The ongoing

military occupation Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...

of Ukraine's

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

() by Russian forces began on 24February 2022, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine from

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. It was administrated under a Russian-controlled military-civilian administration until 30 September 2022, when the Russian government declared it had annexed the territory. Since then it administers it as an unrecognized

federal subject of Russia The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...

. Russia captured the city of

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

on 1 March 2022. Kherson was the only regional capital that

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

has managed to capture in the invasion, though the cities of

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

had been controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Most of the rest of Kherson Oblast fell to Russian forces in the early months of the invasion. Russia laid the groundwork for annexation in the following months by introducing the

Russian ruble The ruble or rouble (; Currency symbol, symbol: ₽; ISO 4217, ISO code: RUB) is the currency of the Russia, Russian Federation. Banknotes and coins are issued by the Central Bank of Russia, which is Russia's central bank, monetary authority ind ...

as official currency and forcibly removing the hryvnia from circulation. After holding staged referendums in September 2022, Russia declared that it had

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

Kherson Oblast on 30 September, including parts of the oblast that it did not control at the time and small occupied areas of neighboring

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population ...

. The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

condemned the annexations as violating international law. In October 2022, as a Ukrainian counteroffensive approached the city of Kherson itself, the Russian administration's executive bodies evacuated from Kherson to the left bank of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. They set up a new administrative centre in Henichesk, in the far south of the Kherson region. Throughout early November 2022, Russian forces fully withdrew from all the areas of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions on the right bank of the Dnieper, including the city of Kherson proper. Ukrainian forces entered the city of Kherson on 11 November. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Kherson region remained a "subject of the Russian Federation" despite the withdrawal.

Background

During the 2014 occupation of Crimea, Russian forces also occupied a gas distribution centre at the town of Strilkove on the

Arabat spit The Arabat Spit (; ; ) or Arabat Arrow is a spit (landform), barrier spit that separates the large, shallow, salty Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. The spit runs between the Henichesk Strait in the north and the north-eastern shores of Crim ...

in Kherson Oblast, from 15 March. In December 2014, they left territories of Kherson, including the area of Strilkove, the , and the village of Chonhar. On 24 February 2022, Russian forces began an invasion of Ukraine. Fighting began across the

, resulting in multiple

n successes. On 1 March, Russian forces captured the capital city of the oblast,

, beginning a military occupation of the city.

History

Initial military occupation

Shortly after Kherson was captured, the Russian Ministry of Defence said talks between Russian forces and city administrators regarding the maintenance of order were underway. An agreement was reached in which the Ukrainian flag would still be hoisted in the city while Russia established the new administration. Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev announced new conditions for the city's residents: citizens could only go outside during daytime and were forbidden to gather in groups. Additionally, cars were only allowed to enter the city to supply food and medicine; these vehicles were to drive at minimum speeds and were subject to searches. Citizens were warned not to provoke Russian soldiers and obey any commands given. In the first days of the invasion, Russian forces established control over and unblocked the North Crimean Canal, effectively rescinding a longstanding water blockage imposed on Crimea by Ukraine after the 2014 Russian annexation of the peninsula. On 5 March, Kolykhaiev said that there was no armed resistance in the city and Russian troops were "quite settled". He requested

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

, stating that the city lacked power, water, and medicine. Later that day, around 2,000 protesters marched in the city center. The protesters waved Ukrainian flags, sang the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, and chanted patriotic slogans. A video showed Russian soldiers firing into the air to dissuade the protestors. There were also claims that the Russian force had a list of Ukrainian activists in the city that they wanted to capture. On 9 March, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that Russia had detained more than 400 people in Kherson due to ongoing protests. On 12 March, Ukrainian officials said that Russia was planning to stage a referendum in Kherson to establish the Kherson People's Republic, similar to the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

and the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

. , deputy leader of the Kherson Oblast Council, said that the Russian military had called all the members of the council and asked them to cooperate. Lyudmyla Denisova, Ombudsman of Ukraine, stated that the referendum would be illegal because "under Ukrainian law any issues over territory can only be resolved by a nationwide referendum". Later that day, the Kherson Oblast Council passed a resolution stating that the proposed referendum would be illegal. On 13 March, ''Ukrayinska Pravda'', a Ukrainian newspaper, reported that several thousand people in Kherson took part in a protest. Russian soldiers dispersed the protest with gunfire,

stun grenade A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, a stun grenade produces Flash blindness, ...

