Russia began on Friday, September 23 to have the inhabitants of eastern Ukraine vote, as part of its “
referendums
” to annex regions it wholly or partly controls.
Polls immediately condemned in Kiev and Washington, which promised a "
rapid and severe
" response.
The votes, which started at 8 a.m. local time, will end on September 27 in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (east), and in areas under Russian occupation in the regions of Kherson and Zaporijjia (south).
Hundreds of polling stations were to be opened in the four territories, and others in Russia to allow displaced people to vote.
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And while in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other cities, the authorities organized demonstrations of support for the votes with a lot of flags and slogans, the Western reactions unanimously castigated this referendum considered as a stage and not respecting any democratic rule.
In a joint statement, the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) called on "
all countries to unequivocally reject these mock referendums
".
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: why the organization of referendums in the occupied regions is a sham
For the G7, "
these sham referendums (...) have neither legal effect nor legitimacy, as evidenced by Russia's hasty methods of organization, which in no way respect democratic standards, and its flagrant intimidation of local people
”.
“
These referendums in areas forcibly placed under temporary Russian control do not in any way represent a legitimate expression of the will of the Ukrainian people, who have consistently resisted Russian efforts to change borders by force
,” they added. denounced the leaders of the G7.
“A soldier entered, holding a sheet in his hand”
And for good reason.
Since Friday, in places where authorities affiliated with Russia have opened the door to journalists, the military supervision of the poll has been reported by many international media.
The BBC has found that in some of the occupied areas, Russian soldiers are going door to door to collect the vote of the inhabitants.
"
A soldier entered, holding a sheet in his hand: he asked us to answer yes or no, out loud, to the question posed by referendum, then he registered our vote and left
," told the BBC a woman from the town of Enerhodar (a town on the banks of the Dnieper, near the Zaporijia nuclear power plant).
She adds: “
I was paralyzed, the sight of armed soldiers inspired me with animal fear
”.
In Kherson, in the south of the city also occupied by the Russians, soldiers manned a polling station and escorted residents to the ballot box to collect their votes.
The Russian state media explain that it is however not possible everywhere in these territories to summon the populations to the polling station, and that the passage of the army to their homes is necessary for security reasons.
Read alsoPutin is betting on escalation by precipitating the annexation of Donbass by referendum
In Meliotopol, another testimony collected by the BBC reports that during the vote at home, the soldiers did not count one vote per person, but one vote per household.
Other sources report the total absence of communication around the vote, which is not encouraged in the streets of Kherson by any poster or any major press campaign.
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