Russian-occupied Ukraine: Referendum to join Russia.

 Photo: Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists or Russian troops, there were calls for referendums. This election has been set up to attach Ukraine’s Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions onto Russia.

The officials installed by Moscow announced Tuesday in the Kherson region that they will hold a vote for people to decide whether or not they want to join Kherson with Russia. In the voice of the Kherson separatists’ leaders, the Speaker of the Russian parliament addressed the United Nations. “If they’ll vote to join Russia, then I’ll also support for this,”he stated.

A referendum is planned in Russia-controlled territories of Ukraine aimed at joining Russia. However, RIA Novosti said that the head of State, Vladimir Putin, declared DPR and LPR as separate republics ahead of the start of “military action” in Ukraine on February 24th. Between Sept. 23-27, separatist Luhansk People’s Republic holds referendum on joining Russian Federation. Russia-backed rebels are holding one up.

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top national security advisers agreed with the pro-Moscow rebel proposals for joining Russia. This would open the door for major portions of Ukrainian territories to break away as independent states in one form or another. The escalation could also intensify pressure on the West, which is backing Kyiv.

Conversely, about the initiative of the separation leader for referendum — Lavrov has announced: “The issue of holding a referendum on joining Russia rests with the people,” — since time immemorial, we used tell such things: The future of these regions should be decided by themselves.

There seems to be no end in sight to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that is now nearly seven months old. It is February 24th now, and Putin has ordered to begin the military operation against Ukraine. But Russia calls it a “special military operation”. Russia has captured 1/5th of Ukraine in 7 months of war. Despite this, the Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive. The Russians were pushed out of some sections of the NE area. Now Putin has entered his “next” war stage. On the other hand, the head of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” Denis Pushilin announced on Monday to hold a referendum on uniting with Russia.

Dmitri Medvedev was the president of Russia for eight years before Putin took over for what he’s claimed would be his last term. He’s now Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council. Referendums in areas such as Kherson and Luhansk and Donetsk would turn Russia’s historical clock back 300 years, he told the Kremlin-funded TV channel RT. And after the referendum these regions are to join Russia. Thus this would open up additional possibilities for the Kremlin to preserve its territory.

He also stated that changes were needed in the constitution of the country (which he also mentioned earlier) as much as it was required in the constitutions of other republics and states. And after that, no Russian president or any high-ranking official has any power to modify that resolution. He stressed the referendum’s significance in shielding the residents of both Donbass and other Donetsk-Luhansk free territories.

If Putin took such an action, he would likely spark a direct military showdown with the US and its Western partners. In early March, US President Joe Biden said if Russia invaded NATO it would result in World War III. Neither Biden nor the NATO leaders have stated earlier they would be willing to fight Russian boots on the ground.

But Putin and his top officials say the West is already at war with them in Ukraine. They’re sending them advanced arms and intelligence and military training.

Last Friday, Putin denied Ukraine’s counteroffensive. “It’s really a fight for defensive resistance in Ukraine,” he says. This war is about preventing the Western Plot against Russia.

In the meantime, Ukraine says it plans to keep fighting until all Russian forces are withdrawn from its territory. They will never be under Russian domination of its land. Kiev is asking Western powers for heavier weapons to fight off Russia’s invasion.

But there isn’t much information on what this referendum, called by the separatists, will look like in this conflict. The Russian military and its proxy forces now control 2/3 (some estimates put this number at 1/2) or more of the land in Donetsk. Additionally, Ukraine’s Armed Forces have launched an offensive in order to free Luhansk. But in this case they captured the entire Luhansk oblast in the first few months of the war. 

2021_07_31_the_russian_war_on_humanitarian_corridors_in_don Last week, at the time of writing (Monday), there were reports that the Ukrainian military had launched a successful counter-offensive, taking back a major village in the Lugansk region. The larger part of Donetsk remains controlled by Ukrainian forces. Moreover, besides this the Ukrainian military has gotten back some territory of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya.