The referenda in the four occupied regions of Ukraine ended yesterday. As predicted, the results favor annexation by Russia in a clearly coerced vote.
The ‘sham’ referendums that began 5 days ago in occupied territory in Ukraine are coming to a close. The four regions under scrutiny -Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson- will be illegally annexed by Russia in the following weeks.
“Welcome home, to Russia!” cherished Russia’s Chairman of the Security Council and former President Dimitry Medvedev. He was President of the Russian Federation from 2008 to 2012 while Vladimir Putin acted as Prime Minister, though he was the one actually taking all the decisions.
Vladimir Putin himself has not commented yet on the results, which overwhelmingly go in favor of Russian annexation. In the two Donbass regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, where war has been raging for over 8 years, the result was respectively 99.2% and 98.4% for the “Yes”. In Zaporizhzhya, the number seems to be around 93% while in Kherson it boils down to a “mere” 87%.
Putin will give a speech to the nation on Friday, where he will likely announce the annexation of these four Ukrainian regions to Russia. This is how things went down 8 years ago as well, after a similar referendum in Crimea following Moscow’s invasion. The occupied territory (which amounts for 15% of Ukraine’s territory) will be considered an integral part of Russia, a result that no western government will recognize.
The question is if these results will have anything to do with the future of the war or just a propaganda tool for the Russian people. Putin has said many times that Russia will use the nuclear bomb only when her territorial integrity is put at risk. Now that these regions are part of Russia, any counteroffensive by Kyiv could have Putin press the red button.
However, all these threats are likely just a bluff to demoralize the west, trying to stop the flow of modern armaments to Ukraine. After all, this move came after a humiliating defeat in the Kharkiv region where Ukrainian forces retained large swaths of land while Russians were retreating.
The illegality of the referenda
According to anecdotal evidence provided by the BBC, these clearly far fetched results were the result of military force used against Ukrainian civilians.
These reports show that Russian soldiers went door to door, one holding the ballot sheet and the others holding assault rifles. The soldier with the ballot sheet would ask every member of the household whether they agreed or not with annexation to Russia. Then, the soldier would write down the names of the household and move on.
“My dad put ’no’. My mum stood nearby, and asked what would happen for putting ’no’. They said, ’Nothing’. Mum is now worried that the Russians will persecute them.” a woman told the BBC.
