The electoral commission of Russia announced Tuesday that the “yes” prevailed during the “referendums” of annexation, according to preliminary results relating to the polling stations in Russian territory, a vote strongly decried by the international community. The commission claimed that the “yes” vote won between 97 and 98% of the vote after counting 20 to 27% of the votes at polling stations in Russia, as counting began in Ukrainian regions under Moscow control, reported Ria Novosti, TASS and Interfax agencies.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister sweeps away the value of these votes
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians came to Russia to escape the fighting in Ukraine, and the electoral commission opened polling stations for this diaspora on Russian territory. Speaking to the Russian press, the head of the occupation administration of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, already claimed victory during this vote organized in an emergency over five days, despite the bombardments and in the presence of the Russian armed forces. “It’s already clear that the overwhelming majority of people supported leaving Ukraine and uniting with Russia,” he said of the area under his control.
For his part, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs swept away the value of these votes. “It will not change anything in our policy, our diplomacy and our actions in the military field”, indicated Dmytro Kouleba during a press conference in kyiv with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna. In Crimea, a peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia, polling stations were open for war refugees from the Donetsk region (east), partially controlled by Moscow and its separatist allies.
“With my voice I want to try to make my small contribution to stop the war,” Galina Korsakova, 63, told AFP, “I really want to go home.