The authorities plan to go door to door for four days to get votes. Then the polling stations will open on Tuesday for residents to cast their votes on the last day of voting in those areas occupied in Ukraine.
In Moscow you can also vote in a building where the representation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk region is located. Leonid, a 59-year-old military man, told AFP that he went to vote “feeling happy.” “As a last resort, things are moving towards the restoration of the Soviet Union. The referendum is a step towards that,” he said.
On Friday, the Russian news agency TASS showed footage of officials in the courtyards of Donetsk buildings notifying residents over loudspeakers that voting had begun.
Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russian separatist leader from the Donetsk region, part of the Donbas industrial region, said in a Telegram message that “Donbas is Russia.” “The voice of each one of you will confirm the truth,” he assured.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces recaptured most of the region of Kharkiv (northeast), a counteroffensive that has allowed kyiv to retake hundreds of cities and towns that were under Russian control for months.
How are the referendums to join Russia
In the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, recognized as independent nations by Russia just before the invasion, residents will have to answer if they support “entry to Russia“, according to the Russian agency TASS.
In Kherson and Zaporizhia, in the south, the ballots include the question: “Are you in favor of the secession of Ukrainethe formation of an independent state and its joining the Russian Federation as a member of the Russian Federation?
the ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskycalled the referendums a “farce” and thanked his Western allies for condemning “another Russian lie” in a video posted Thursday.
What will happen after the vote
A hypothetical integration in Russia of these four regions of Ukraine, which observers take for granted, would imply that Moscow, following its doctrine, could use its weapons – including nuclear ones as the president threatened Vladimir Putin– to defend them from the counter-offensive launched by Ukraine in the east and south of the country.
“We cannot let President Putin get away with it,” he told a meeting of the UN Security Council US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenaccusing the Russian president of “adding fuel to the fire”.
The referendums recall what happened in 2014 in the crimean peninsulaannexed to Russia after a vote deemed fraudulent by West. This week, after calling these votes on Tuesday, Western leaders denounced their illegitimate character.
In the UNthe Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrovrejected the accusations and blamed the situation on the “Nazi totalitarian state” of Ukraine, accusing it of “Russophobia“.
For its part, the UN commission of inquiry on Ukraine stated this Friday that “there were war crimes” in the country, after visiting 27 cities and towns and questioning more than 150 victims and witnesses.
Russia mobilizes the first reservists
Russia began its mandatory call-up on Thursday after Putin called up some 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort. The Russian army said that at least 10,000 people had volunteered to fight within 24 hours of Putin’s order.
But many men were also leaving Russia en masse before they were forced to enlist, especially for former Soviet republics that grant entry without visa.
This Friday, the Russian government announced that the media workersinformation technologies and employees of financial organizations will be exempt from the “partial mobilization” decree.
Source: Ambito
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