The four Ukraine regions are controlled by Russian and Pra-Moscow-Sexang troops preparing to hold a referendum to join Russia on Friday. Russia’s plan to annex about 15% of Ukraine through a referendum came after the leaders installed by Russia in the provinces of Luhanansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia announced plans for votes that were expected to be held from Friday to Tuesday. The referendum has been supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin and came after nearly seven months of war, and the defeat of the critical battlefield suffered by Moscow in the northeast Ukraine this month.
Here are 10 top points:
1) While the West has criticized this step to become a massive violation of international law that can further enhance the ongoing war, Russia is of the opinion that it is an opportunity for people in the region to express their views.
From the beginning of the operation … We said that people from their respective regions had to decide their fate, and all the current situations confirmed that they wanted to be the master of their fate,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
2) Ukraine accuses Russia of intending to frame the results of the referendum as a sign of popular support, and then use it as a pretext for annexation, a step, he said, is similar to the takeover of Crimea in 2014.
3) Ukraine and its allies have explained that they will not recognize the results.
4) In this month’s counterattack, Ukraine regained the large territory, almost seven months after Russia invaded the country and launched a war that had killed thousands and evacuated millions of people.
5) It is said that Ukraine’s victory has recently encouraged pro-Moscow authority to fight for voting even when the referendum has been discussed for months now.
6) In dealing with a significant defeat in Ukraine, Putin this week announced a military design to ask 300,000 troops to fight in Ukraine, in what seems to be an effort to regain excellence in conflict.
7) By including four regions to Russia, Moscow can justify the escalation of the military as needed to maintain its territory, the Reuters news agency said.
8) The Russian President on Wednesday said Moscow would “use all the ways we have” to protect himself, a clear reference for nuclear weapons. “This is not a cliff,” he said.
Encouragement to Russia is a crime that allows you to use all self -strength,” Dmitry Medvedev, who served as President of Russia from 2008 to 2012, said in a post in Telegram on Tuesday.This is why this referendum is so feared in Kyiv and the West.”
9) Referendum has been criticized by world leaders including US President Joe Biden, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and French President Emmanuel Macron, among others.
False Referenda” is “illegal and invalid,” the North Atlantic or NATO Treaty Organization – Inter -Government Military Alliance between 30 Member States – said Thursday.
10) Referendum in Crimea in 2014, internationally criticized as cheating, has an official 97% result that supports formal anexation.