Russian-backed authorities in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine have reported that a huge majority of voters favor joining Russia as referendums concluded on Tuesday.
Referendums on joining Russia were held in the breakaway Donbas republics of Luhansk and Donetsk and in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. According to Russian-installed election officials, 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported joining Russia, 87% did in Kherson, 98% in Luhansk, and more than 99% in Donetsk.
The referendums have been denounced as “shams” by the West and the US, and NATO have said they will not recognize the territories as Russian. But Russian officials have made clear that they will consider the territories part of Russia and treat attacks on the areas as such.
Russian lawmakers have said they plan to move quickly to take steps to annex the Ukrainian territories once the results of the referendums are clear. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address Russia’s parliament on the referendums and annexation plans on Friday.
Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said legislation on absorbing the Ukrainian territories could be discussed on October 4.
“If they decide to join the Russian Federation, undoubtedly, we will support this. So far, I don’t see the need to hold any emergency sessions. I think that as early as October 4 we will be ready to consider [this issue] if everything is confirmed and all is well,” Matviyenko said, according to TASS.
Other Russian lawmakers have suggested annexation could come sooner, possibly as early as Friday. Either way, it’s clear Moscow is ready to absorb the territories, which will bring the war into a dangerous new phase as the US and NATO show no sign of backing down on supporting Ukrainian attacks on the regions. Russian officials have said the territories could potentially be defended with nuclear weapons.
Now Russians use their deep country to defend the frontier. I watched and listened to UNGA on Ukraine. The people of Russia cannot miss the fact that western barbarians want to break up their country.
I learned a new term listening to the spokespersons of all those nations; Zero sum hegemony.
There are about 170 million Russians with their backs against the wall of a deep nation that stretches from sea to shining sea. Many people around the world are watching colonial Euro-American barbarians who can’t give up stealing other people’s resources.
I do feel a little sorry for the Russians, we have them painted as “warlike” while we as a country have attacked at one time or another most of the nations on this planet and have been at some kind of war for 95% of our history. Still borders are borders and they can chose to lose their entire army in the coming months in Ukraine or pull it back behind their borders and hope we don’t come after them. I for one wouldn’t support the Ukrainians going after agreed upon Russian territory.
Have you got the right casualty figures? It is the Ukrainians who are bleeding badly NOW in trying to take Kherson. Army Commanders of the frontline confirm “massive losses” But Zelensky refuses to give figures except to say “casually” that “we are losing about 50 soldiers a day” According to frontline commanders in the Ukraine the actual figure is about 3 times higher. Who is lying? So I do not think Russia will lose their entire Army BUT Ukraine might.
“UNGA” is what? United Nations General Asssembly?
Yes, I had to look it up. UNGA
Got to admire the few percent that voted against. That took courage I bet.
All of the regions occupied by Russia have long sought to distance themselves from Kyev. For some, this referendum has been a Hobson’s Choice. But for many, I suspect the attitude is “Go with the one you’re with.”
The prospect of a cold winter might also have influenced the vote.
But I’m not convinced there has been any widespread coercion.
Every poll in these provinces have shown that a substantial majority of their residents are of Russian ancestry and speak Russian first. That does not mean that they all want to join Russia. However, it means that Ukrainian governments must be very careful in how they treat those regions which provide most coal, oil, and heavy industrial production. Without them Ukraine becomes an agro-state.
The first Ukrainian government after the 2014 coup made the incredible blunder of stopping Russian language teaching in elementary schools. That has not been forgotten.
The Kiev government blundered by not seeking peace, but bending to the U.S./NATO. Peace was within reach in April, 2022, at least until Boris showed up with a message from the exceptional nation.
“All of the regions occupied by Russia”? What regions? If you mean the independent Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk they were not occupied by Russia. Rather they have been shelled by the military of Ukraine since 2014 during which time over 14,000 residents including children of the two Republics were killed.
I’m speaking of 4 regions that can roughly be described as Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. All of them have long sought to distance themselves from Kyev for decades. The Donbass actually seceded, and I agree that Kyev has been shelling that area since 2014.
I really wish the Russians keep their resolve to annex these parts of Ukraine which have a majority of Russians living there. After which I hope those who object to being Russian are permitted to leave safely. Then if Ukraine attacks they can call the US bluff and use nukes to protect their lands. I hope they do and kick the asses of the US, UK, France Germany and the whole EU.
America will not come to their aid as long as the war stays in Europe and does not explode into the USA.
