Russian-installed officials in occupied regions of Ukraine claimed that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly voted in favour of joining Russia in the so-called referendums that Kyiv and the West denounced as a sham. The votes had happened over five days in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and to the south Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Together they make up 15 per cent of Ukrainian territory.
Luhansk authorities said 98.4 per cent of people there had voted to join Russia. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian-appointed official put the figure at 93.1 per cent. In Kherson, the head of the voting committee put the “yes” vote at above 87 per cent. Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said 99.2 per cent of participants in the region had voted to join Russia. All ballots have reportedly been counted.
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Ukraine has repeatedly warned that Russian annexation of territories would destroy any chance of peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council that Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territory will mean “there is nothing to talk about with this president of Russia”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to use the referendums to create a legal pretext for Russia to annex the four regions. He could then portray any Ukrainian attempt to recapture them as an attack on Russia itself. Putin has also said that he was willing to use nuclear weapons to defend the “territorial integrity” of Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the European Union to impose further economic sanctions on Russia to punish it for staging the votes.
Putin said on state TV on Tuesday that the votes were designed to protect people from what he calls the persecution of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers by Ukraine, something the Kyiv government has denied.
“Saving people in all the territories where this referendum is being held is at the top of our minds and the focus of attention of our entire society and country,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
