Officially he died in a car accident, but the death of Kirill Stremousov, a senior pro-Russian official in the Russian-annexed Kherson region of Ukraine, on the day of the announcement of the withdrawal of Russian forces from the region, raises questions.
A pro-Russian figure
Ukrainian by birth, Kirill Stremousov was considered one of the pro-Russian figures since the beginning of the conflict last February between Ukraine and Russia. His death was announced on Wednesday, while he was on the front line in Ukraine.
“The Nazi Ukrainians tried to break through the defensive line in various parts of the Kherson region, but were repelled everywhere,” he said in a video posted on social media on Wednesday.
Just a few hours after this statement, Moscow makes an announcement about the pro-Russian official: “Kirill Stremousov died (on Wednesday) on the territory of the Kherson region,” Vladimir Saldo, head of the Moscow administration, says in a video. Russian occupation in the Kherson region.
A car accident, according to Moscow
A simple local politician, Kirill Stremousov has become in a few months one of Moscow’s spokesmen in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. But the circumstances of his death raise questions, as Moscow claims he died in a car accident. In fact, his disappearance occurs on the day of the announcement of the withdrawal of Russian forces from Kherson.
For several weeks, the pro-Russian authorities in the region evacuate civilians versus the advance of the kyiv forces. In recent months, a number of Moscow-appointed executives have been the target of attacks, sometimes deadly, attributed by the Kremlin to Ukrainian intelligence services operating behind enemy lines.
An “irreparable loss” for Russia
“Since the beginning of the Russian occupation, the Ukrainians have launched a campaign to assassinate various local officials. But this does not prove that the Ukrainian city administrator of Kherson was assassinated,” explains Ulysse Gosset, international political columnist for BFMTV. .
“Certainly he was on the blacklists of the Ukrainians,” however adds the journalist.
The head of the occupation of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov, denounces an “irreparable loss” and assures that the family of Kirill Stremousov will receive all the necessary support from Moscow.
Source: BFM TV
