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The provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine and belonging to the greater Donbass region, as well as the areas occupied by the Russians in Kherson and Zaporizhia, announced that they will vote from September 23 to 27 for a referendum that seeks to annex these territories to Russia. The measure was immediately backed by the Kremlin. kyiv promises to counteract this “blackmail”, which arises after the advances of kyiv in the recovery of its territories.
Russia is rushing to call referendums on the annexation of Ukrainian territories, as the kyiv Army recovers towns that were in the hands of Russian troops for several months.
Thus, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will be taken to separation consultations from Ukraine in the coming days.
Moscow-installed separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk provinces in the eastern part of the attacked country have said they will hold a referendum from September 23-27 to join Russia.
Publicly, pro-Russian leaders in the region called on President Vladimir Putin to admit those territories as part of Russia soon, once the vote is held.
“I ask you, as soon as possible, in case of a positive decision in the referendum, of which I have no doubt, to consider the Donetsk People’s Republic becoming part of Russia,” said pro-Russian leader Denis Pushilin, in a statement. publication spread on social networks addressed to Putin.
The Kremlin recognized Lugansk and Donetsk as “independent states” within Ukrainian territory on February 21. A prelude to the war with occupation objectives that he launched three days later against the neighboring country. Now he seeks to add them as territories of his belonging.
Both belong to the great Donbass region, where Moscow has installed most of its troops.
Kherson and Zaporizhia join Ukraine’s separation consultations
Shortly after the announcement in Ukraine’s eastern provinces, the Russian-installed authorities in the nation’s southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions also announced a popular referendum between September 23 and 27 to join the Russian territory. .
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Vladimir Saldo, a pro-Russian Kherson leader, said he hopes the region will become “a part of Russia, a full-fledged subject of a united country.”
Immediately, and in what would likely be a coordinated push from Moscow, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin came out to declare that he would support these regions joining Russia.
Likewise, the former Russian president and Putin ally, Dmitry Medvedev, asked the separatists for support.
kyiv promises to fight against the “blackmail” of referendums
The Ukrainian Presidency responded that the referendums announced this Tuesday are “blackmail” and promised to “eliminate” this Russian threat, arising from “fear of defeat.”
“The enemy is afraid and manipulates primitively,” said Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office.
After almost seven months of the beginning of the conflict, the invading troops control around 95% of Kherson.
Ukrainian soldiers stand on a bridge in Izium, in the Kharkiv region, most of which has been recovered from the Russians in a surprise counteroffensive by the local army, on September 14, 2022.
In the case of Zaporizhia, kyiv still controls much of the region, in whose city of the same name is the largest nuclear plant in Europe.
The plant, managed by Ukrainian experts who operate under the watchful eye of the Russian military who have settled in the place, is a source of constant concern for a possible radioactive disaster, amid the bombings that are registered in its surroundings and those that Both sides of the conflict are accused.
With Reuters and EFE
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