Bogus referendums in Ukrainian regions ended

Created: 09/27/2022, 16:30

People line up to take part in a mock referendum in Luhansk.

© Uncredited/AP/dpa

The mock referendums in several Ukrainian regions have ended.

An unprecedented wave of annexations is therefore likely to begin this week.

Donetsk - The Russian occupiers have declared the sham referendums in several Ukrainian regions over and presented the first results of the votes, which violate international law.

After the first ballots were counted at polling stations in Russia, more than 97 percent of voters from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia voted in favor of their home regions joining Russia, Russian agencies reported on Tuesday.

There was initially no information from polling stations in the occupied territories themselves.

Ukrainian refugees in Russia have also been called to vote since last Friday.

An unprecedented wave of annexations is therefore likely to begin this week.

Mock referendums are not recognized internationally

The mock referendums are not recognized worldwide because they are held in violation of Ukrainian and international laws and without minimum democratic standards.

Over the past few days, observers have pointed to numerous cases in which Ukrainian residents of the occupied territories have been forced to vote.

In a next step, it is expected that the occupation administrations deployed by Moscow will officially apply to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin for admission to Russian territory.

The Kremlin had indicated that this could happen quickly.

Before the start of the sham referendums, Putin had emphasized that the areas would then be completely under the protection of the nuclear power Russia.

dpa