While many Russians go into exile, the Kremlin wants to present the invaded regions as belonging to the motherland.
Correspondent in Moscow
The results, not surprisingly, of the referendums in the pro-Russian regions or recently “liberated” in Ukraine should immediately lead to their pure and simple annexation by Moscow. “A point of no return will soon be crossed”, said Sergei Axionov, the governor of Crimea, a territory also annexed in 2014 after a referendum not recognized by the international community, on Tuesday. “These territories will become full subjects of the Russian Federation. We will no longer conduct a special military operation there (official terminology to designate the invasion launched on February 24, editor’s note) but an anti-terrorist operation (as was the case in Chechnya). Now we will fight for our own land”added Mr. Axionov.
A vote under the bombs
Qualified as “masquerade» by Paris and “simulacra” by Ukraine, arousing disapproval as far away as Beijing and Ankara, the referendums took place over five days in four regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. Fraud and pressure were obvious during these elections organized in an emergency. For the first four days, electoral agents moved to voters’ homes, accompanied by soldiers. The polling stations, also placed under close surveillance, often did not have voting booths. On Tuesday, the pro-Russian authorities claimed victory in Zaporizhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk with 93%, 87%, 98% and 99% of “ouito annexation. In response, Volodymyr Zelensky promised that Ukraine “will act to defend his peoplein those regions, adding that talks with Moscow are now impossible.
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During these voting days, Ukrainian fire has redoubled on the pro-Russian Donbass, including in the center, Donetsk, where a bombardment near a market killed six people last Thursday. According to a pro-Russian source, Ukrainian bombardments took place on Tuesday, the last day of the vote, in Alchevsk, in “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LNR), forcing the electoral commissions to take refuge in shelters. “Ukrainian nationalists did everything to prevent this vote from taking place,” said the head of the LNR, Leonid Pasechnik, putting his ballot in the ballot box on Tuesday. “Russia is our mother”, confided for her part a young woman from Luhansk, Natacha Sliouzareva, whose husband and brother are currently at the front. Participation in the NRL was officially 90% Tuesday at noon, a few hours before the end of the ballot.
The wheel of history accelerated dramatically last week with Vladimir Putin’s announcement on 21 September of referendums and a “partial mobilization”, an initiative unprecedented since the Second World War. Such was Vladimir Putin’s reply to the dazzling counter-offensive of the Ukrainian forces carried out, in particular between Kharkiv and Izium, in recent weeks.
The end of a denial
Tuesday, September 20, the Duma voted amendments to the penal code reinforcing the penalties in the event of desertion. As of Wednesday, the first mobilization orders were received by the interested parties, summoned on the spot to the recruitment offices. A mobilization having no “partial” only in name and which was carried out in disorder, which led those close to those in power to concede “errors”. People mobilized without military experience – contrary to official assurances -, where too old, scenes of drinking and violence: the Russian internet has witnessed this chaos all these last days. Demonstrations against the call to arms have taken place in some 40 cities across the country, including in Dagestan, Caucasus, one of the regions that has paid the highest price for the war in Ukraine in terms of fallen men. at the forehead.
Those who on February 24 did not realize what was happening understood it on September 21
Lev Shlosberg, Russian dissident
More than 2,400 people have been arrested since the mobilization was announced. “Those who on February 24 did not realize what was happening understood it on September 21”, wrote opponent Lev Shlosberg on Twitter. In fact, many Russians who lived in denial about this war suddenly saw it intrude into their daily lives. A new wave of exodus swept over neighboring countries, such as Georgia, before they closed their borders, following the example of Finland and the Baltic countries. “We are not cannon fodder”, proclaim those who flee the mobilization. The Russian police, it distributes the summons in the street, the metro, among those arrested. There was also a rush on plane tickets, especially for Armenia. Many are the “mobilizable” to have been turned back before being able to embark. But Kazakhstan said on Tuesday that 98,000 Russians had already found refuge on its territory.
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After the referendums, the annexation of territories in Ukraine could be formally announced by Vladimir Putin on Friday. Just like that of Crimea, eight years ago, it should not be recognized by many people. The Kremlin has already announced that referendums will have “consequences” for the territories concerned, from the point of view of their security, according to the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who once again alluded on Tuesday to the possible use of nuclear weapons.
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