A Moscow-installed official in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson claimed the Russia-occupied region will immediately appeal to President Vladimir Putin about being accepted into Russia.

According to Tass, Kirill Stremousov, deputy director of the region’s so-called military-civilian administration, announced the planned shift on Wednesday. After Russian forces toppled Ukrainian leaders in the region, the government was installed in late April.

Since the beginning of the war, Russia has controlled the key territory with access to the Black Sea.

There has been significant conjecture regarding Russia’s plans for the peninsula’s future; with analysts speculating that it may be turned into a “people’s republic” identical to those controlled by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s east; or annexed entirely, as the Crimean Peninsula was in 2014.

According to Tass, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told that residents of the region should decide for themselves; whether or not to apply for the territory to join Russia; adding that such an option should be legally justified.