s, and

rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

s, injuring several people. On the same day, the Russian occupation issued new laws in Kakhovka,

Nova Kakhovka Nova Kakhovka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. Nova Kakhovka has been under Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian occupation since February 2022. Its estimated population ...

and Tavriisk preventing residents from gathering in groups, photographing the Russian military, and possessing weapons. The mayor of Skadovsk was briefly detained on 16 March. On 22 March, the Ukrainian government warned Kherson was facing a "humanitarian catastrophe" as the city was running out of food and medical supplies and accused Russia of blocking evacuation of civilians to Ukraine-controlled territory. Russia countered by saying that its military helped deliver aid to the city's population. A local journalist stated that there was only a staged event, in which former prisoners from

were brought in to act as locals welcoming the Russians and accepting their assistance. According to several media outlets, residents report intrusive checkpoints, abductions, and Russian looting of shops.

Military-civilian administration

By the beginning of April, Russian flags began to be displayed in Kherson Oblast. On 18 April, Igor Kastyukevich, a Russian politician and deputy of the

8th State Duma The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 8th convocation () is the current convocation of the State Duma, lower house of Federal Assembly (Russia), Russian parliament. The composition of the 8th State Duma was dete ...

, was allegedly appointed by the Russian government as a '' de facto'' mayor. Kastyukevich denied these reports. By 26 April, Russian troops took over Kherson City's administration headquarters and appointed a new mayor, former

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

agent Oleksandr Kobets, and a new civilian-military regional administrator, ex-mayor Vladimir Saldo. The next day, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said that troops used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a pro-Ukraine protest in the city centre. On 27 April, the Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia approved the expropriation of grain from the Kherson region. Agricultural machinery from the occupied Kherson region was also transported to remote Russian lands, including Chechnya. Lyudmila Denisova, the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

Commissioner for Human Rights, likened the plan to repeating the

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

, a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

in 1932–1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The plan was eventually put into action on 30 May, according to Russia. Russian officials were also working on exporting sunflower seeds. According to locals, Russian soldiers were being employed as strawberry pickers in Kherson Oblast. On 27 April, the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

struck the Kherson TV Tower with a

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

temporarily forcing Russian television off-air. In an indication of an intended split from Ukraine, on 28 April the new military-civilian administration announced that from May it would switch the region's currency to the

. Additionally, citing unnamed reports that alleged discrimination against Russian speakers, its deputy head, Kirill Stremousov said that "reintegrating the Kherson region back into a Nazi Ukraine is out of the question". On 29 April, Saldo stated that the official languages of the Kherson Oblast would be both Ukrainian and Russian and that the International Settlements Bank from

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

would open 200 branches in Kherson Oblast soon. On 1 May, a four-month plan was adopted for a full transition to rubles. At the same time, the Ukrainian hryvnia was to remain the current currency along with the ruble for four months. On 7 May, a new coat of arms was adopted, based on the 1803 coat of arms of

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. On 9 May, an Immortal Regiment event took place in Kherson City, celebrating

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

. Soviet-era victory flags and red banners were flown. On 11 May 2022, Kirill Stremousov announced his readiness to send President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

a request for Kherson Oblast to directly join the Russian Federation without any referendum or creation of an independent "Kherson People's Republic" prior to joining. Commenting on these statements, Putin's press secretary

