US believes Russia lacks sufficient forces to control Kherson Oblast: Report

Russia, according to the US, does not have enough forces in Kherson oblast to effectively occupy and control the region, according to media reports. CNN reported citing US officials that Russia lacks forces to control the region, especially after pulling forces from the Kherson Oblast area for the fight in Donbass to the east. Another US official told CNN that the move may have given Ukrainian partisans a chance to attack locally installed Russian officials. 

The Kherson Oblast region is critical to Russia's control of Ukraine's Black Sea coast and controls access to the Crimean peninsula. It's unclear how many Russian forces are in or near Kherson, but an occupation against a hostile local population necessitates far more soldiers than a peaceful occupation of territory. Ukraine has also launched limited counterattacks near Kherson, putting Russian forces under further strain.

Further, the media agency reported that according to US officials, three assassination attempts on pro-Russian officials in the last two weeks indicate a burgeoning resistance movement against pro-Russian authorities occupying parts of southern Ukraine. While there have only been a few isolated incidents in the town of Kherson so far, US officials say the resistance could grow into a larger counterinsurgency, posing a significant challenge to Russia's ability to control newly captured territory across Ukraine, CNN reported.

Ukrainian attacks on pro-Russian officials

On June 16, an explosion shattered the windows of a white Audi Q7 SUV, causing the first attack in Kherson. The vehicle was severely damaged, but the target of the attack survived. According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Eugeniy Sobolev, the pro-Russian head of the prison service in occupied Kherson, was hospitalised following the attack.

A second pro-Russian official in Kherson was targeted less than a week later. The attack was successful this time. Dmitry Savluchenko, a pro-Russian official in charge of the Kherson region's Department of Youth and Sports, was assassinated on June 24, according to RIA Novosti. Serhii Khlan, an advisor to the head of Ukraine's Kherson Civil Military Administration, referred to Savluchenko as a "traitor" and claimed he was blown up in his car.

Image: AP