Putin represses thousands of people in Russia again and coerces voters in eastern Ukraine

Earlier this week, Putin signed a new law that says that Russian troops who refuse to fightdesert, disobey, or surrender to the enemy could now face a jail sentence of up to 10 yearsaccording to Russian media reports.

In addition, the Russian president accelerated the bureaucratic processes to obtain the Russian citizenship for foreigners who joined the fight against Ukrainea measure designed to attract migrant workers in Russia from the countries of the former USSR. However, andLast Wednesday the embassies of those countries in Moscow issued warnings to their citizens that it was illegal to participate in a foreign war.

Another of the current issues to have about the invasion in Ukraine has to do with the holding of referendums in some territories occupied by Russia (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson). The authorities of these places are forcing the people to vote in favor of validating the annexation of these regions. Voting will last five days, until next Tuesday, although there is no doubt about the result.

Illegal referendums

These referendums are illegal under Ukrainian and international law as they do not meet basic democratic standards for free and fair elections. Western leaders, including the US President Joe Bidenhave described the process as a “farce”, whose sole purpose is to prepare the ground for the “theft of Ukrainian lands” by Russia.

[Putin destituye al jefe de logística tras los últimos fracasos de Rusia en territorio ucraniano]

Some Russian officials and their separatist proxies have said they hope the vote will be in favor of absorbing the regions. A process that will be completed “soon” once the results are official, according to the kremlin.

The speed with which the referendums were announced and carried out and the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of Russian reserves reflect the Kremlin’s tacit acknowledgment of the deterioration of its military position in Ukraine. All these movements have taken place in less than a week. After invading Ukraine on February 24 and not being able to take kyiv, Russian forces have been forced to retreat in the northeast of the countrys and are under pressure on the front lines of the war.

Ukrainians who are in contact with friends and relatives in the occupied territories have described how groups of men armed with Kalashnikov riflesaccompanied by a person with a portable ballot box, go from door to door in apartment buildings and houses to force these people to vote.

“The referendum is taking place in the occupied city of Kherson under the barrel of an automatic rifle,” said Galina Luhova, head of the city’s Military Administration. “They ring the bell of the apartments, they break down the doors of those who do not open them and demand that people come out and put a mark that they agree to join the Russian Federation,” she explained.

In the usual Friday night speech, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskynoted that “these referendums are not only crimes against international law and Ukrainian law. They are crimes against specific people, against the nation.”

[Rusia irrumpe en las casas de los territorios ocupados de Ucrania para obligar a votar en los referendos]

Zelensky also assured that the pro-Russian authorities have demanded that the Ukrainians in these regions fight against the kyiv forces, an issue that, according to the president, they must avoid “by any means.” However, if they do end up drafted, Zelensky called them to “sabotage any enemy activity, hinder any Russian operationprovide us with any important information about the occupants.”