A former mayor of a Russian city has been appointed to lead a new administration installed by Russia in northeastern Ukraine, the latest in a series of such appointments that Kyiv says are part of attempts to annex its territory, Reuters reports.

War in Ukraine: Residential buildings in the city of Kharkiv were destroyed by Russian rocket firePhoto: SERHIY BOBOK / AFP / Profimedia

Andriy Alekseenko stepped down as mayor of Krasnodar, Russia’s sixteenth largest city, on Thursday.

He will now head the new Russian-appointed council of ministers in the Kharkiv region, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday, citing a resolution of the local administration established by Russia.

The region, which was partially occupied by Russian troops, surrounds the second largest city of Ukraine – Kharkiv.

Kharkiv Oblast is north of Luhansk and Donetsk, which Moscow is trying to seize on behalf of separatist forces that have declared independence from Kyiv.

Russian officials have previously said that Ukraine’s occupied territories will never return to Kiev’s control and that referendums on their accession to Russia could be held in the fall, something Ukraine has vowed to prevent.

Russian troops now control less than half of the Kharkiv region.

Russian forces halted their attack on the city of Kharkiv in May after fierce resistance from Ukraine, but continue to shell the city from positions outside the city.

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