No area of Ukraine has majority Russians except for Crimea. Ukraine overall is 17% Russian and 77.5% Ukrainian with Crimea 65% Russian, Donetsk and Luhansk are about 39% Russian and 58% Ukrainian the rest of the oblasts are about 5 to 10% Russian. And many Russian citizens of Ukraine are against Putin’s invasion.
Very believable comment. Your paycheck is on its way.
I agree with you with those figures. The World and Ukraine National demographics agree with you. Unfortunately, The Kremlin and its supporters in this blog don’t. They have their sham numbers and data.
Read David Stockman post.
Is that another blogger posting Kremlin BS figures here? No, thanks.
What about the Ukrainians that want to stay and don’t want to live under Russian control? Should they move West? Why don’t the Russian separatists more away? They can walk over across the border into Russia.
I got bad news for you. The Russian shit Army will not get any better in Ukraine and the BS referendum won’t change anything.
How can anyone take seriously a referendum where 96% of the people in the occupied territories are supposed to have voted for annexation by Russia? In the USA 40% of Alaskans and about a third of Hawaiians voted against statehood in the 1950’s. How would any of us vote if soldiers from the occupying power knocked on our door to collect our ballot?
I expect that neither China nor India will recognize the results of these sham referendums.
The real referendum is being held in Russia where hundreds of thousands of draft age men are leaving the country rather than be drafted into Putin’s Dark Legion. Young Russians don’t want to fight in Putin’s war. It is not their war.
And this might have been averted if Minsk II had been followed more seriously by Kerenski et al.
Yes, if only Russia would’ve de-militarized the area as agreed upon.
But it’s always easier to blame the underdog.
All I can say is :
Give the people what they want.
Hey, if Texas ever votes to secede from the union—and every so often they threaten to—let ‘em go.
Now a sizable Russian army moves in to protect the new border and use big bombs if they have to.
I thought they have been using the Big bombs already and that they had a sizable force already, especially after the hundreds of thousands Ukraine casualties and loss of all western equipment.
I wonder what happened.
Your trolling is 3rd grade at best. But I’ll await for your comment when Kiev is in ashes.
Your response is even lesser. Resorting to insults and hatred.
Another out of the closet Ukrainian / American hater.
You know you can always join the Russian Army and help accelerate the pulverization of Kyiv.
You keep reaching for straws. Use a stepladder next time. Also a nice touch on the parasitic attachment “Ukrainian/American”. Last time I saw this was for Israel.
And America will react how? So it goes.
“Russian officials have said the territories could potentially be defended with nuclear weapons.”
No, that is not what they said. Stop repeating BS. Every Russian official has only repeated the existing Russian nuclear doctrine: that only if there is a nuclear attack on Russia or the Russian state’s existence is threatened are nukes to be used. Russia will not use nukes in Ukraine because there is zero chance of Ukraine threatening the existence of Russia or even of seriously threatening the existence of the four new territories.
How many times do I have to repeat that before morons get it? Apparently quite a few more times. After all, morons gotta moron.
I’m not so sure about that bud. Russians play chess. They can see 3 maybe 4 steps ahead. They know a war between Russia and America is a war nobody will win. So Russia is anticipating war with America and their nukes are ready.
Point stands. Russia will not use nukes until the US does. They certainly won’t use them just to deal with Ukraine.
No, it’s the opposite. This gives Russia legal right to fight an actual war, which they didn’t have before when the Kiev regime was murdering people in Donbass every single day for seven years, with primarily the Azov Battalion shelling civilians. Killing 14,000 and making more than 100,000 homeless, with globalist media laughing and applauding.
Now it’s an attack not just on the Russian people but on Russian land, and so Russia can wage a real war. Until now almost all ground fighting has been done by the Donbass militias, supported by Russian artillery. With the Russian army brought in, the war will end.
Especially now that the actor Zelensky has been dumb enough to waste the Western-trained soldiers with their Western-bought equipment on “attack on all fronts!” like in a movie throughout September, against the advice of General Zalarsky. 20,000 dead, winning only some land with no industries and no strategic value, while Russia and its allies are taking Bakhmut, the lynchpin of Kiev’s occupation of western Donbass. Now that the coup regime will attack Russian territory, Russia can mobilize to wipe them out.
Every single day for seven years? You gotta source for that?
Weird. I’ve asked several people for sources for this claim and not one person has provided one.
all four liberated regions voted to join Russia. These four regions will become part of Russia.
Donetsk: 99%
Lugansk: 98%
Zaporozhie: 93%
Kherson: 87%