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012. By June, the occupiers were switching Ukrainian schools to their educational curriculum and Russian SIM cards were on the market. Kolykhaiev witnessed the occupiers distributing Russian passports. A cafe frequented by the occupiers was bombed on 7 June and at least four people were injured. On 6 June, it was reported by the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaiev, that the occupiers had conducted a meeting of more than 70 Russian sympathizers aimed at conducting a referendum on the region integrating the occupied areas into Russia. His sources told him that the dates discussed were two: in September or at the end of 2022. As a Russian election was going to take place on 11 September, the Kherson vote would be scheduled to coincide with that day. An elected official in Russia named Igor Kastyukevich had discussed this plan on 7 June, following the visit to Kherson of

Sergei Kiriyenko Sergey Vladilenovich Kiriyenko (''Birth name, né'' ''Izraitel''; ; born 26 July 1962) is a Russian politician who has served as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia since 5 October 2016. He previously served ...

, the deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration. On 3 June, the EU stated that it would not recognize any Russian passports issued to Ukrainian citizens in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. On 11 June, according to local officials, the first Russian passports were handed out to citizens in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Region, including local officials such as Vladimir Saldo. On 24 June, Dmytro Savluchenko, who led the Directorate for Family, Youth, and Sports of the Russian occupation administration, was assassinated by the explosion of a car bomb. On 29 June 2022, Stremousov said that "The Kherson region will decide to join the Russian Federation and become a full-fledged subject as one unified state." On the same visit, Kiriyenko spoke at the

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

party's humanitarian aid center in Kherson: "The Kherson region's admission into Russia will be complete, similar to Crimea," recalling the

2014 Crimean status referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea that was conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine) after Russ ...

. That same day, the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaiev, was detained by Russian security forces. On 5 July, Volodymyr Saldo announced that the former deputy head of government in the Russian exclave of

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Sergei Yeliseyev, a graduate of the FSB Academy, was to assume the presidency of the oblast.

Annexation by Russia and Ukrainian recapture of Kherson City

President Vladimir Putin celebrating with Russian-installed leaders of the four regions 3

On 10 July, Iryna Vereshchuk, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine urged civilians in the Kherson region to evacuate ahead of a future Ukrainian counteroffensive. On 27 July 2022 the surface of a section of the Antonivka Road Bridge was rendered unusable for heavy equipment, by M142 HIMARS attacks. The counteroffensive eventually was announced to have begun on 29 August 2022. They regained territory and liberated villages in northern Kherson Oblast and southern Mykolaiv Oblast gradually throughout September. On 28 August 2022, the vice-president of the occupation administration (Kovalev) was found shot dead inside his own apartment in Zaliznyi Port. His wife was stabbed in the same attack and she died later in the hospital. On 30 September 2022, Russia declared it was annexing four Ukrainian oblasts, including Kherson Oblast. The annexation was unrecognized by the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

, with the exception of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw." However, in early October 2022, the Russian defensive lines in the northern parts of the oblast collapsed, leading to more Ukrainian progress. Ukrainian officials said about 1,200 km² of territory had been recaptured since late August. Deputy head of the Kherson Military-Civilian Administration Kirill Stremousov died in a car crash near Henichesk on 9 November 2022. On 11 November, Ukrainian forces took back the city of Kherson. Following the loss of Kherson in November 2022, the Russian occupation force moved its temporary administrative centre to Henichesk. Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Pavel Gubarev, on 16 November 2022 Russian media reported that Ekaterina Gubareva, another deputy head of the administration, had been detained by the Russian police in relation to a corruption case involving embezzlement of public funds and suspended from her current position. Pavel Gubarev later announced on 18 November that Gubareva had been released, without offering further details.

Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam

In June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam, which was under the control of Russia, was

breached Breached was a Canadians, Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario, active from 2010 to 2015. Its members were Bobby Noakes (vocals), Age of Days, Mike Diesel (guitar/vocals), Ryan Alexander (bass), and Dear Jane, I..., Neil Uppal (drums). Mike ...

