U.S. State Department: Russia will try to create ‘Kherson People’s Republic,’ annex temporarily occupied territories

The US has intelligence reports that Russia intends to hold referendums on the creation of the so-called "Kherson People's Republic", as well as on the accession of the temporarily occupied territories in eastern Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, stated this at a briefing at the US State Department, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

The ambassador stated, citing recent intelligence reports, that Russia will try to annex the so-called "Donetsk People’s Republic" and "Luhansk People’s Republic".

Read also: Kherson resistance. Russian-speaking locals take to streets chanting “Get out!”

“The reports state that Russia plans to engineer referenda upon joining sometime in mid-May, and that Moscow is considering a similar plan for Kherson,” he said.

According to the diplomat, the international community, including the OSCE, where he represents the United States, clearly stated that such referendums with fabricated voting results will not be considered legitimate, as well as any attempts to annex another territory of Ukraine.