Russian-installed 'deputy head' of Kherson is killed in a car crash: 'Traitor' wanted by Ukraine for treason dies hours before Putin's troops withdraw from city
• Russia's press service confirmed that Kirill Stremousov, 45, died in the accident
• The crash which killed him reportedly happened near Henichensk in Kherson
• Earlier today accused the west of being behind Ukrainian advance in the region
• Died before General Sergei Surovikin said troops would withdraw from the area
By OLIVIA DEVEREUX-EVANS and WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13:34, 9 November 2022 | UPDATED: 16:35, 9 November 2022
The Russian-installed 'deputy head' of Kherson region who was labelled a 'traitor' and wanted by Ukraine for treason was killed in a car crash, hours before Putin's troops withdrew from the city.
The regional governor's press service confirmed that Kirill Stremousov, 45, died in the accident.
The 45-year-old was a driving force in organising and supporting the referendum on Kherson's illegal annexation by Russia.
Recently, he had evacuated civilians from the west bank in Kherson as Ukrainian forces advanced towards the Dnipro River.
Stremousov, who was appointed two months after the invasion of Ukraine, was wanted in Kyiv for treason.
Telegram channels supporting Putin's regime reported that the crash happened near Henichensk in Kherson, his personal driver told the @wargonzo project.
'Russia is in Kherson forever,' Stremousov - who had worked as a handyman in the US - had boasted, ahead of losses which mean Putin's forces are on the retreat.
But the official also had enemies among Russians after blasting Putin's defence minister Sergei Shoigu for alleged incompetence in defending Kherson region.
'There is no need to cast a shadow over the entire Russian Defence Ministry at the moment because of some, I am not saying traitors,' he said last month.
However, his death came hours before General Sergei Surovikin, who is leading the war, said the city is now impossible to defend and that troops will withdraw across the Dnipro River 'in the near future' to defend the other bank. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has agreed to the plan.
Witnesses say Putin's men have already abandoned key checkpoints around the city and have destroyed bridges in an apparent effort to stop Ukrainian soldiers pursuing and capturing them.
Giving up Kherson - the capital of a region Putin annexed to Russia just weeks ago, his only toe-hold west of the Dnipro River, and a key checkpoint on the road to Crimea - is the most-humiliating loss his military has yet suffered.
The 'deputy head', pictured, said that Kherson could not and would not be handed back to Ukrainians
General Sergei Surovikin (left) has announced that Russia will retreat from Kherson, a decision agreed by defence minister Sergei Shoigu (right)
Ukraine has been attacking towards Kherson since early August, and recently broke through Russian defensive lines to the north of the city.
But it has been hard to track the progress of the assault ever since, as Ukraine has imposed a news blackout on the region.
Last week, Western officials briefed that Russia appeared to be in the final stages of preparing for a retreat which was being disguised as a civilian evacuation.
They said 'reinforcements' being moved to the area were actually conscripts covering the backs of regular troops as they withdrew.
The officials said Russia's commanders had concluded the city was 'not worth defending' and would try to out-last the winter by building a strong defensive line over the other side of the river.
However, the waters have been muddied by briefings from Kyiv that Russia is actually trying to lure its forces into a trap.
Pictured: Stremousov, who had said that Russia was in Kherson forever
Earlier today, before his death, Stremousov had typically accused the West of being behind the Ukrainian advance in Kherson in an address on Telegram.
He said there were many English- and Polish-speaking mercenaries among the advancing forces, he alleged, offering no proof.
He told how there was an evacuation from Kherson.
'Many have left. About 80,000 people were evacuated. We help everyone who wants to leave Kherson. I am now in Kherson myself,' he said.
The place he was killed is Russian controlled and 130 miles from Kherson city.
A Ukrainian legislator reacted to the death of Stremousov, calling him 'a traitor.'
Oleksiy Goncharenko, vice president of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees, and Displaced Persons tweeted: 'Kherson collaborator Kirill Stremousov died in an accident. This is a traitor who went over to the side of Russia.
'He actively opposed the surrender of Kherson and said that Russia is here forever. And then he mysteriously dies.'
Pictured: Stremousov, circled, is reported to have died in a car crash
Putin's puppet governor of Kherson expressed distress and dismay over Stremousov's death, as the Kremlin placeman in Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev called his demise 'an irreparable loss'.
On a video Kherson 'governor' Vladimir Saldo, said: 'It is very hard for me to say that Kirill Stremousov died today.....
'He died in Kherson region, in a car that got into an accident…
'It will also be difficult to talk about the tragedy to his family and friends…
'He has five children and a sixth is due soon.
'Of course, we will take care of all of them, but unfortunately, Kirill will not be returned.'
Mikhail Razvozhaev said: 'He was a true patriot of Russia, brave and courageous, in any situation he remained in touch and considered it his duty to inform the residents of the Kherson region about what was happening.
'This was the case this morning as well. This is an irreparable loss.'
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