Occupied regions of Ukraine vote to join Russia in staged referendums
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Loading... - Declan Buckley
- 04 Oct 2022
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Four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine appeared to vote overwhelmingly in favor of joining the Russian Federation, according to Russian state media. Ukraine and its international partners have dismissed the highly controversial referendums as shams and a violation of international law.
The Russian-run referendum votes took place over five days, from Sept. 23 through Sept. 27, despite international outrage.
The referendums are widely viewed as an initial Kremlin move toward formal Russian annexation of the territories, even as the exact timetable remains unclear.
Results reported Tuesday by Russian state media allegedly showed over 98% voting in favor of the measure in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics; while 93% voted for it in the Zaporizhzhia region and 87% in the Kherson region.
On Sept. 20, the day before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new military draft and a major new push in his war against Ukraine, officials in the Moscow-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk announced they would hold the referendums on joining Russia. Authorities in occupied parts of the southern Ukrainian oblasts (regions) of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson quickly followed suit, declaring that they too would hold votes on whether to break away from Ukraine and become part of the Russian Federation. Read More...
