Kirill Sergeyevich Stremousov (Russian: Кирилл Сергеевич Стремоусов, IPA: [strʲɪmɐˈusəf], Ukrainian: Кирило Сергійович Стремоусов, romanized: Kyrylo Serhiyovych Stremousov; 26 December 1976 – 9 November 2022) was a Ukrainian-born blogger and politician who served as the deputy head of the Kherson military–civilian administration in Russian-occupied Ukraine from 26 April 2022 until his death on 9 November 2022,[1] just before Russia ordered a retreat from Kherson.

[2] Prior to the war, Stremousov was a prolific blogger, known in fringe Ukrainian political circles for his promotion of conspiracy theories in support of Russian nationalism and against COVID-19 restrictions.

[7] In the night of June 14, 2009, Stremousov was beaten up in Kherson by three men wearing camouflage uniforms after he filmed a traffic accident involving a private security agency.

[3] Upon his return from America, Stremousov became a prolific blogger, described by the Guardian as a "petty troublemaker" who "propagand[ized] some of the many conspiracy theories that had sprung up in the post-Soviet sphere", and a "marginal figure" in politics.

[3] He conducted seminars on a mystical approach to a healthy lifestyle and became a follower of the post-Soviet neo-Pagan and neo-Stalinist conspiracy theory Concept of Public Security (Russian: Концепция общественной безопасности).

[9][17] Civic activist Roman Tsviakh recalled years later that before the incident, several residents had fallen and broken bones due to the ice, and that by the next day, "the sidewalks were covered in salt".

[18] The same month, on 22 February, Stremousov beat a police officer during a scuffle in the Kherson city council [uk] building, knocking the man to the floor and kicking him.

[9][19][20][21] On 6 April 2018 he led an attack on a convoy of Security Service of Ukraine in Kherson, attempting to break out Sergei Osminin, a Yevpatoria city council member who had participated in the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

After the guard sprayed him with a gas canister, Stremousov shot a man with a traumatic pistol (a non-lethal weapon), streaming the incident live on Facebook.

On 16 March 2022, Stremousov and other local pro-Russian activists held a meeting of the collaborationist Salvation Committee for Peace and Order in the building of the Kherson Regional Administration.

[37] Analysing this choice, The Guardian later said that "with much of the Kherson Ukrainian administration gone or refusing to serve the Russians, Moscow turned to figures such as Stremousov to try to give an appearance of legitimacy to their occupation.

Additionally, citing unnamed reports that alleged discrimination against Russian speakers, Stremousov said that "reintegrating the Kherson region back into a Nazi Ukraine is out of the question".

[44] On 3 June 2022, Stremousov was sanctioned by the European Union for providing support and promoting policies that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

[52] On 9 November 2022, local Russia-aligned officials announced that Stremousov died in an alleged car crash near Henichesk, Russia's de facto headquarters in the region, at the age of 45.

[54] Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, said that Stremousov died when his vehicle tried to avoid hitting a truck whose driver had made a "dangerous maneuver".

[56] Yuriy Sobolevskyi, a regional Ukrainian Kherson official, expressed skepticism about the Russian report of Stremousov's death, saying "It may be true, or it may be staged.

"[57] Pjotr Sauer of The Guardian expressed a similar assessment, saying that whether Stremousov's death was "indeed a genuine accident", or "the result of a Russian security services plan to get rid of an inconvenient loudmouth no longer useful to the authorities" was unclear.

[61] In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Sergey Aksyonov, head of the Russia-annexed Crimea Peninsula, called Stremousov a “true fighter” and a “Russian patriot”.

[4][64] In late 2017, Stremousov faced accusations of child abuse from netizens and international tabloids after he filmed himself spinning his four months old daughter around his head by her legs in what he called "exercise".