The authorities of the Kherson region will appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to include the region in Russia, Russian news agency RIA reported on Wednesday, citing the deputy head of the new Russian-installed civil-military administration of Ukraine's Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov.

Kherson will be fully governed by Russian law "by the end of the year," Stremousov added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later responded that it was up to residents living in the region of Kherson to decide whether they wanted to join Russia, but any such decision must have a clear legal basis.