Posted in: 24/09/2022 – 09:59
The referendum continues in four Ukrainian regions regarding their accession to Russia, which will continue until 27 September, seven months after the invasion launched by Moscow on Ukraine. Which the US President described as a “pseudo-and” false” and would cost Russia “a heavy economic price”, while China said through its Foreign Minister Wang Yi that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.”
Communication Kremlin-controlled areas of eastern and southern Ukraine Voting for a second day Saturday to annex it to Russia, in referendums that US President Joe Biden said are “sham Russian referendums and a false pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force, in flagrant violation of international law.”
“We will work with our allies and partners to pay Russia a quick and heavy additional economic price,” he added.
The move drew a reaction from Beijing, Moscow’s closest ally since the war began in February. In remarks addressed to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba during the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it clear that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.”
For its part, the Ukrainian forces announced that they are recovering lands from Moscow-backed separatists In the same areas that Russia seeks to annex.
It is reported that the referendum is being held in areas under the control of Russia in Donetsk and Lugansk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, where the referendum organizers in these areas move from house to house to collect the votes of the population.
Polling stations will open on Tuesday so that residents who have not received their ballot papers during the three days can vote on the last day, and it is also possible to vote in a building in Moscow representing the breakaway region of Donetsk.
In this context, Leonid, a 59-year-old military official, told AFP that he was “happy”. “In the end, things are moving towards restoring the Soviet Union. The referendum is a step towards that,” he added.
Illegal referendum
The referendum was announced earlier this week after a Ukrainian counter-attack in which Kyiv recaptured most of the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region from Russian forces.
The annexation of the four regions to Russia would represent a significant escalation in the conflict, since Moscow would consider any military move there as an attack on its territory.
These polls remind of what happened in Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 similarly annexed by Russia.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the voting process, saying that “the world will react completely justly to the sham referendums,” which he described as “crimes against international law and Ukrainian law.”
And the G7 countries stressed, earlier Friday, that referendums that do not have “any legal effect or legitimacy” will “never” be recognized.
Evidence of ‘war crimes’
In conjunction with the start of the vote, officials from the United Nations and Ukraine revealed what they described as additional evidence of “war crimes” committed by Russian forces, including executions and torture.
On Friday, UN investigators accused Russia of committing war crimes on a “massive scale” in Ukraine, citing bombings, executions and torture, as well as horrific sexual violence.
For his part, the head of the International Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Security Council last March, Eric Mose, said that his team had found evidence of a “large number of executions”, rape and torture of children.
In the eastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said Friday that they had finished exhuming the remains of 447 people from a site near the city of Izyum, which was liberated from Russian forces.
“Most of the bodies bear signs of violent death, and 30 of them bear signs of torture,” said the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Senegubov. “There are bodies with a rope wrapped around the neck, handcuffed hands, and organs that have been broken or shot,” he added.
The Kremlin accused Kyiv of fabricating evidence of alleged war crimes.
Tomorrow you will go to war
This week, Putin warned that Moscow would resort to “all means” to protect its territory. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on social media that such means could include the use of “strategic nuclear weapons”.
On Thursday, Moscow began mobilizing, as Putin ordered the recall of about 300,000 reservists to support the war effort.
This move prompted the men to flee Russia before being forced to join the ranks of the army, as flights were fully booked to neighboring countries over the coming days.
But some have not escaped conscription, such as Andrei, 18, who was recalled last week after he was arrested during anti-mobilization demonstrations in Moscow.
Andrei started his university studies recently, and he should not have been arrested as part of the mobilization, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said earlier that the students would not be summoned. “As we say, Russia is a country where possibilities are endless,” Andrei joked bitterly.
Mikhail Soutin, 29, was also summoned after he was also arrested during an anti-mobilization demonstration. In a telephone interview Thursday to Agence France-Presse, young Mikhail said, “I was expecting the usual (procedures) to happen: the arrest, then the police station, then the court… But to hear: Tomorrow you will go to war… It was a surprise.”
France 24/AFP