Occupied parts of Ukraine vote on joining Russia in ‘sham’ referendums

CNN.com ^ | September 23, 2022 | Tim Lister, Julia Kesaieva, Olga Voitovych and Simone McCarthy

[Timber Rattler]

Four Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are expected on Friday to begin voting in referendums on joining Russia, in a move that raises the stakes of Moscow’s invasion seven months after fighting began.

The referendums, which are illegal under international law, could pave the way for Russian annexation of the areas, allowing Moscow to frame the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive as an attack on Russia itself.

Such a move could provide Moscow with a pretext to escalate its faltering war, which has seen Kyiv regain thousands of square miles of territory this month.

In an address Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the specter of nuclear weapons in his address, saying he would use “all the means at our disposal,” if he deemed the “territorial integrity” of Russia to be jeopardized.

The votes, which are expected to take place over five days, were called by pro-Russian officials in the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and in Russian-held parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, with questions on the ballot varying slightly depending on the region. Together the four regions make up around 18% of Ukraine’s territory.

The plans, which are being held under military occupation and effectively carried out at gunpoint, have been strongly condemned by both the government of Ukraine and its allies in the West as “a sham.” The European Union has said it won’t recognize the results and has indicated it is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia.

Putin backed the referendums in an address to the nation on Wednesday.

[lodi90]

The Karelian issue will certainly be on the table when Russia collapses again.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

you and cnn make lovely propaganda together.
this how you roll TROLL.

[kiryandil]

Your "Poofy-Haired Piano Puppet in 1999 New York" meme really burned the neocon bacon yesterday.

I reposted it and got attacked by 3 or 4 of the neokoolaid drinkers.

Suddenly, the neoconneds love FecesBuch factcheckers.

[lodi90]

“Voting” under the barrel of a gun. Seems to be the fascist Russian way.

Mobile “referendum”. It is always more convenient to vote when two soldiers with machine guns are knocking at your apartment. Zaporizhzhia region.

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1573333979490824192

[SunkenCiv]

Occupied parts of Ukraine vote on joining Russia in sham 'referendums'

FI4CNN.

[Travis McGee]

I'm amazed that a few so-called "conservatives" on FR support the same clique that were behind the Biden-Ukraine corruption, the 2014 Maidan Coup, Trump's bogus impeachment, etc etc, are blindly following the same clique into WW3 with Russia.

It looks like the endless Soros money has even reached down to the FR Bot level.

[kiryandil]

The ten-day forecast for Charing Cross Station, London calls for extra sweaters...

Winter is coming.

[Long Jon No Silver]

Nato gave a bunch of mohommedan quislings their own country using illegal means to do it.

[JJBookman]

“Sham”? Look no further than the sham presidential election of 2020 if you want to see a “sham” election.

[familyop]

Flick Lives wrote:
"How’d our intervention in Iraq and Libya work out?"

Our goals are different from the goals of rulers in countries like Russia, so we don't measure success by whether or not we've conquered nations, kept them and subjected them to slavery for our enrichment.

We aren't being nuked by a Middle East that eventually would have looked more like the Soviet Union, and we're satisfied with that. An added benefit for the people in the Middle East is that in general, their lives are a little better than they otherwise would have been.

Don't cry for Qaddafi Duck. He was a commie bad boy trying to rile up the whole Middle East and evil commie imperialist nations against us.

[familyop]

Ukraine 'referendums': Soldiers go door-to-door for votes in polls"
Radio New Zealand
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/475407/ukraine-referendums-soldiers-go-door-to-door-for-votes-in-polls