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Russian nationalists in Saint Petersburg with a flag of the "People's Republic" of Luhansk
Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky / AP
Separatist leaders in the contested regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have called a controversial referendum on joining Russia.
The vote will be held from September 23 to 27, the head of the separatist parliament in Luhansk, Denis Miroshnichenko, said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news agency.
The occupation administration in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine also announced a simultaneous vote for the Russian-controlled areas, as well as those in the occupied part of southern Ukraine's Zaporizhia region.
The referendum is considered a staging.
Due to the state of war, the authoritarian leadership in the "people's republics" and the short lead time, it is practically impossible for the vote to take place under appropriate democratic conditions.
Similarly, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.
The vote was not recognized internationally.
Previously, the governors appointed by Russia in the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" had announced that they had passed a law for holding such a referendum.
The referendum is seen as a reaction to the current Ukrainian counter-offensive in the east of the country.
support from Russia
The Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev had already spoken before the announcement about the referendums in the Donbass regions.
An annexation of the areas could strengthen the Russian military offensive against Ukraine, he wrote on Telegram.
After the accession of the territories, Russia could use “all means of self-protection”.
Russian commentators pointed out that this includes nuclear weapons.
Russian political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya said that Putin decided to hold accession referendums after his original plans to seize the territories quickly failed.
Once the territories have been included, he has the option of defending the territories under the threat of using nuclear weapons.
According to him, Medvedev received immediate support from the President of the Russian House of Commons.
Vyacheslav Volodin told MPs on Tuesday: "If Donbass residents speak freely to be part of Russia, we will support them."
The senior pro-Russian representative in Donbass, Denis Pushilin, said that the separatist "republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk have been "actively" working on a referendum on joining Russia since Monday evening.
The representative of the separatist Luhansk region in Moscow, Rodion Miroshnik, confirmed that the two breakaway regions would "coordinate" the vote.
"Serious consultations between the two (separatist regions) and Russia would now begin," he said on Russian television.
Preparations have been going on for months
Preparations for votes based on the referendum model that led to the internationally criticized annexation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Russia in 2014 have been underway for months.
The occupation administration of the southern Kherson region announced on September 5 that it would "suspend" its referendum due to current events.
However, Kherson officials on Tuesday again urged the occupation authorities "to hold a referendum immediately" on annexation to Russia.
In Zaporizhia, the head of the military administration, Vladimir Rogov, announced that the referendum would be held only in Moscow-controlled parts.
col/dpa/Reuters/AFP
