The Russian-backed local official in the southern Ukrainian Kherson region said Wednesday that he plans to formally seek the annexation of the region by the Russian government.
Russian army soldiers stand near their trucks as a ceremonial wreath sits in the streets of Kherson.
Russian state-run news agencies quoted Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of Kherson's Russian-installed administration, as saying that he plans to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to annex Kherson.
Mike Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said last week that the U.S. intelligence suggests Russia may use.
Stremousov said he will ask for an official decree declaring Kherson a part of Russia.
According to the state-run TASS news agency, the Kremlin spokesman said annexing Kherson would require a similar process to Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.
Kherson, a port city and economic hub on the Black Sea with a pre-war population of nearly 300,000, fell to Russian forces in March. The Russian defense ministry claimed victory in the city on April 26. Russia may try to annex the pro-Kremlin areas in the Donbas region. Russia would be able to use a land bridge from its mainland to the peninsula.
The annexation of Kherson was criticized by Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The capture of Kherson is important for Russia.
The U.S. and U.K. believe that Putin has something up his sleeve.
Pro-Russia authorities in Ukraine will seek annexation.
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