Mariupol's mayor describes possible Putin plan after the sham referendums - "I'm sure"

Created: 09/28/2022, 12:59 p.m

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

The mock referendums in Ukraine are over.

Now Putin could plan forced mobilization in the affected regions, says a mayor.

Munich – Russian state media are jubilant about the results of the mock referendums in Ukraine.

According to official figures, an average of 97 percent of referendum participants in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson voted for "incorporation" into the Russian Federation.

There can be no question of a free and fair election.

Nevertheless: The regions are supposed to be annexed soon.

The Duma apparently wants to meet on October 3rd and 4th.

According to the fears of the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Bojchenko, the matter is far from over.

In an interview with the ARD "Tagesschau" he was convinced that Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin would start forced mobilization in the occupied territories to recruit new recruits for the Ukraine war.

Ukraine-News: Forced mobilization now also in eastern Ukraine?

Mariupol mayor warns

According to the mayor, “men of military age, between 18 and 65, are particularly at risk”.

These people are at risk of being mobilized for the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

"And I'm sure that Russia is only preparing for this," Boychenko said.

The Kremlin is just waiting for the "so-called legal decision" to finally start mobilizing.

"They intend to draft these men," the mayor surmised.

In addition, there are already signs that Moscow is sealing off the city and preventing citizens from leaving the country: “We can see from the statistics that just a week ago, a hundred people came from the occupied territories every day.

Yesterday there were only eight people.”

In its latest situation report, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also drew attention to the possible forced mobilization in eastern Ukraine.

Russian officials there would continue to create the necessary conditions to be able to recruit Ukrainian civilians to fight against their own military after the annexation.

Among other things, Ukrainian civilians are being sent short messages asking them to report to military headquarters.

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Ukraine-News: Mariupol mayor expects liberation from Russian occupation in March 2023

In an interview with the "Tagesschau", Mariupol Mayor Bojchenko also commented on the further fate of the city.

"Mariupol was, is and will remain a Ukrainian city - not even a sham referendum will change that," he stressed.

After all, a referendum is "an instrument of direct democracy," said the mayor, and asked: "What kind of democracy can we be talking about when half the city no longer exists and only 20 percent of the population is trapped there?"

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Sham referendums do not change Ukraine's plans to liberate the territory, he said.

He attributed Russia's hasty referendums to fears of the Ukrainian counter-offensive: "Russia is afraid that certain liberation operations will be carried out in the near future." Boychenko also gave a specific date for the success of these offensives.

"Based on the talks we are having today with our Ukrainian armed forces," a return to the city is expected in March 2023.