The Russian puppet head of occupied Ukrainian city Kherson has been killed in a car crash, pro-Moscow media has said.
Kirill Stremousov, the highly-visible deputy head of the occupying regime, has died as Russia retreats from the city and Ukraine is expected to launch a major counteroffensive in the region.
The death of the pro-Russian Ukrainian was confirmed by numerous sources, including TASS.
Stremousov was killed in an accident near Henichesk, his personal driver told the military project WarGonzo.
Earlier today, he had accused the West of being behind the Ukrainian advance in Kherson.
Many English and Polish speaking mercenaries were among the advancing forces, he alleged, offering no proof.
He told how there was an evacuation from Kherson.
”Many have left. About 80,000 people were evacuated. We help everyone who wants to leave Kherson. I am now in Kherson myself,” he said.
The place he was killed is Russian controlled and 130 miles from Kherson city.
Ukrainian blogger and politician Anatoly Shariy said: “Several sources confirmed the death of Stremousov.
“If this is true, then I understand what kind of ‘traffic accident’ this was right now when the surrender of Kherson is obvious.”
He appeared to imply that Stremousov had many enemies for supporting the Russian occupation forces which are now pulling back.
He added: "And the main thing - if he was killed, and exactly in the way I was told it happened, then it was no Ukrainian Army spies killing him."
“ Russia is in Kherson forever,” Stremousov - who had worked as a handyman in the US - had boasted, ahead of losses which mean Putin’s forces are on the retreat.
But the official also had enemies among Russians after blasting Putin’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu for alleged incompetence in defending Kherson region.
“There is no need to cast a shadow over the entire Russian Defence Ministry at the moment because of some, I am not saying traitors,” he said last month.
Shoigu’s “untalented military commanders” have “not really bothered to answer for all the processes and holes that now exist”.
He declared: “Indeed many say, if I were the defence minister who allowed this state of affairs to happen, as an officer I could have just shot myself.”
He then suggested that the word “officer” was “incomprehensible” to Shoigu.
Stremousov, a Ukrainian pro-Russian politician wanted in Kyiv for treason, lumped Shoigu and his generals together with “corrupt marauders and other scum” in the Russian defence ministry.
Political analyst Sergey Markov said: “Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson region, was killed. It's all very strange.
“He kept saying that Kherson could not be handed over and it would not be handed over.
“He died on the day when they began to actively talk about the surrender of Kherson.
“He died not from a terrorist attack, but in an accident. Not in Kherson, but in Genichesk
“With him in the car was a military commander Kotz, he did not die.
“All this is very strange.”
Stremousov was wanted in Kyiv for treason.
Putin’s puppet governor of Kherson expressed distress and dismay over Stremousov’s death, as the Kremlin placeman in Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev called his demise “an irreparable loss”.
On a video Kherson “governor” Vladimir Saldo, said: “It is very hard for me to say that “viceroy” Kirill Stremousov died today.
The metadata on the video recorded by “stooge governor” Saldo suggests it was recorded two hours before the first announcement of Kherson “viceroy” Stremousov’s death.
“He died in Kherson region, in a car that got into an accident…
“It will also be difficult to talk about the tragedy to his family and friends…
“He has five children and a sixth is due soon.
“Of course, we will take care of all of them, but unfortunately, Kirill will not be returned.”
However Ukrainian sources queried whether the announcement of his death could be a Kremlin trick.
Independent We Can Explain media reported: “Against the backdrop of a lack of details about the accident and the circumstances of his death, Ukrainian officials started saying the accident could be staged, and rumours about it in pro-Kremlin channels could be disinformation.”
