Russia 'pauses' Kherson annexation referendum over security concerns | Ukraine latest

An official of the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as saying that plans to hold a referendum on the region joining Russia had been 'paused' due to the security situation.

Stremousov was quoted by TASS as saying that the Antonivskyi bridge, which crosses the Dnipro River near regional capital Kherson, can no longer be crossed after weeks of Ukrainian shelling.

Officials in the Russian-installed local administration had previously said that a referendum on joining Russia would be held in September. Similar referendums were planned in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

A number of Russian-installed Kherson officials have been assassinated in recent weeks. Alexei Kovalev, a former lawmaker of Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party who joined the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson, was shot on August 30.

Kherson is the only Ukrainian regional capital that has been captured by Russian forces since the start of the invasion. Most of the Kherson region, which borders the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula to the south, was captured by Russian forces in March.

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