As the United States plans to pass a UN resolution condemning Russia’s referenda on the annexation of Ukrainian territory, the Donetsk authorities have announced the final results of the referendum on citizens joining Russia. The correspondent of “Al-Arabiya” and “Al-Hadas” reported that as a result, 99.23% of the votes of voters wishing to join the Russian Federation were registered.
As for other regions, according to our correspondent, 98.42% of votes in favor of joining Russia were registered in the Luhansk region, 93.1% in Zaporozhye, and 87.5% in Kherson oblast in favor of joining Russia.
US officials said Tuesday that Washington is also preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia in case it annexes Ukraine, in addition to a $1.1 billion arms package for Kyiv to be announced soon.
Hastily orchestrated voting took place over five days in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east and Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in the south, which together make up about 15 percent of Ukraine’s territory.
The head of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (the upper house of parliament) said that the council could discuss the annexation of these regions on October 4th.
“The results are obvious. Welcome home, to Russia!” Dmitry Medvedev, former president of the country and now deputy head of the National Security and Defense Council, wrote on Telegram.
“This farce in the occupied territories cannot even be called a simulation of a referendum,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message late Tuesday evening.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield said at a Security Council meeting that her country would submit a resolution to the Council calling on member states not to recognize any change in Ukraine’s status and force Moscow to withdraw its troops.
Russia can veto any Security Council resolution, but the US spokesman said that would encourage Washington to refer the matter to the UN General Assembly.
Russian Ambassador to the organization Vasily Nebenzya said at the meeting that the referendums were transparent and in line with electoral standards.
And if Russia annexes four Ukrainian regions, Putin can present any attempt by Ukraine to reclaim them as an attack on Russia itself.
Putin said last week that he was ready to use nuclear weapons to protect the “territorial integrity” of his country.
But Mykhailo Podolak, Zelenskiy’s adviser, said Kyiv would not be affected by nuclear threats or an annexation referendum and would continue with its plan to reclaim all of its territory occupied by invading Russian forces.
He added that Ukrainians who helped organize the referendums face treason charges and at least five years in prison. Ukrainians who were forced to vote will not be punished.
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None of the four referendum regions is entirely under Moscow’s control, and Ukrainian forces have announced further gains since the defeat of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region this month.
Zelenskiy called the Donetsk region in the east still a strategic priority for his country, as well as for Russia, pointing to heavy fighting in many cities.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian army said late on Tuesday that Russian troops had bombed seven cities in Donetsk.
The army said that 20 cities and towns in the Zaporozhye region in south-central Ukraine and 35 cities and villages in the Kherson region in the south were also bombed.
