Putin's separatists are planning four lightning referendums - has Medvedev already explained the calculation?

Created: 09/21/2022, 05:40

By: Florian Naumann

Photo from August 16: Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov.

© Yekaterina Shtukina/Imago

The fears of some observers have come true: Russia's separatists and occupiers in Luhansk, Donetsk and Cherson have scheduled accession referendums.

Luhansk - Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions have called controversial referendums on accession to Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

On Tuesday afternoon (September 20th), corresponding reports from the two areas reached the public at practically the same time.

The occupiers in the embattled southern Ukrainian region of Cherson followed a little later.

And the pro-Russian authorities in the occupied Zaporizhia region also announced an annexation vote.

This means that referendums are due in four regions – and that in just a few days.

The vote will be held from September 23 to 27, the head of the Luhansk separatist parliament, Denis Miroshnichenko, said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news agency.

So the start should already be on Friday.

For the same period, the "People's Assembly" in Donetsk and the occupation administrations in Cherson and Zaparoishzhia also announced a corresponding survey.

War in Ukraine: Separatist referendums are coming – Medvedev provided an interpretation option in advance

Shortly before, Kremlin politician Dmitry Medvedev had fueled speculation about such referendums.

In a Telegram post, he focused on the strategic advantages of joining the contested regions to Russia: "Invading Russian territory is a crime," Medvedev wrote in online networks on Tuesday.

Moscow could "use all means of self-defense" for self-defense, emphasized the current deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council.

Even before the announcement of the referendums, the US think-thank “Institute for the Study of War” was more skeptical: The Kremlin’s actions in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, are already showing that Ukrainian attempts at reconquest do not necessarily lead to Russian retaliatory strikes against NATO it in the most recent management report of the think tank.

More and more warnings of nuclear strikes had recently come from Russia.

Ukraine war: annexation referendums in Donbass – Russia reacts quickly

With his statements, however, Medvedev had not put the plans on the agenda, but was obviously reacting to ongoing plans by the separatists.

Denis Pushilin, one of the well-known separatist representatives in Donbass, said that since Monday evening the separatist "republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk have been "actively" working on a referendum on joining Russia.

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Due to the counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces in north-east and south Ukraine, where the Ukrainians were able to recapture large areas, the occupiers' concerns grew recently.

Shortly before the start of the Russian war of aggression, the separatists had provided a welcome cue by calling for support for Vladimir Putin.

Moscow seems prepared again this time: "If the residents of the Donbass express themselves freely to be part of Russia, we will support them," said the President of the Russian House of Commons, Vyacheslav Volodin, on Tuesday.

Russia in the Ukraine war: Medvedev refers to "historical justice" - what happens to Cherson?

Medvedev also had broader Kremlin narratives in mind.

The referendums in Donbass are necessary to restore "historical justice", he emphasized.

Ukraine reacted calmly.

"Neither the pseudo-referendums nor the hybrid mobilization will change anything," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Ukraine will continue to liberate its territory no matter what is said in Russia.

The occupation administration of the strategically important Cherson region had announced on September 5 that it would "suspend" its referendum due to current events.

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