President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the creation of 20 military administrations in the territories of the former Luhansk region not controlled by Kyiv.

The corresponding document was published on the website of the Ukrainian leader.

Zelensky instructed the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the authorities controlled by Kyiv to take all necessary measures to form these structures.

Earlier, he signed a decree on the establishment of 15 military administrations in the settlements of the Kherson region, which are now protected by the RF Armed Forces.

In an interview with RT, Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, said that such Zelensky decrees should be taken as a refusal by the Kyiv regime to recognize the right of residents of the liberated territories to join the Russian Federation. 

According to the expert, just like after Crimea became part of Russia, the Kyiv regime began to create “parallel” power structures, which, in fact, are designed to remind of the former state affiliation of Donbass and the two southern regions.

“The military administrations of Ukraine in the liberated territories, as in the case of Crimea, will function only on paper and in the imagination of the Kyiv leadership.

The emergence of such virtual administrations is a statement by the Kyiv regime of its own helplessness,” Olenchenko said.

Pavel Feldman, associate professor of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, candidate of political sciences, shares his opinion.

As the expert explained, Zelensky’s decree “is aimed at maintaining the illusion of a political presence” of Kyiv in the territories not controlled by him.

“The idea of ​​forming 20 fake administrations is an informational occasion artificially created for Western countries to impose additional sanctions on Russia immediately after the announcement of the results of the people’s will,” Feldman emphasized in a RT comment.

"Terrorist Mind"

Recall that since September 23, referendums have been held in the liberated territories of Ukraine on the issue of joining Russia.

Voting should end on September 27th.

In an address to the citizens of Ukraine on September 22, Zelensky condemned the preparation of referendums and expressed gratitude to the West for refusing to recognize their legitimacy. 

Speaking on the same day at the general debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Zelensky called the referendums in the Donbass, in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions "fake", after which he once again promised to recapture the lost territories.

At the same time, as follows from his statement, the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly continue offensive operations.

  • Ukrainian troops

  • © General Staff ZSU

“And we have no other choice but to defend ourselves.

We are doing it.

We are pushing the aggressor beyond the internationally recognized border of the Ukrainian state,” Zelensky said.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, massive strikes by the allied forces are inflicted on Ukrainian troops.

So, in today's report of the military department of Russia it is said about the destruction of several hundred militants and a large amount of equipment.

The authorities of the liberated territories also did not report on the advance of the enemy and his successes on the line of contact.

Nevertheless, during the referendum days, the security situation in Donbass, Zaporozhye and the Kherson region remains tense.

In particular, Donetsk is under constant shelling.

The mayor of the city Alexei Kulemzin reports on his Telegram channel about the use of various shells by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the NATO caliber 155 mm.

The strikes are directed at residential areas and energy infrastructure facilities.

Since September 23, several civilians of the DPR have become victims of the armed formations of Ukraine.

The Luhansk People's Republic is also being shelled by nationalists.

According to the latest data from the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to War Crimes of Ukraine (JCCC), the Armed Forces of Ukraine used American multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) HIMARS to strike at the settlement of Nizhnyaya Duvanka in the Svatovsky district of the republic.

In the Kherson region, on the first day of the referendum, the wholesale market in Nova Kakhovka was under fire from the Ukrainian army.

According to preliminary data, the nationalists again used MLRS HIMARS.

  • Consequences of the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

  • RIA News

In addition to shelling, the Kyiv regime is trying to use saboteurs to intimidate civilians.

Since September 23, three groups of Ukrainian servicemen have been neutralized in the Kherson region.

One of them intended to carry out terrorist attacks on civilian objects to disrupt the referendum.

Two other DRGs were going to use caches that contained anti-tank guided missiles, grenade launchers, machine guns, machine guns, mines and hand grenades.

In the neighboring Zaporozhye region, a Ukrainian DRG was also detected and neutralized.

On September 23, the militants broke through the line of contact in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Pologi in two off-road vehicles.

However, as Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, said on the morning of September 24 in his Telegram channel, the DRG was liquidated. 

In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine again shelled Energodar, where the nuclear power plant is located, and in order to disrupt the referendum, Ukrainian troops tried to shell the polling station in the village of Balki, despite the fact that it is located next to the school.

“The Zelensky regime, which no longer hides its terrorist insides, immediately announced in its media that it had successfully entered the local school and the nearby polling station!

The desire to disrupt the referendum is more important than the lives of the civilian population, including children,” Rogov commented on the attempted shelling of the polling station by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

According to the authorities of the four liberated territories, they are making every effort to ensure that people can express their point of view on the issue of joining Russia.

To this end, traveling groups are actively working, allowing people not to put themselves at risk, getting to the nearest polling stations.

In addition, residents of the liberated territories can take part in the referendum while in the Russian regions.

For example, polling stations for residents of the Kherson region are deployed in the Crimea.

  • Vote to join Russia

  • RIA News

  • © Viktor Antonyuk

It is worth noting that voting in the liberated territories takes place with the participation of international observers.

Among them are citizens of Western countries.

The aggression of the Kyiv regime will not prevent the inhabitants of the region from taking part in the referendum.

This was stated in his video message by the Deputy Head of the Administration of the Kherson Region Kirill Stremousov.

“Nothing and no one can stop the desire and will to prudence of the inhabitants of the Kherson region and other liberated territories.

We are going to Russia, and this is already a historical fact, ”Stremousov wrote in his Telegram channel.

The politician also published footage showing an apartment building damaged by shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to Stremousov, the terrorist tactics of the Kyiv regime has become one of the reasons why a referendum on joining Russia is now being held in the territory of the Kherson region.

“By shelling the Kherson region, the Ukronazis hoped to intimidate the inhabitants of the Kherson region, but they got the opposite effect and activity in the issue of self-determination of the Kherson region,” said the deputy head of the administration of the Kherson region.

For life and safety

According to experts interviewed by RT, the Kyiv regime is aware of the impossibility of breaking through the front for an offensive in order to disrupt the referendums.

For this reason, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to intimidate as many people and employees of the administrations of the liberated territories as possible.

“Despite the bellicose rhetoric, the Ukrainian authorities are fully aware of their inability to influence the voting process,” Pavel Feldman stressed.

“Now they are moving from a strategy of intimidating civilians to a frank settling of scores with those who organize and participate in referendums,” the expert added.

However, with such aggressive actions, the Zelensky regime achieves the opposite effect, the analyst believes.

In his opinion, constant shelling and sabotage “only turn the residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions away from Kyiv.”

“I think that the logic of the residents of the liberated territories is that only being part of Russia will make their lives and the lives of their children safer.

People expect that the results of their will will give Moscow the necessary political grounds for using the entire arsenal of means to protect them, ”Feldman emphasized.

Vladimir Olenchenko also believes that the residents of the liberated territories are most of all waiting for the soonest return to a normal peaceful life and have high hopes for the results of the referendums.

“Having become part of Russia, they will have the right to turn to the Russian leadership so that it provides them with complete security and protection from military and other terror from the Ukrainian regime,” Olenchenko argues.

According to the expert, the vast majority of residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions do not want to live under the rule of the Kyiv regime.

“Of course, there are wavering people, especially in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

They haven't made their final choice yet.

However, such people cannot fail to notice the inhumanity of the Zelensky regime.

I think that recent events will push them to an obvious choice - and it will not be in favor of Kyiv, ”summed up Olenchenko.