Moscow-backed officials try to solidify their rule in captured Ukrainian cities
KYIV, Ukraine — Kremlin-installed officials in occupied southern Ukraine celebrated Russia Day on Sunday and began issuing Russian passports to residents in one city who requested them, as Moscow sought to solidify its rule over captured parts of the country.
At one of the central squares in the city of Kherson — the first city to fall in the war — Russian bands played a concert to celebrate Russia Day, the holiday that marks Russia’s emergence as a sovereign state after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow-installed officials raised a Russian flag in Melitopol’s city center.
Ukrainian media reported that few, if any, local residents attended the Russia Day festivities in the two cities.
Russia Day was also celebrated in other occupied parts of Ukraine, including the ravaged southern port of Mariupol, where a new city sign painted in the colors of the Russian flag was unveiled on the outskirts and Russian flags were flown on a highway leading into the city.
Also, the Russia-aligned administration in Melitopol started handing out Russian passports to those who applied for Russian citizenship. RIA Novosti posted video of a Moscow-backed official congratulating new Russian citizens and telling them: “Russia will not go anywhere. We are here for good.â€
A sense of death hangs over cities in eastern Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin earlier this year issued a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. In captured cities in the south and east, Moscow has also introduced the ruble as official currency, aired Russian news broadcasts and taken steps to introduce a Russian school curriculum.
The Kremlin’s administrators in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have voiced plans to incorporate the areas into Russia, despite protests and signs of an insurgency among local residents.
Russian-installed officials Sunday in Melitopol reported an explosion in a garbage bin near the city’s police headquarters and said two residents were injured.
Another blast was reported at an electrical substation in the city of Berdyansk, which is also under Russian control. The Kremlin-backed administration pronounced it a terrorist attack, and officials said electricity was shut down in parts of the city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is proud of the country’s defenders managing to hold back the Russian advance in the Donbas region.
On the battlefield, Russia said it used missiles to destroy a large depot in western Ukraine that contained antitank and air-defense weapons supplied to Kyiv by the U.S. and European countries. It said the attack took place near the city of Chortkiv in the Ternopil region.
Ternopil Gov. Volodymyr Trush said four Russian missiles damaged a military installation and four residential buildings in Chortkiv. More than 20 people were wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“This strike had no tactical or strategic sense, just like the absolute majority of other Russian strikes. It is terror, just terror,†he said in a video address.
In light of the strike, Zelensky made another plea for modern missile defense systems from the U.S. and other Western countries, saying: “These are lives that could have been saved, tragedies that could have been prevented if Ukraine had been listened to.â€
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