War in Ukraine: Bogus referendums ended – Russian electoral commission announces first results

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In Donetsk, a woman casts her ballot in a mock referendum on joining Russia

Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS

The mock referendums lasted four days in four areas occupied by Russia, and the Kremlin has now announced how the people allegedly voted: After counting the first ballot papers in polling stations in Russia, more than 97 percent of those from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Cherson and Zaporizhia regions had voted native voters voted for their home regions to join Russia, Russian agencies reported on Tuesday.

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

A little later, Moscow also reported high approval ratings from the occupied territories themselves: According to initial information, more than 87 percent of voters in Cherson were in favor of joining Russia, and in Zaporizhia more than 92 percent, it said.

Russia's parliament must approve the annexations

Now the Russian parliament has to vote on a treaty for the admission of the regions - the approval is considered certain.

After that, from the Russian point of view, the annexation is complete, and the regions are then national territory for the Kremlin.

The chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, said shortly after the end of the five-day sham referendum that the upper house of parliament could decide on the accession of the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia next Tuesday.

The next scheduled meeting is scheduled for that day, Matviyenko said, according to Russian agencies.

So far there is no need to call special meetings.

The media had previously speculated that Putin could formally announce the annexation of the four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine in a speech before both chambers of the Russian parliament this Friday.

The pseudo-referendums on the union with Russia were scheduled at short notice last Tuesday in the regions partially occupied by Russia.

They represent a breach of international law. The sham referenda are not recognized worldwide because they are held in violation of Ukrainian and international laws and without minimum democratic standards.

Although authorities in the Luhansk region reported renewed multiple rocket launcher fire on the town of Alchevsk, the polling stations are said to have remained open.

For days, Russian state television has been showing people in the occupied territories who are happy to soon be part of Russia.

Critics of the sham referendums did not have a say in the contributions.

However, independent media criticized that people were forced to vote under pressure and in the presence of armed soldiers.

In an interview with SPIEGEL, residents of the occupied city of Cherson suspected that people from the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula had been brought to the vote.

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.

He warned Ukraine that if the shelling of the areas continued, Moscow would consider it an attack on Russian territory and would defend itself with all available means.

The group of seven leading industrialized countries (G7) has already announced that it will never recognize the outcome of the mock referendums.

The US announced a "quick and serious" response in the form of further economic sanctions against Russia.

Even China called on the matter to respect "the territorial integrity of all countries," but without condemning the sham referendums.

muk/dpa/AFP