DRussian annexation “referendums” began on Friday in areas of Ukraine wholly or partly controlled by Moscow, Russian news agencies reported, polls described as “sham” by kyiv and the West.
These votes, which started at 5 a.m., must be held until September 27 in the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (east) and in areas under Russian occupation in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia (south), in full Moscow’s military offensive against Ukraine. These elections, announced at the beginning of the week and organized in haste, were strongly denounced by the Ukrainian government and its Western supporters, who accuse Moscow of taking control of whole swaths of territory, like the Crimean peninsula. (south) in 2014.
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If the result of these referendums is beyond doubt, they in any case herald an escalation of the conflict, with Moscow going so far as to threaten nuclear strikes to defend what it considers to be “its” territory. “Holding this referendum is a historic step. […] We are going home,” said the leader of the pro-Russian separatist region of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, in a video posted Friday morning on Telegram. While the fighting is still raging, the electoral body of the separatists of Donetsk indicated that, “for security reasons”, the ballot would be organized mainly door-to-door for four days, the polling stations not opening ” only the last day”, i.e. September 27. Several polling stations have also opened in Russia to allow the voting of “refugees” who fled the fighting, according to Russian news agencies.
A turning point in the Russian offensive
These votes, on the model of the one that formalized the annexation of the Crimean peninsula (south) by Russia in 2014, have been the subject of preparations for several months, but the timetable seems to have accelerated with the counter- Ukrainian offensive which forced the Russian army to retreat in the northeast of the country. Residents of the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have already declared their “independence”, must decide whether or not they want to be part of Russia.
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In the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia, partially occupied by Russian forces, the question is: “Do you want to secede from Ukraine, create independent states and become part of Russia?” Even if the annexation of these four areas is not recognized by the international community, it will mark a turning point in the offensive that Russia has been leading in Ukraine since February 24.