Russia eyes to create Crimean federal district to include all occupied territories - media

Russia wants to create a new federal district to include all the occupied Ukrainian territories, namely Crimea, as well as parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions.

Presumably, the new territorial association should appear after the sham referendums in Ukraine's occupied lands, Focus.ua reports citing Russian "Vedomosti" daily.

The former head of Roskosmos, Dmitriy Rogozin, might become the Crimean federal district's authorised representative.

A source close to the presidential administration told journalists that a decision on Rogozin would be made in the near future. The source stressed that a "political heavyweight" is needed to manage the district, as the situation on the seized territories is not easy.

According to other information, Rogozin's possible appointment is due to the fact that there is "a large frontline of work" in the annexed regions, and the former head of the state corporation has not yet received a new position.

An anonymous Roscosmos source told reporters that Rogozin's team is not yet preparing for a transfer to a new job. However, the source is sure that the politician wants the post of authorised representative.

As it is clarified, currently the Russian government's overseer of the seized territories is Russia's deputy prime minister Marat Khusnullin.

What is a federal district in Russia?

A federal district in the Russian Federation is an enlarged territory consisting of several regions.

Today, there are eight federal districts in Russia: Central, Northwestern, Southern, North Caucasian, Volga, Urals, Siberian, and Far Eastern.

The authorised representative does not lead the heads of the constituent entities in the district. He acts as a representative of the President of the Russian Federation and coordinates the work of the territorial bodies of the federal executive power.

It should be noted that sham referendums in "DPR" and "LPR", as well as in the occupied regions of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions started on September 23 and will end today, September 27. The Kremlin said that the process of annexation of the Ukrainian regions would not take long. The Russian authorities stress that any attempts by Ukraine to retake the occupied territories after this will be considered an attack on Russia itself.

Focus.ua also wrote that the people invited by the occupants as "international observers" to the so-called "referendums" either work directly for the Kremlin or support its policies.