Russian television starts broadcast in Ukraine’s Kherson

Ukraine's southern Kherson region, where Moscow has already introduced the ruble and began distributing Russian passports, is now broadcasting Russian television, as said by the Russian army on Tuesday. It said that the Russian armed forces have “reconfigured the last of the seven television towers in the Kherson region to broadcast Russian television channels” for free.

Bordering the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, the Kherson region was occupied by Russian forces in the days following the Kremlin's offensive in late February. Tuesday, one of the pro-Moscow officials in the region, Kirill Stremousov, said that the territory could join Russia "before the end of the year."

The city in southern Ukraine, which had 300,000 inhabitants before the war, has been virtually cut off from the outside world since it fell into Russian hands. Residents are subjected to "constant checks at numerous checkpoints" with Russians checking "documents, phones and bags".

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On a Moscow-organised visit to Kherson earlier this month, there were only a few soldiers in the centre, but many checkpoints on the outskirts, as reported by AFP. But he said, unlike in other towns and cities in the south, such as the port of Berdyansk, few Russian flags were flying.

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Tetyana said some residents had painted Ukrainian flags in the streets or hung blue and yellow ribbons on tree branches in protest. Russian forces were also struggling to enforce the use of the Russian ruble in Kherson, with people insisting on "paying in (Ukrainian) hryvnia".

Since the takeover, residents of Kherson and other occupied areas say food prices have skyrocketed. After severe shortages of medicine in the region, some critical drugs were once again available but hard to get hold of, she said.

Not everyone in Kherson has given up hope that the Ukrainian army will eventually liberate the town.

(with inputs from agencies)

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