Pro-Russia officials assassinated in Kherson

High-profile deaths and attacks increase as Ukraine sets its sights on recapture of the occupied area

UKRAINIAN partisans appear to have launched a campaign of assassinations of pro-Russia officials in occupied Kherson ahead of a planned offensive to recapture the region.

Yesterday, the Moscow-installed deputy head of the town of Nova Kakhovka near Kherson was shot as he stepped out of his apartment block.

Vitaly Gur died on his way to hospital in Crimea, according to Russian media.

Investigators reportedly found discarded bullet casings from a Makarov semi-automatic pistol near Gur’s house. The reliable Makarov pistol was the standard issue sidearm for the Soviet military, KGB agents and police.

“He has died, as far as I know,” said Vladimir Leontiev, head of the proRussia collaborator Kherson region government. “He was in hospital. Military doctors tried to save his life.”

Nova Kakhovka is a town of around 45,000 people that lies on the southern bank of the River Dnipro. It is a vital hub for Russian efforts to resupply Kherson city 35 miles further downstream on the northern bank of the river.

It came a day after the pro-Russia mayor of Kherson city suddenly fell so ill that he had to be put into an induced

‘He has died as far as I know. Military doctors tried to save his life’

coma. Volodymyr Saldo was sent to Crimea and later flown to the Sklifosovsky Emergency Research Institute in Moscow for toxicology tests.

Russian news reports differed on what Mr Saldo is suffering from. Some reported that he had suffered a stroke and others that he was ill with Covid-19. Opposition media said that he had been poisoned.

Over the past couple of months, saboteurs and assassins have increased their attacks in the Kherson region.

In June, two separate car bombs killed the collaborator head of its prison service and a senior pro-Russian official in the civilian government. In July, a bomb blew up a car with two policemen inside reportedly killing one of them.

The assassinations come as Ukraine is gearing up for an offensive to retake the strategic region.

Russian forces captured the area, which lies next to Crimea, without a fight in the first few days of the war.

Fighting has stalled in Donbas, previously the focus. Instead, the British Ministry of Defence said efforts had shifted to the south where the war was entering a “new phase” along a 225-mile frontline. There, Ukrainian forces have pounded bridges over the River Dnipro, vital for Russian supply lines to Kherson city.

To counter this, Russia has sent thousands of reinforcement soldiers.

“Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery, and other weapons continue to move away from Ukraine’s Donbas region and are headed

‘The city will be closed for the weekend. We are also working on collaborators. Districts will undergo checks’

southwest,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Russian forces have also intensified their missile attacks on the city of Mykolaiv, 25 miles from Kherson.

This weekend, the city introduced a special curfew from late Friday to early tomorrow morning as authorities try to catch people collaborating with Russia.

“The city will be closed for the weekend. Please be understanding,” Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, told residents through his Telegram social media channel. “We are also working on collaborators. Districts will undergo checks.”

In an interview with The Telegraph last month, he said collaborators were sending Russian artillery the coordinates of Ukrainian positions in the city and they needed to be hunted down.