Russia plans to soon implement a plan in Ukraine that could be summarized with the expression Crimea Method: as in the case of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, which was militarily occupied and later annexed by Vladimir Putin’s country through an accession referendum that did not recognized by the international community and marked by allegations of fraud, the Kremlin wants to hold votes in occupied territories in the neighboring country so that they become part of the Russian Federation within the next few weeks.
Sources interviewed by Bloomberg reported that referendums on accession to Russia should be held by September 15 in Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, and in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine.
In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists had already sparked a military conflict by declaring two independent republics in 2014, Luhansk (now fully occupied) and Donetsk (half of the region under Russian control, including the capital of the oblast).
The regions of Kherson (now completely occupied) and Zaporizhzhia (partially occupied; the capital of the oblast is still under the control of the Ukrainians) were invaded after the war started by Moscow in February of this year.
In the occupied territories, the Kremlin follows the same pattern to justify annexations: in addition to the argument of protecting “ethnic Russians”, the main reason given for invading Ukraine, Russia establishes local occupation authorities loyal to Moscow, imposes the ruble as currency. It distributes Russian passports en masse, forces schools to follow the Russian curriculum, and does a lot of propaganda – billboards with the message “We are with Russia” have become commonplace in the occupied regions.
Last Monday (8), the leader of the pro-Russian administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, signed a decree to start the process of annexation by Russia.
“I am signing the order for the central electoral committee to start preparations for holding a referendum on the reunification of the Zaporizhzhia region with the Russian Federation,” Balitsky declared.
Last week, Ukraine’s Security Service said it had intercepted Russian documents regarding the annexation referendum to be held in Kherson.
According to a statement from the security and intelligence agency, a pro-Kremlin organization called Volunteers for Russia will organize the process.
“Under the supervision of the Russian special services, its members are expected to spread out across the region and simulate that there is support from local residents for the occupiers, as well as help film stories staged for Russian TV,” the Security Service said.
“To this end, the ‘activists’ plan to organize more than 140 simultaneous pro-Russian pickets, 30 of which will be held at the regional center [de Kherson]. Kremlin-controlled media bodies and bloggers, who are being transferred en masse to the region, will cover the campaign,” the agency added, which also reported that the local administration was instructed by Moscow to create 20 “election commissions” led by local collaborators. .
The Ukrainian Security Service pointed out, however, that Russia’s own collaborators report “that the people of Kherson do not accept the idea of ’joining’ Russia, they actively resist and await the release of the aggressors”. Ukraine is planning a counteroffensive to regain control of the region.
Last week, the Russian-backed occupation authorities in Kherson said that areas of the Mykolaiv oblast also occupied by the Russians must be incorporated into the region – in this way, they can also be included in the Moscow annexation referendum.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said holding such referendums would make any peace talks with Russia impossible.
“Our country’s position remains what it has always been. We will not give up anything that is ours”, declared Zelensky. “If the occupiers go ahead with the pseudo-referendums, they will close to themselves any chance of talking to Ukraine and the free world, which the Russian side will clearly need at some point.”
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