News

photo source: unian.net

Posted by: Eliza Mihalache

News / International

08 Aug. 2022 / 17:10

The first referendum on joining Russia, announced by Moscow-appointed authorities in Zaporozhye

The authorities appointed by Moscow in the Ukrainian region of Zaporozhye, partially occupied by the Russian army, announced on Monday the official launch of preparations for the referendum on the accession of this region to the Russian Federation, informs AFP, according to Agerpres.

“I signed an order so that the Central Electoral Commission starts working on organizing a referendum on the accession of the Zaporizhia region to Russia,” said Evgheni Balitski, the head of the civil and military administration created in the territories of this southern region, controlled by Russian forces.

He made these claims during a forum organized in Melitopol by a local pro-Russian movement called ‘We are together with Russia’, according to a video broadcast on Balitski’s official Telegram account.

In mid-July, Evgheni Baliţki announced that he wanted to organize such a referendum at the beginning of autumn this year.

The launch of official preparations for the referendum comes at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that peace negotiations with Russia would be impossible if such referendums were held in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine.

“We are not the ones organizing the referendum, the residents of these regions have such projects,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

“Zelensky must ask his citizens why many of them do not want to live in his country,” Peskov added.

Since the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine on February 24, the Russian army has conquered a large part of two southern regions, Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Show Comments