(Reuters) – The administration of the Ukrainian Kherson region, set up by the Russians, said on Saturday it had started replacing the hryvnia with Russian rubles, the circulation of Ukrainian currency in areas of the region controlled by Moscow due to end on January 1.
In a video posted on Telegram by the Moscow-appointed region’s administration, Andrei Peretonkin, head of the local branch of Russia’s central bank, said: “For the convenience of residents and to enable a smoother integration of the region in the Russian economic area, banks of the Kherson region this week started foreign exchange operations.”
Previously, the Russian-installed administration said that both ruble and hryvnia would be accepted in the Kherson region.
Russian forces took control of most of the Kherson region in the early days of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and declared its annexation to Russia in September, after a referendum condemned by Ukraine and the countries Westerners.
Less than two months later, Russian forces withdrew from the city of Kherson under pressure from a Ukrainian counter-offensive, while continuing to retain control of most of the region’s territory.
(Reuters report, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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