Ukraine: annexation referendums begin, kyiv claims new military advances
From September 23 to 27, in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, referendums, strongly criticized by the international community, are organized.
REUTERS - ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO
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Referendums for Russia's annexation of conquered Ukrainian territories began on Friday as kyiv announces new territorial gains and partial mobilization in Russia continues.
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Described as "
simulacra
" by the Ukrainian and Western authorities, these referendums are an escalation in the conflict in Ukraine.
This Friday, the first day of the vote which should last until Sunday, Russian television broadcast images of voters going to the polls on a loop.
And in Russia, rallies were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg in support of the referendums, according to footage from Russian television.
In these images, several hundred people can be seen displaying the letter "Z" and other symbols of the war in Ukraine.
“
For freedom
”, “
the beginning of a new common history
”, “
a historic moment
”, launched leaders of Russian political parties present.
A boy wearing a T-shirt with the letter 'Z', the tactical insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, and holding a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) at the entrance to the Donetsk Embassy in Moscow September 23, 2022 AFP - ALEXANDER NEMENOV
For three days, hundreds of polling stations were installed in the four Ukrainian regions concerned by the ballot announced urgently by the administrative occupation authorities in the face of Ukrainian advances.
Ukrainian advance
On the ground, the fighting is still raging.
kyiv, for its part, announced new territorial gains, helped by Western arms deliveries.
Authorities said they recaptured Yatskivka on
the eastern bank of the Oskil River
in the Donetsk region and advanced south to Bakhmut, an eastern town Russia has been trying to take for months.
“
The situation in the north (of Donetsk) is extremely difficult
,” Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin admitted on Thursday evening.
In the Lugansk region, also affected by an annexation referendum, Andrei Marotchko, representing the pro-Russian military, reported Ukrainian bombardments, denouncing that the Kiev forces "
want to do everything to derail the referendum
".
“
War crimes have been committed in Ukraine
”
And in the aftermath of the UN General Assembly, during which Russia's condemnations were strong, the accusations continue to flow.
Even China, Russia's closest partner, has called on Moscow to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity, without however going so far as to condemn the referendums.
Several hundred bodies were discovered buried in the forest, in Izium, after the departure of the Russian army.
AFP - SERGEY BOBOK
Also at the UN, a commission of inquiry has recognized that "
war crimes have been committed in Ukraine
", referring in particular to Russian bombardments of civilian areas, executions, acts of torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence.
In Izium, a city recently recaptured from the Russians, 436 corpses were exhumed from a forest near the city, 30 of which show "
signs of torture
", according to the governor of the Kharkiv region.
A “
lie
”, according to the Kremlin.
(With
AFP
)
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