, flooding vast swathes of land along the

Dnieper river The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. Many experts have concluded that Russian forces likely blew up a segment of the dam. The consequences of the destruction of the dam are expected to become a long-term environmental disaster. According to a regional official, the death toll due to flooding had reached 29 in Russian-occupied portions of the oblast as of June 17. On 18 June, the United Nations condemned Russia for refusing to allow humanitarian access to the occupied flood-affected areas, with the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown saying "We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law." Russian authorities said that their decision was motivated by unspecified "security concerns".

Government

Composition

The governor and the prime minister are in charge of the administration, which includes:

Administrative divisions

On 5 August 2022, the occupation administration switched to using the old pre-2020 reform divisions of Kherson Oblast established in the USSR, with 18 districts rather than the modern five. On 17 August, they added two urban districts around Kherson city and Nova Kakhovka. On 21 September, areas of occupied

were incorporated into the Kherson administration as two new municipal districts: Snigirevsky District – another former raion abolished in 2020 – and the new Aleksandrovsky District centered in the village of Oleksandrivka in Mykolaiv Oblast. By 11 November 2022, after the Ukrainian military counteroffensive, local Ukrainian officials said that the entire

except for the Kinburn Peninsula had been liberated. In total, the oblast has 2 cities of oblast significance and 20

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. The cities are

and Novaya Kakhovka. The districts are: Aleksandrovka, Alyoshky, Belozyorka, Beryslav, Velykaya Alexandrovka, Velykaya Lepetykha, Verkhnii Rogachyk, Vysokopolye, Genichesk, Golaya Prystan, Gornostayevka, Ivanovka, Kalanchak, Kakhovka, Nizhnye Serogozy, Novovorontsovka, Novotroitskoye, Skadovsk, Snigiryovka, and Chaplynka.

Human rights

Censorship and internet restrictions

On 21 July 2022, it was reported that a then-recent Russian decree had extended Russian 2022 war censorship laws to the Kherson oblast, with deportation to Russia included as a punishment for infringement. A few weeks after taking over Kherson city, Russian soldiers seized the offices of local

internet service providers An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...

and took control of the networks, rerouting data through Russian networks. Under the occupation regime, the social media sites

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

were blocked, as well as Ukrainian and other news websites.

Sexual violence

As the

2022 Kherson counteroffensive A military counteroffensive was launched by Ukraine on 29 August 2022 to expel Russian forces occupying the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts. Military analysts consider the counteroffensive to be the third strategic phase of th ...

liberated much of northern Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian investigation teams uncovered "widespread evidence" of sexual abuse by Russian occupation forces against the population of the region. By 3 November 2022, Ukrainian investigators had documented six alleged cases of sexual assault in newly liberated regions.

Torture and abduction of civilians by Russian forces

Dementiy Bilyi, head of the Kherson regional department of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, said that the Russian security forces were "beating, torturing, and kidnapping" civilians in the

of Ukraine. He added that eyewitnesses had described "dozens" of arbitrary searches and detentions, resulting in an unknown number of abducted persons. At least 400 residents had gone missing by 16 March, with the mayor and deputy mayor of the town of Skadovsk being allegedly abducted by armed men. An allegedly leaked letter described Russian plans to unleash a "great terror" to suppress protests occurring in Kherson, stating that people would "have to be taken from their homes in the middle of the night". Ukrainians who escaped from occupied Kherson into Ukrainian-controlled territory provided testimonies of torture, abuse and kidnapping by Russian forces in the region. One person, from Bilozerka in Kherson Oblast, provided physical evidence of being tortured by Russians and described beatings, electrocutions, mock executions, strangulations, threats to kill family members and other forms of torture. An investigation by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

gathered evidence of torture, which in addition to beatings also included electrocution and burns on people's hands and feet. A doctor who treated victims of torture in the region reported: "Some of the worst were burn marks on genitals, a gunshot wound to the head of a girl who was raped and burns from an iron on a patient's back and stomach. A patient told me two wires from a car battery were attached to his groin and he was told to stand on a wet rag". In addition to the BBC,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

