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| Two men prepare covers for the windows of their apartments that were damaged during the conflict, Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 22, 2022. |
Voting begins in the accession referendums called by the pro-Russian authorities in various regions of Ukraine
Voting in the Ukrainian territories of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, partially controlled by Russian forces, on joining Russia began today amid tight security, local pro-Russian authorities reported.
The voting process of these referendums, to which Ukraine and the international community deny any legitimacy, will last until the next day 27.
"All the members of the electoral commissions, more than 5,000 people, began their work," Galina Katiuschenko, head of the electoral commission installed in the Zaporizhia region, told the Interfax agency.
He explained that during the first four days citizens can vote at their homes and in places specially enabled for it and that only for the last day of voting will the usual polling stations be open.
This same procedure will be used in all the territories where the consultations are held.
"Today at 08:00 Moscow time throughout the territory of the Lugansk People's Republic the electoral commissions began their work," said a statement from the Central Election Commission (CEC) of that self-proclaimed entity recognized by Russia as an independent state.
For security measures, the pro-Russian authorities explained, citizens can vote at home. However, according to The Guardian, the leader of the Lugansk region, Sergey Haidai, claimed in a Telegram post that the Russian military was forcing residents to vote. "According to the available information, the squatters are forming armed groups to go through houses and force people to participate in the so-called 'referendum,'" he said.
The president of the Central Electoral Commission of Russia, Ela Pamfilova, assured this Thursday that she will do everything necessary so that the inhabitants of the "liberated territories" that are in Russia can participate in the consultations.
The pro-Russian authorities in Kherson have indicated that they expect 750,000 people to turn out to vote, while in the census in Zaporizhia there are 500,000 people, according to the Russian news agency TASS. In both cases, the participants will have to answer a question: "Are you in favor of the region leaving Ukraine, creating an independent state, and becoming part of Russia?"
In the case of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, voters will have to decide whether they support "the entry of the republic into Russia as a constituent entity of the Russian Federation."
Russia has backed the referendums, although its army controls just over half of the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions, and practically all of Lugansk and Kherson.
Putin himself said Wednesday in a speech to the nation in which he announced a "partial mobilization" of the population for the war in Ukraine that Moscow would recognize the result of these referendums. "We will do everything possible to provide security conditions so that referendums are held and the population expresses its will," he said.
"We will support the decision on its future, which will be adopted by the majority of the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions," said the Russian president, who also warned that Russia could use "all the means" in case of a "threat to the territorial integrity" of Russia, including nuclear weapons.
The president of the Russian State Duma, Viacheslav Volodin, expressed himself along these same lines this Friday, asking the population of these regions to "vote freely" and "fear nothing." "Make a decision to be part of Russia. We will support you," he pointed out in a message on his Telegram account in which he stressed that the residents of these areas of Ukraine "have the right to self-determination, contemplated in the Charter of United Nations".
"The European Union has made another threat to our country in connection with the referendums. We are aware of our decisions and nothing scares us. The EU did not notice the genocide of the Donbas for eight years and did not think about their safety. . He supported the Kyiv regime, which fired daily at civilians. Elders, women, and children died," he denounced.
International rejection
For its part, the Parliament of Ukraine approved on Wednesday the declaration of inadmissibility of the referendums on accession to Russia proposed by the pro-Russian authorities in these regions. The pro-Russian authorities in Crimea already held a referendum on joining Russia in 2014, the result of which legitimized Putin to annex the peninsula, a move not recognized by the international community.
Ukraine has accused Russian security forces of manipulating the electoral roll in the occupied territories and of persecuting and kidnapping those citizens loyal to Kyiv.
During the day on Thursday, NATO reaffirmed that it will not recognize the results of the votes, since "they lack legitimacy" and constitute a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. In this regard, the bloc released a statement in which it called on "all states" to reject these attempts at "territorial conquest" by Russia, insisting that the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions "Are Ukraine.
Various analysts agree that the Kremlin will accelerate the process of recognizing Donbas and the occupied territories of southern Ukraine as part of the Russian Federation, as it did in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea.
The referendums were condemned this Thursday by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, who recalled that any annexation of territory by force is a violation of international law.
During his speech before the UN General Assembly, US President Joe Biden called the referendums "false" and accused Russia of wanting to "end Ukraine's right to exist as a state."
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