Russian-installed authorities in an occupied Ukrainian region on Monday suggested plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been delayed as Moscow blamed Western sanctions for halting gas supplies across Europe.
From the first weeks of the February invasion, Kherson and the southern Zaporizhia region have been largely under Russian control and are now being forcibly integrated into its economy.
Moscow-backed authorities have been talking for several weeks of holding referendums to officially annex occupied territories to Russia, as happened with the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
But Kirill Stremousov, a pro-Moscow official in Kherson, told Russian state television that although we are preparing for a referendum, “we will pause for the time being” due to “all events that are occurring” amid a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
He later moderated his comments, saying the move was “not a break” as no exact date had been set.
“The referendum will definitely take place. Nobody will cancel it,” Stremousov said in a video posted on Telegram.
Ukrainian forces have claimed gains in their counter-offensive in the south, saying they have recaptured several areas and destroyed targets, including a pontoon bridge.
Ukraine’s Southern Command said late Sunday that a Russian Army ammunition depot and control center southeast of the city of Kherson was also hit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday the recapture of two villages in the south and one in the east, without naming them.
Deputy head of the presidential administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko also tweeted a photo of a Ukrainian flag hoisted in the village of Vysokopillia in northern Kherson region.
– Counter-offensive makes “progress” –
“The Ukrainian counteroffensive is making demonstrable progress,” the US-based research group Institute for the Study of War said in a report, noting gains in Kherson and the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s Southern Command said its forces were attempting to disrupt the Russian army’s “management of troop movements and logistics” through airstrikes and artillery fire.
Ukrainian forces added that they destroyed a warehouse where ballots for the referendum were kept.
Russia’s defense ministry said Monday it continues to inflict heavy casualties on the Ukrainian army.
After failing to capture Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, Russian troops withdrew from the northern part of the country and concentrated their attacks on the south and east.
– “Blame western sanctions” –
The Kremlin said on Monday the halt in gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline was due to western sanctions hampering maintenance after key infrastructure was indefinitely closed for repairs.
Western sanctions “prevented maintenance of the units” and moved with “adequate legal guarantees” and “have brought the situation to what we see it now,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“It is the collective West – in this case the European Union, Canada and Britain – who are to blame for the situation reaching this point,” Peskow said.
Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Friday that the Nord Stream pipeline, which is due to reopen over the weekend, remains closed for further repairs due to “oil leaks” in a turbine.
As sanctions tightened, Russia reduced or halted supplies to various European nations, causing energy prices to spike.
Meanwhile, the European Union on Monday signed a deal with Ukraine to unleash a further 500 million euros ($497 million) in planned aid for housing, education and agriculture.
The European Commission – the executive branch of the EU – announced the package at a meeting in Brussels with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.
In Kyiv, the Ukrainian power plant operator said the last working reactor at the contested Zaporizhzhia nuclear site had been shut down after it was disconnected from its last remaining power line due to shelling.
“Power Plant (Reactor) No. 6 was shut down and disconnected from the grid due to a fire ‘started by shelling,'” Energoatom said in a statement.
The fighting over the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, has fueled fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Zaporizhia last week, with the UN nuclear watchdog chief saying the site had been damaged in fighting.
Ukraine accuses Russia of storing ammunition in Zaporizhia and deploying hundreds of soldiers there.
It is also suspected that Moscow intends to divert power from the power plant to the nearby Crimean peninsula.
