Kherson Oblast

Most of Kherson Oblast has been under Russian military occupation since it was captured early on in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In September 2022, Russia claimed to have annexed Kherson Oblast, after arranging a disputed referendum. The referendum and the claimed annexation are internationally unrecognized. As the result of a counteroffensive operation, Ukrainian forces retook all the area on the right bank of the Dnieper, including Kherson city, by mid-November 2022.

History

At various times throughout its history, the territory was ruled either entirely or partly by Scythia, ancient Greeks, Old Great Bulgaria, Khazars, Kipchaks, the Byzantine Empire, Kyivan Rus', Italians, the Mongol Empire, Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, Poland and Russia. In medieval times, the towns of greatest importance were Oleshia, a former Byzantine, Kyivan Rus' and Genoese trading port, and Tawan/Kazikermen, a former Lithuanian customs point and Polish and Turkish fortress, which is now Beryslav. Another notable town in the early modern period was Bilchowisce, now Kherson.

In 1917–1920 the territory was variously controlled by the Ukrainians, Bolsheviks and White Russians, decisively becoming part Soviet Ukraine in 1920. It was the scene of Soviet genocidal crimes, chiefly the Holodomor of 1932–1933, and part of the Katyn massacre of 1940. During World War II, it was occupied by Germany from 1941 to 1944.

The province was established in 1944 within Soviet Ukraine. In the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum, 90.13% of votes in Kherson Oblast were in favor of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.

A survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in December 2014 found that 90.9% of the oblast's population opposed their region joining Russia, 1% supported the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond.

Russian invasion

As a result of the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces occupied most of the oblast. Russian-controlled parts of the oblast were governed by the "Kherson military–civilian administration" from 28 April to 30 September 2022.

On 27 July 2022, the Ukrainian army destroyed the Antonivka Road Bridge, as part of its wider campaign to isolate the Russian forces on the right bank of the Dnieper river.

On 23–27 September 2022, the Russian Federation held referendums in the occupied territories of Kherson Oblast, claiming that the result was in favor of Russian annexation. Most states have recognized that the referendums were staged and against international law.

On 29 September, the Russian Federation recognized Kherson Oblast as an independent state. The next day, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Kherson Oblast and signed an "accession decree" that is widely considered to be illegal. At that time, Russia was not in control of the province as a whole.

The United Nations General Assembly subsequently passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it described as an "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw".

By 11 November 2022, the city of Kherson and all the Russian-held territory on the right bank of the Dnieper had been recaptured by Ukrainian forces. The territory on the left bank is still under Russian control.

On 6 June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam was breached, causing extensive flooding downstream and prompting mass evacuations in the oblast, while the Kakhovka Reservoir was drained.

Russian authorities claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin won 88.12% of the vote in the occupied Kherson region in the 2024 Russian presidential election, which has been described as rigged and fraudulent.