about what the next few months might bring: a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain control, a protracted battle that turns the city to rubble, or Russia carrying out its sham referendum and annexing the territory. “I will not go to the referendum, of course. I don’t know anyone who will. I am not a political person and don’t have strong opinions on politics but it is clear to me that a referendum is not right,” said Svitlana, a former beauty salon employee who is now selling food items on the street to make ends meet.
Now complaints about the Russians are reserved for whispered conversations in kitchens. Residents describe the formerly bustling city of 300,000 as a “ghost town”. The official curfew begins at 10pm, but few people go out after five. The Kremlin reportedly plans to hold the referendum on 11 September. In June, the Russian-language news outlet Meduzathree sources close to the Kremlin detailing a plan to hold referendums in four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – and subsequently turn them into one new region of Russia.
In Zaporizhzhia, the chair of the regional parliament, Olena Zhuk, said she saw “many signs” that the Russians were preparing for a referendum soon in the occupied parts of the region. “Let’s start by saying any referendum would be illegitimate by Ukrainian law, by Russian law, by any law,” she said in a telephone interview.
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