Ukraine mock referendums ended: Russia announces "clear" victories - UN with clear reaction
Created: 09/28/2022, 04:59 am
By: Stephanie Munk, Felix Durach, Fabian Müller
The sham referendums of the Russian occupying forces in Ukraine are over.
Russia has already presented the first “results” of the illegal voting.
News ticker.
EU sanctions
for
sham referendums
: punitive measures against Russia are in preparation.
Zelenskyy
on Ukraine
sham
referendums : Ukrainian President plans to speak at UN special session on Tuesday (September 27).
Ukraine sham referendum ended:
Russia announces first “results”
This
news ticker on diplomacy in the Ukraine war
is continuously updated.
Update from September 27, 10:08 p.m .: Officials
in the Moscow-occupied regions of Zaporizhia, Cherson and Luhansk in Ukraine reported victories in the so-called referenda for annexation by Russia on Tuesday.
After counting all the votes, the electoral authorities in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine declared that, according to the preliminary result, 93.11 percent voted for an annexation.
In the Cherson region, also in southern Ukraine, the occupation authorities reported approval of 87.05 percent.
A little later, the pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk also announced a victory in the vote on the annexation.
It is "clear" that Luhansk will return to the bosom of Russia, declared Leonid Pasechnik, leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic on the online platform Telegram.
In the Donetsk region, only 31.74 percent of the votes were counted on Tuesday evening.
But here, too, the electoral authority stated that the yes votes would prevail.
The United Nations (UN), meanwhile, reiterated it remains "committed" to Ukraine's "territorial integrity" within its "recognized" borders.
War in Ukraine: Zelenskyi addresses UN Security Council
Update from September 27, 9:53 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has warned of the destruction of international diplomacy by Russia.
Moscow's representatives did not use weapons in the UN Security Council, said Zelenskyj in a video address to the most powerful UN body on Tuesday.
"But surely nobody will be surprised if this role of the UN Security Council turns into a zone of violence on the part of the representatives of Russia."
It is only a matter of time before Moscow destroys the last functioning international institution, he warned.
Zelenskyy also called on the international community to take decisive action against a possible imminent annexation of parts of his country by Russia.
Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he told the UN Security Council: “Annexion is the kind of act that sets it alone against all of humanity.
A clear signal is now needed from every country in the world.” Any illegal annexation is a crime against all states.
Ukraine sham referendum ended: Russia announces first “results”
Update from September 27, 5:22 p.m .:
The Russian upper house could decide on October 4 about the annexation of four Ukrainian areas to Russia.
So said the Speaker of the House of Lords Valentina Matviyenko.
The next scheduled meeting is scheduled for that day, she said, according to Russian agencies.
So far there is no need to call special meetings.
also read
Ex-oligarch warns the West: In this scenario, "Putin will be at the NATO border tomorrow"
Wild rumors about alleged China coup and President Jinping: "Where is Xi?"
The media had previously speculated that President Vladimir Putin could formally announce the annexation of the four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine in a speech to both chambers of the Russian parliament this Friday.
Update from September 27, 5:11 p.m .:
According to its own statements, the Ukrainian government does not want to be influenced by the pseudo-referendums in four Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine.
"These measures, these decisions by Putin will not affect Ukraine's politics, diplomacy and actions on the battlefield," Kiev Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at a press conference.
Ukraine sham referendums: EU is already preparing sanctions against Russia
Update from September 27, 5:06 p.m .:
The EU apparently already has sanctions against Russia because of the illegal sham referendums on the annexation of Ukrainian territories.
"If Russia holds these illegal referendums, European Union sanctions will follow, with my country's full support," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a visit to Kyiv.
"We have already started work among Europeans - without waiting for the end of these pseudo-referendums - consultations are underway to arrive at a new series of sanctions as soon as possible," said Colonna.
“These will be individual, on the one hand, to target those responsible for these illegal operations, and will undoubtedly affect other sectors that have not been hitherto, and will now be, hit by sanctions.”
Ukraine sham referendums: Selenskyj wants to speak at the UN special session today
Update from September 27, 4:43 p.m .:
The Ukrainian President Selenskyj will apparently speak today at a special session of the UN Security Council on the Russian sham referendums in Ukraine.
Diplomatic circles confirmed to the German Press Agency that the Ukrainian UN representation had requested a speech.
But Russia will probably try to prevent the video message with a vote.
The meeting is scheduled for 9 p.m. German time.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently described a possible annexation of the Ukrainian territories to Russia as a violation of international law.
Update from September 27, 4:14 p.m .:
The people in the Ukrainian regions where the Russian occupation held mock referendums allegedly voted as follows:
Donetsk: 98.27 percent reportedly voted to join Russia (20 percent of votes counted)
Luhansk: 97.83 percent reportedly voted to join Russia (21 percent of votes counted)
Zaporizhia: 98.19 percent reportedly voted to join Russia (18 percent of votes counted)
Kherson: 97.63 percent reportedly voted to join Russia (27 percent of votes counted)
Ukraine sham referendum ended: Russia announces first “results”
Update from September 27, 4:05 p.m .:
The Russian occupiers have declared the sham referendums in several Ukrainian regions over and presented the first results of the votes that violate international law.
