Pro-Russian ‘head’ of Ukraine’s Kherson region hospitalised

Volodymyr Saldo, the “head” of Ukraine’s Kherson region appointed by Russian occupying forces, has been hospitalised, he said on his Telegram channel.

“After another session with the Government of the Kherson Region, the minister of health approached me and insisted on an immediate medical examination based on the way I looked. I refused, of course, but the minister called in doctors to the office, who examined me and insisted on immediate hospitalisation. I discussed this with the Chairman of the Government, with my colleagues, and decided to agree to the doctors’ recommendations,” Saldo said.

According to him, Sergey Eliseev, the “deputy head” of the region’s government, will serve as acting “head of the Kherson region” while he is away. Eliseev was appointed to this position in early July. Before that, he served as deputy head of the government of Russia’s Kaliningrad region. He also worked at Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in 1993-2005.

On 4 July, the pro-Russian “authorities” of the Kherson region announced the formation of a new “government”. Saldo said that the new “government” would include both Kherson residents and Russian officials. Only one newly appointed official is a resident of the Kherson region. The other three are from Russia.

On 26 April, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that Kyiv had lost control of the entire Kherson region. After that, local officials reported that Kherson would switch to the ruble zone starting 1 May. So far, payment in both Ukraine’s hryvnia and the Russian ruble is allowed in the region. Besides, Russian TV channels are transmitted in the occupied area. Local Internet provider SkyNET earlier switched to Russia’s Rostelecom network, and local telephone operators switched to +7, the phone code of Russia.