Referendum In Kherson Will Be Held As Planned Despite HIMARS Attack - Regional Gov't

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2022) The referendum on joining Russia in the Kherson region will go on as planned and will be completed in due course despite a deadly missile attack on a hotel in Kherson city center, local government head Sergey Eliseev said on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian forces shelled a hotel in the center of Kherson with US-supplied HIMARS systems, killing two people. One of the victims was a former Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Zhuravko, deputy head of Kherson's regional administration said. The authorities qualify the missile strike as a terrorist attack.

"The work on the referendum will be continued and completed within the set timeframe.

Everyone will be able to express their civic stance and make the definitive historical choice," Eliseev was quoted as saying by the administration.

The official stressed that the death of every Kherson resident is a sorrow for everyone and an irreplaceable loss for relatives and friends.

"I mourn with you at this difficult time," Eliseev said.

Voting in the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, as well as in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, began on Friday and will close on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russia would accept any decision people made during the referendums.