After counting the first ballots in 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.
The votes for the mock referendum are counted in a polling station in Donetsk.
Russia has already presented the first “results”.
© IMAGO/RIA Novosti
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.
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.
Ukraine sham referendums: Apparently concrete Kremlin plans on “Crimean District” leaked
Update from September 27, 2:05 p.m .:
As the Russian newspaper “Vedomosti” reports, there are already concrete plans in the Kremlin for the integration of four Ukrainian areas in which sham votes are currently being held.
The plan is to form a new federal “Crimean district” that will include the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, and the occupied parts of the Cherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The new head of administration should be Dmitri Rogozin, who was replaced as head of the Roskosmos space agency in July, it said.
The media had already speculated in July that the hardliner and nationalist could become one of the Kremlin curators in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency only that Moscow would inform about a decision as soon as it was made.
"We never announce such presidential decrees or personnel decisions," the Kremlin spokesman said.
EU plans to impose sanctions on those responsible for sham referendums in Ukraine
Update from September 27, 1:40 p.m.:
After the sham referendums in Ukraine, the European Union now wants to impose sanctions on those responsible.
This was confirmed by the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Peter Stano, on Tuesday in Brussels: "There will be consequences for everyone involved in organizing these illegal referendums."
Voting is expected to end later today.
The first results are expected on Tuesday evening.
A man casts his ballot in Luhansk under the surveillance of a gunman.
© dpa
According to diplomats, those responsible for the "referendums" on the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Russia should be included on the EU sanctions list.
They are threatened with entry bans, and their assets in Europe will be frozen.
The sanctions list already includes more than 1,200 responsible persons in Russia and Belarus.
Russia prefers the end of mock referendums – result already on Tuesday evening?
Update from September 27, 12:12 p.m.:
In the Luhansk region, the polling stations for the Russian referendum will only be open until 4 p.m.
This was announced by the head of the region's Central Election Commission, Yelena Kravchenko, to the Russian news agency Tass.
The polling stations will therefore close earlier than originally thought so that the counts can begin on Tuesday.
"Once the results have been counted, we will evaluate them and be able to announce them," Kravchenko continued.
A result could even be announced on Tuesday.
The head of the military administration in the Cherson region, Kirill Stremousov, is also expecting the first results on Tuesday.
"I guess we'll count the votes
later in the day (Tuesday; editor's
note ), we'll see.
And I think today we will get the first results," the official told Russian TV channel One.
Ukraine's mock referendums about to end: Annexation of four areas threatened
First report from September 27th:
Moscow – A new phase in the Ukraine war could begin this week.
On Tuesday (September 27) residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Donbass, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia still have the opportunity to vote for a possible annexation of the regions by Russia.
The referendums are intended to expand Russian territory and give Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin more options for the further course of the war.
Sham referendums in Ukraine – Russia reports absurdly high voter turnout
However, their holding is becoming more and more of a farce.
An annexation of the territories contrary to international law would not be recognized by the western states anyway and the outcome of the referenda is anything but open.
This is also shown by the reports of the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Accordingly, the Russian officials announced on Monday that enough votes had already been cast in all four referendums to declare the referendums valid.
A man casts his ballot at a polling station in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol during Russia's referendums.
© STRINGER/AFP
One day before the polling stations closed, more than 50 percent of the population took part in the votes.
The ISW describes the turnout figures as "manifestly falsified".
That would be based on the fact that it is currently difficult to estimate how many Ukrainians who are eligible to vote are still in the occupied territories.
In the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, voter turnout is said to have already exceeded 80 percent on Tuesday.
The outcome of Ukraine referendums has long been clear - Putin could announce annexation on Friday
Here, too, the ISW assumes that the participation would be significantly lower even with free votes.
In the Ukrainian presidential elections, the nationwide voter turnout was only 62.8 percent.
Vladimir Saldo, head of the occupation administration in the Kherson region, also announced that the votes cast so far would already be sufficient for a pro-Russian result in the referendum.
The British Ministry of Defense already expects Putin to officially announce the annexation of the territories in a speech to the Russian parliament on Friday (September 30).
The ministry announced this in its daily Ukraine update on Twitter.
Then Putin could start conscripting Ukrainian citizens in the areas for Russian military service.
Then they would have to fight against Ukrainian troops in the Ukraine, according to the analysis of the ISW.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
View photo gallery
Russia wants to get support from the population with mock referendums
According to British secret services, the Russian leadership also wants to use the expected annexation of Ukrainian territories to justify the war of aggression in front of its own population.
Any announcement of annexation of the territories will serve to justify Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine and aim to solidify patriotic support for the conflict, the report said.
However, the British intelligence services assume that the Russians will not support Putin's plans in the way the Kremlin boss had hoped.
The recent partial mobilization of Russian reservists and the increasing knowledge about the setbacks in Ukraine are likely to cloud approval significantly, it said.
(fd with dpa)
