- Paul Kirby
- BBC News
5 hours ago
It is difficult to see how the referendum will be conducted when most of Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions are still under Ukrainian control
The Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine announced plans to hold what was described as urgent popular referendums on the issue of joining Russia, nearly seven months following the Russian invasion of the country.
The Russian advance has stalled in recent months and Ukraine has managed to recover large swathes of territory in the north-eastern regions of the country.
Now Russian-backed officials in the east and south say they want the vote on accession to begin this week.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, following a vote widely condemned as fraudulent.
The annexation process was never recognized by the international community, but it has long been clear that Russia intends to automatically certify its seizure of the other occupied territories in the same way.
The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said early Tuesday that holding the vote in the Donetsk and eastern Luhansk regions – also known as the Donbass region – would restore a “historic right” and be an irreversible decision. “After amendments to the constitution of our state, no future leader of Russia or official will be able to undo these decisions,” Medvedev said.
Shortly therefollowing, the Russian-backed separatist authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk said they would hold the popular referendum on September 23-27. Russian President Vladimir Putin had recognized the two regions’ independence three days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south.
Russia’s appointed officials in the southern Kherson region said they would also conduct the popular referendum, and a similar announcement came from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia region.
The authorities installed in Russia tried for months to organize self-referendums, but the ongoing war made holding such referendums impractical. The matter was made more difficult by the counter-attack launched by the Ukrainian forces on the positions of the Russian forces in the region.
While most of Luhansk regions have been under Russian control since last July, the Ukrainian commander in Luhansk announced on Monday that the army had recaptured the village of “Belorivka”.
Most of Donetsk is still under Ukrainian control, although Russia controlled the coastal strip along the Sea of Azov.
Although Russian forces quickly captured Kherson at the start of the war, Ukrainian forces recaptured some areas and the Russian-appointed authorities faced frequent attacks. Previous attempts to hold a referendum there have been postponed.
Most parts of Zaporizhia are still under Ukrainian control, including the regional capital of the same name. Although the vote in Crimea in 2014 was widely dismissed as illegal and boycotted by large numbers of residents, the peninsula was controlled by the Russian military.
Ukrainian forces are not far from Donetsk, whose Russian-backed mayor accused Ukrainian forces on Monday of shelling the city with artillery, killing at least 13 people.
Any attempt at additional annexations of sovereign Ukrainian territory would inflame the leaders in Kyiv and destroy any hope of a negotiated solution.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry adviser Oleksiy Koptiko said the attempts were an “indicator of hysteria” in Moscow. Respected Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya called the latest move an “unmistakable ultimatum” from Russia to Ukraine and the West that if they do not act appropriately, Russia will mobilize its entire armed forces for the war.
Indeed, there were calls from certain circles in Russia for a complete military build-up of Russian forces. At present, Vladimir Putin describes the invasion as a “special military operation”.
In a separate development, the Russian State Duma supported the imposition of long prison sentences for crimes committed during the military build-up or combat, including absence without leave, desertion, and voluntary surrender.
photo released, Getty Images
Erdogan with Putin in a photo taken Saturday, as the Turkish president tried to mediate as an ally of both Russia and Ukraine
In an indication that the Kremlin is preparing to support what he described as referendums, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia had wanted from the beginning of the process that the decision be for the population: “The whole current situation confirms that they want to be the deciders of their own destiny.”
This change in mood comes just hours following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Russian president is looking for a way out of the war. “In fact, he showed me his readiness to end this war as soon as possible,” Erdogan said in an interview with PBS.
He also said that soon 200 “hostages” would be exchanged between the two sides. He did not provide further details regarding who would be included in this prisoner exchange.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday night that “the occupiers are in a state of panic.”
