Russia on Friday began referendums aimed at annexing Ukraine’s four occupied territories, raising the risks of a seven-month war that Kiev has dubbed an illegal farce, and threatening residents with penalties if they don’t vote.
Voting on whether the regions should become part of Russia began after Ukraine recaptured much of its northeastern territory earlier this month in a counterattack. Russia’s war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and devastated the global economy.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin also declaring conscription for 300,000 troops to fight in Ukraine this week, the Kremlin appears to be trying to regain supremacy in the conflict.
By incorporating the four regions into Russia, Moscow could portray attacks to retake them as an attack on Russia itself, as a warning to Kyiv and its Western supporters.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia “will use all the means at its disposal” to protect itself, referring to nuclear weapons.
Referendums have been debated by Moscow-based officials in four regions – in eastern and southeastern Ukraine – for months, but Kiev’s recent battlefield victories have prompted them to take action to plan.
Voting is expected from Friday to Tuesday in the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which represent about 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, said that in the city of Starobilsk, the Russian authorities banned the people from leaving the city until Tuesday, and armed groups were sent to search houses and force people to attend the event.
“Today, the best thing for the people of Kherson would be not to open their doors,” Yuriy Sobolevsky, the first displaced Ukrainian vice-president of the Kherson district council, said on the messaging app Telegram. Said.
Referendums have been denounced by Ukraine, Western leaders and the United Nations as illegitimate and choreographed precursors of illegal annexation. There will be no independent observers, and most of the pre-war population fled.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the elections, said the results would have no legal relevance as Ukraine did not comply with laws or international standards and the regions were not safe.
Gaidai said a company executive in the Russian-controlled city of Bilovodsk told employees that voting was mandatory and that anyone who refused to participate would be fired and their names disclosed to security services.
Russia argues that referendums provide an opportunity for people in the region to express their opinions.
Ukraine has said it will never accept Russian control of any territory and will fight until the last Russian soldier is expelled.
source: Noticias
