Four regions of Ukraine decide to vote in referendums to join Russia
Four regions of the Russian-occupied Ukraine have decided to join Russia in a referendum. Pro-Russian pro-independence activists have decided to hold referendums in eastern Ukraine's Donbass cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as in the port cities of Kherson and Zaporizhia. Referendums will be held in the four regions from Friday (September 23) to Tuesday (September 27) on whether to join Russia. Al Jazeera news.
Officials appointed by Russia in the Kherson region said in a statement on Tuesday (September 20) that they have decided to hold a referendum on joining Kherson with Russia. Meanwhile, the speaker of the Russian parliament said that if the people of Kherson voted to join Russia, he would support it.
The Russian news agency Tass said that before the start of the military operation in Ukraine on February 24 of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the two regions of Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent states. Meanwhile, a referendum is being organized by the Luhansk People's Republic to join Russia.
One of Russian President Putin's senior security officials said he also supports proposals by Moscow-backed separatists to join Russia. This would pave the way for large parts of Ukraine to secede from Ukraine. Pressure will also increase on the West, which supports Kiev.
In this context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, 'Whether or not a referendum to join Russia will be held is the decision of the people of the region. From the beginning, we have been saying that the people of those areas have to decide their own fate.'
The plan of these four regions occupied by Russia in Ukraine has emerged as a new challenge for the Western countries. It is feared that this decision of the regions may increase the intensity of the conflict in Ukraine many times. Ukraine and its Western allies have already condemned the referendum plan.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, 'Let Russia do whatever they want. Ukraine has the right to liberate its territories and we will liberate them no matter what Russia says.'
The Russia-Ukraine war that started in February this year has dragged on for seven months. In this fight, Russian troops have taken control of one-fifth of the territory of Ukraine. However, recently, the Ukrainian army has launched a counterattack. Russian troops have lost control of some areas in the northeastern part of the country to Ukrainian troops.
In this situation, Putin is now going to enter the next phase of the war. Meanwhile, separatist leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics agreed to plans for a referendum on joining Russia on Monday. The four referendum-decided regions make up about 15 percent of Ukraine's total territory, roughly the size of Hungary.
