Russia again postponed the holding of “referendums” in the occupied territories
Carrying out the structure of Russia, the so-called “referendums” in the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkov, naturally, presumably, until the end of autumn. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that if they were held, Kyiv would refuse any negotiations with Moscow. In turn, the US State Department said that the results of the relevant procedures would be falsified, since polls show that Ukrainians would prefer not to join Russia in a free referendum.
Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol Petr Andryuko declaredthat the servicemen were instructed to complete the administrative procedure of the Donetsk region until September 15. He added that the data-collection occupiers, so far without success, have set up four election commissions. By data Ukrainian military intelligence, almost destroyed Mariupol, do not plan to accept the capture in the so-called “will to enter Russia.”
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that they plan to hold “referendums” primarily in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye economies on September 11 – the day of voting in the Russian Federation.
“The military intelligence of Ukraine is now clearly monitoring all the normal processes there. Today we can say with confidence that representatives of election headquarters, operational headquarters, composition of the lists of constituencies, election commissions. That is, all the processes are taking place, they require preparation for the “referendum”,” said Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The Meduza publication, citing its own sources, reported that the curator of the so-called “referendums”, albeit unofficially, is the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko. It was for this purpose that he made a trip to the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“Holding the so-called referenda is very important for Putin, because he needs to follow the escalation of this war. Participation in the preparation of the so-called referendums of such a high-ranking representative of the Kremlin as Kiriyenko, of course, the Russian president should say: “Look what success we have achieved in Ukraine. This is our victory!” — said political scientist Jason Smart (Jason Smart).
A similar opinion is shared by Nikolay Beleskov from the Ukrainian Aesthetic Research Institute:
“In order to hold referendums on the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk economies, it is necessary to first completely capture the Donetsk region. Based on the dynamics of the main joint actions, we see that there are no great successes in the Russian Federation. A similar situation is in the Kharkiv region. Regarding the south, in the conditions of the beginning of the Ukrainian offensive in the Kherson region, it is very difficult to talk about some kind of pseudo-referenda, since the situation is very unstable for Russia. So there can be no threat to pseudo-expression in Russia.”
The US State Department is overseeing Russia’s preparations for significant bogus referendums and intends to continue to support assistance to Kyiv.
“The US also knows that the Ukrainian people do not want to hold these referendums, do not want a partial part of Russia. We also know that Russia will use disinformation to justify holding these referendums. The US will do everything possible to disclose information to talk about the opening, about the disinformation that we see from Russia, and the US will support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, ”said Andrea Kalan, spokesman for the Voice of America Russian Service of the State Department. .
President Zelensky has repeatedly stated that holding such “referendums” in the occupied territories is impossible for any negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
“Let’s say Russia comes out and says, ‘We’ve officially bought it all and secured 20% of Ukraine’s territory.’ This will be an unprecedented event in the history of world politics since 1945, when one member of the UN Security Council launched an investigation into another sovereign development of the gradual coverage of parts of the territory, Nikolai Beleskov believes. “Not everyone in Russia shows up during referendums, because there is a possibility that they will burn all the bridges and discredit those in the West who are talking about any agreements with Moscow.”
“The Russian government is translating that these referendums are about an important negotiating process. At the same time, I think the constant postponement of these referendums is developing that the Kremlin is not sure how this will affect their ability to agree on the history of this war, ”says Jason Smart.
According to him, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Russian president to explain the lack of victory in the war, as well as to justify it. Holding “referenda” meetings would be at least some achievement for Putin in a circle.