Ukraine war: "Referenda" start - Putin's nuclear threat is growing

Created: 09/23/2022, 09:55 am

By: Tim Vincent Dicke

“Referendums” on annexation by Russia start in four controlled areas of Ukraine.

The fighting continues.

The news ticker.

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  's note: You can read all the news about the Ukraine conflict in this news ticker.

  Some of the information comes from warring factions in the Ukraine war and cannot be checked directly and independently.

Kyiv – As bloody fighting continues in Ukraine, so-called referendums on Russia's annexation have begun in four Russian-controlled areas.

Votes are taking place in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine's Donbass and in the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia.

The "referendums" are scheduled to run until Tuesday (September 27, 2022), after which a rapid annexation by Moscow is expected.

According to reports from Russian news agencies, voting began at 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Accordingly, due to the short preparation time, they will not take place by electronic vote, but with paper ballot papers.

Pro-Russian officials will go door-to-door for the first few days to collect votes.

News in the Ukraine war: "Won't let Putin get away with it"

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sharply criticized Thursday's "referendums" in the UN Security Council.

"We cannot and will not allow Putin to get away with this," he said.

A military vehicle in the Russian-backed Luhansk People's Republic of eastern Ukraine drives past a poster that reads "Forever with Russia, September 27."

© dpa

Before the votes began, Putin announced partial mobilization in Russia and issued a nuclear threat.

"In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and in defense of Russia and our people, we will certainly use all weapon systems at our disposal.

This is not a bluff," said the Kremlin boss in a TV speech on Wednesday (September 21, 2022).

By considering the four Ukrainian regions as Russian territory, Putin can build a larger nuclear threat scenario.

(with agencies)