The script was already written. Seven months after the start of the war, the pro-Russian authorities of the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk on Tuesday claimed the victory of the “yes” in favor of annexation by Russia, during the “referendums” of annexation. organized by Moscow and denounced by kyiv and its Western supporters. These votes concern more than 20% of the surface of Ukraine.
The next step is for the Russian Parliament, which is supposed to vote in the coming days on a treaty formalizing the integration of the four regions into Russian territory. In the wake of this parliamentary process, President Vladimir Putin could deliver a speech as early as September 30 to formally announce the annexation of Ukrainian territories, according to Russian agencies.
No negotiation, warns Zelensky
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Tuesday evening in a video posted on Telegram that Ukraine would act “to defend its people”. “We will act to protect our people: both in the Kherson region, in the Zaporizhia region, in the Donbass, and also in the currently occupied areas of the Kharkiv region and in Crimea,” Zelensky said in his first reaction. after the announcement of the results by the pro-Russian authorities.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday in a recorded message to the UN Security Council, he said kyiv could not hold talks with Moscow after these “pseudo-referendums”. “Russia’s recognition of ‘pseudo-referendums’ as ‘normal’, the implementation of the same scenario as in Crimea and yet another attempt to annex part of Ukrainian territory means that we have no not to discuss with the current Russian president,” he said.
“Devilish action,” says Blinken
The electoral commission of the Zaporizhia region said that 93.11% of voters had voted for the annexation to Russia, after the counting of 100% of the ballots. In the Kherson region, the pro-Moscow occupation administration reported that 87.05% of voters voted “yes” after counting all the ballots. Shortly after, that of Lugansk also announced the victory of the yes. In the evening, the pro-Russian authorities of the Donetsk region did the same. “We are reuniting with our great fatherland, with great Russia,” reacted the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin.
The allies of Ukraine have denounced these elections, organized in an emergency in the face of the progress of the forces of kyiv. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs reiterated Tuesday during a Security Council meeting on these annexation “referendums”, the UN’s support for “the territorial integrity of Ukraine” in its “recognized borders”.
The G7 has vowed to “never recognize” the results and Washington has promised a “severe” response through economic sanctions. The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, repeated that the United States and its allies would retaliate with new and “severe” sanctions against Russia, in the face of these annexations which he described as “diabolical action”.
Through the voice of its ambassador to the UN, China called for respect for “the territorial integrity of all countries”.
Nuclear threat
Claiming its control over these new territories, Moscow again threatened on Tuesday to use nuclear weapons. “Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons if necessary,” said former president and number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.
A position confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who recalled Russian military doctrine, which provides for the possibility of such strikes in the event of an attack against Russian territory. In the evening, the Pentagon affirmed that Washington “takes these threats seriously”, without however “adjusting its nuclear position at this time”.