and the

United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

have reported on torture and disappearances carried out by Russian occupation forces in the region. One resident stated: "In Kherson, now people go missing all the time (...) there is a war going on, only this part is without bombs." Kherson's elected Ukrainian mayor compiled a list of more than 300 people who had been kidnapped by Russian forces as of 15 May 2022. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', in the building housing the Russian occupation authorities, the screams of the tortured can be frequently heard throughout the corridors. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', by 15 April 824 graves had been dug at Kherson's cemetery. On 22 July 2022,

reported that Russian forces had tortured, unlawfully detained, and forcibly disappeared civilians in the occupied areas of

and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

regions. The purpose of the abuse seemed to be to obtain information and to instil fear so that people would accept the occupation, as Russia seeks to assert sovereignty over occupied territory in violation of international law.

Resistance to occupation

Protests

On 5 March, residents of

went to a rally with Ukrainian flags and chanted that the city was still Ukrainian and would never be Russian, despite Russian occupation. The Russian military opened warning fire against the protesters. At the same time, the

National Police of Ukraine The National Police of Ukraine (, ; /NPU ), often simply referred to as the (), is the national, and only, police service of Ukraine. It was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms launched by Ukrainian president Petro Por ...

published a video where a Kherson police officer, holding a Ukrainian flag in his hands, jumped onto a Russian armored personnel carrier that was driving past the rally, and local residents supported his action with shouts and applause. On 7 March, the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, on the basis of Part 2 of Article 438 of the

Criminal Code of Ukraine The legal system of Ukraine is based on civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law. Customary law and case law are not as common, though case law is often used in support ...

(violation of the laws and customs of war, associated with premeditated murder), opened a criminal case into the death of several protesters in

. According to the investigation, during a rally on 6 March, the Russian military opened fire on protesters indiscriminately "despite the fact that people were unarmed and did not pose any threat," resulting in at least one death and seven injuries. On 20 March, protesters in Kherson confronted several Russian military vehicles and told them to "go home". New rallies against the occupation happened on 11 and 27 April, both of which were violently dispersed by Russian occupation forces and separatist militias, killing four people in the process. The

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topi ...

reports that medical workers in Kherson refused to go to work, in order to boycott Russian occupation forces and not treat their injured.

Violent partisan resistance

According to , the activities of the Russian-installed

Salvation Committee for Peace and Order The Salvation Committee for Peace and Order (; ) is the Wartime collaboration, collaborationist supreme administrative and executive authority in the territory of the Kherson Oblast, formed by the constituent Assembly on 10 March 2022 following ...

encounter constant resistance among the population, and a number of its members were killed by Chief Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) or Ukrainian partisans. ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' also reports that two local high-profile pro-Russian figures were shot dead in Kherson by the Ukrainian resistance. Guided by contacts in Ukrainian security services, many ordinary citizens in Kherson City formed "a grass-roots resistance movement", becoming anti-occupation partisans. They secretly took videos of Russian forces and sent them to the Ukrainian army along with corresponding coordinates, circulated weaponry throughout the city, and even killed Russian soldiers at night, creating an atmosphere of "fear and paranoia" among the occupation forces. On 20 April 2022, regional media from Odesa reported that pro-Russian blogger Valery Kuleshov had been killed by Ukrainian partisans in Kherson. On 6 August, deputy head of the Russian administration in Nova Kakhovka, Vitaly Gura, was shot dead in his home. In September 2022, information emerged that Gura's assassination had been faked by the FSB.

People's Deputy of Ukraine A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...

Oleksii Kovalov, who had been accused by Ukrainian authorities of collaborating with Russian forces since early July by taking the position of deputy head of the Russian-installed Kherson Oblast government, was shot dead in his own home on 29 August.

Control of settlements

Notes

References

{{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Kherson military-civilian administration * April 2022 in Ukraine Kherson Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Torture in the Russian invasion of Ukraine