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Kyiv Slams Results Of 'Sham' Vote In Russia-Occupied Lands As 'Null And Worthless' [1]

['Current Time', "Rfe Rl'S Russian Service"]

Date: 2022-09

Kyiv said on September 28 that Moscow-orchestrated votes on becoming part of Russia held in four Ukrainian regions partially controlled by Moscow were "null and worthless," and called on the West to "significantly" increase its military aid to Ukraine.

Russian-backed officials had announced the final results earlier, saying voters had "overwhelmingly" supported becoming part of Russia. Two Moscow-appointed regional heads sent "requests" to join Russia shortly after

Referendums that the West and United Nations have called “sham” votes took place between September 23- and September 27 in the parts of the Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kherson regions that are under Moscow's military occupation. The territories account for about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory.

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The move has been dismissed by Ukraine, Western governments, and the United Nations because the vote is illegal under international law.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Russian-staged votes were "null and worthless" and urged its international partners to impose tough new sanctions on Moscow and provide Kyiv with more military aid.

"Ukraine will never agree to any ultimatums," the ministry said.

"Ukraine calls on the EU, NATO, and the Group of Seven to immediately and significantly increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing tough sanctions and significantly increase their military aid to Ukraine," it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 27 called the polls and the results "a farce" orchestrated under "the muzzle of a gun," while U.S. officials said Washington was preparing a new round of sanctions against Russia should it annex Ukrainian territory.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on September 28 slammed the "illegal annexation" votes and their "falsified" results.

"EU denounces holding of illegal 'referenda' and their falsified outcome," Borrell said on Twitter.

"This is another violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, amidst systematic abuses of human rights," he said.

The sham referendum was held amid claims by some local officials that voters have been threatened and coerced into voting. Election officials brought ballot boxes house-to-house in many cases accompanied by armed Russian forces.

In eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, 99.23 percent of those who came to the polls voted for its entry into Russia, prompting Moscow-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin to hail the result as "colossal."

In another eastern region, Luhansk, Russia-appointed election officials said the final result was 98.42 percent in favor of the annexation

After the announcement of the final results, the Moscow-backed administrator of the Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a request for the territory under his control to join Russia, citing alleged Ukrainian crimes and the threat of genocide as the reason.



"Taking into account the decision of the republic's population at the referendum, I am asking you to consider making the Luhansk People's Republic a subject of the Russian Federation," Pasechnik said in a statement.



The head of the Russian-controlled part of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, later followed suit.



"Our residents made a historic choice and decided to become part of the multinational population of the Russian Federation, in which all people are equal before each other and before the law," Saldo said in a statement published on social media.



The requests are seen as a prelude to Putin declaring their annexation in the coming days.



Valentina Matviyenko, the chairman of the Russian parliament's upper house, said Putin was scheduled to address the parliament about the referendums on September 30 and said lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on October 4 -- three days before Putin celebrates his 70th birthday.

In his nightly video address on September 27, Zelenskiy said that "the figures of the alleged results of the pseudo-referendum were drawn in advance."

He said every country in the world must now provide a clear signal against Russian annexation.

"In front of the eyes of the whole world, Russia is conducting an outright farce called a 'referendum' on the occupied territory of Ukraine," he said.

"People are forced to fill out some papers for a TV picture under the muzzles of machine guns."

In a video message earlier to the United Nations, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine would not be able to negotiate with Russia after the votes.

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 it clear that NATO Allies were unwavering in our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-defense."

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."

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. The vote count there also showed huge majorities in favor of joining Russia, according to RIA Novosti.

Observers viewed the outcome of the ballot as a foregone conclusion that follows the same pattern that Moscow applied in 2014 to annex the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in the wake of huge pro-Western street demonstrations that saw the country's Kremlin-friendly president ousted.

The United States and Albania will soon circulate a UN Security Council resolution that would condemn “the sham referenda,” call on all countries not to recognize any altered status to Ukraine, and demand an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the country, said U.S. envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, and TASS

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[1] Url: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-sham-referendums-russia-annexation/32055545.html

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