By Le Figaro
Posted 2 hours ago, updated 1 hour ago
Russia has started allowing the population of the Ukrainian territories it occupies to vote. Portal.
Russia has begun getting the people of the Ukrainian territories it occupies to vote in a referendum dubbed a “simulacrum” by the West. The international press describes attempts by Russian troops to intimidate voters.
Russia began voting residents of eastern Ukraine on Friday, September 23, as part of its “referendums” on the annexation of regions it controls in whole or in part. Immediately condemned polls in Kyiv and Washington, which promised a “rapid and strict” response. Voting, which began at 8 a.m. local time, will end on September 27 in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (east) and in the Russian-held areas of the Kherson and Zaporizh regions (south). Hundreds of polling stations should be opened in the four territories and more in Russia for displaced people to vote.
And while the authorities in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other cities organized demonstrations in support of the votes with many flags and slogans, the reactions of the West unanimously castigated this referendum, which was seen as a stage and respected no democratic rule. In a joint statement, the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Japan and the UK) “called on all countries to unequivocally reject these sham referendums”.
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For the G7, “these sham referenda (…) have neither legal effect nor legitimacy, as evidenced by Russia’s hasty organizational methods, which in no way respect democratic standards, and its blatant intimidation of the local population”. “These referendums in areas forcibly placed under temporary Russian control do not in any way constitute a legitimate expression of the will of the Ukrainian people, who have consistently opposed Russian efforts to forcibly change borders,” they added, condemning the leaders of the G7.
“A soldier entered holding a sheet of paper”
And for a good reason. Since Friday, military surveillance of the election has been reported by many international media outlets in places where Russia-linked authorities have opened the door to journalists. The BBC has found that in some of the occupied territories, Russian soldiers are going door to door to collect votes from residents. “A soldier entered, sheet in hand: he asked us to answer aloud yes or no to the referendum question, then he registered our voice and left,” a woman from the city told BBC Enerhodar (a town on the banks of the Dnieper, near the Zaporiya nuclear power plant). She adds: “I was paralyzed, the sight of armed soldiers filled me with animal fear”.
In Kherson, in the south of the city also occupied by Russians, soldiers occupied a polling station and escorted residents to the ballot box to collect their votes. Russian state media explain that in these areas, however, it is not always possible to call the population to the polling stations and that the army’s passage to their homes is necessary for security reasons.
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In Meliotopol, another testimony collected by the BBC reports that when voting at home, the soldiers counted not one vote per person but one vote per household.
Other sources report a total lack of communication surrounding the vote, which is being promoted in the streets of Kherson by no poster or major press campaign.
SEE ALSO – “Everything manipulated”: Kyiv residents reject annexation referendums