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Voting Ends In 'Sham' Poll On Occupied Parts Of Ukraine Joining Russia

By RFE/RL September 27, 2022

Russian-backed officials in four regions partially occupied by Moscow in southern and eastern Ukraine say polls have closed after five days of voting on so-called referendums on joining the Russian Federation.

Ballots were being counted on September 27 after the close of voting on the referendums, which have been dismissed by Ukraine, Western governments, and the United Nations because they are illegal under international law.

The vote in RussiaN-controlled areas of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions was held amid claims by some local officials that voters had been threatened and coerced to vote. Election officials brought ballot boxes house-to-house in many cases accompanied by armed Russian forces.

Valentina Matviyenko, chairman of the Russian parliament's upper house, said President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the parliament about the referendums on September 30 and that lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on October 4.

Kyiv and its allies have denounced the votes as a "sham" and that they would never recognize the results of balloting that runs counter to the UN Charter and international law.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also called the Moscow-organized votes a "sham" and a "blatant violation of international law."

Stoltenberg said on Twitter that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 27 "and made clear that NATO Allies are unwavering in our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-defence."

The lands where the votes are taking place "are Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

U.S. President Joe Biden has previously said the polls were a "sham" and nothing but a "false pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on September 27 urged the European Union to impose further economic sanctions on Russia to punish it for the votes and said the moves by Moscow would not change Ukraine's actions on the battlefield.

Kuleba, speaking after talks in Kyiv with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, said that personal sanctions would not suffice as a punishment for the referendums, which Putin on September 27 claimed were meant to "save people" in those regions.

Voting was also held in Russia because thousands of residents of the areas that are controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine fled after the war started.

Votes counted thus far show huge majorities in favor of joining Russia, according to Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency.

Russian troops have suffered serious setbacks in the conflict this month, both in the east and south of Ukraine, which observers say pushed Putin to rush ahead with the vote to cement Moscow's authority there.

The British Ministry of Defense said on September 27 in its daily intelligence bulletin that Russia's leaders "almost certainly hope that any accession announcement will be seen as a vindication of the special military operation and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict."

The UN Security Council was scheduled to hold a meeting later on September 27 on the referendums.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia- voting-annexation/32053737.html

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Voting Ends In 'Sham' Poll On Occupied Parts Of Ukraine Joining Russia