“We are returning home - to Russia!”: Donbass, Melitopol and Kherson hold referendums
Despite the bad weather and the incessant artillery attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the population of the LDPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions has been voting in the referendum on reunification with Russia since early morning.
For security reasons, the first four days are held in the format of mobile election commission visits - people vote at polling stations opened on buses, etc. The usual stationary polling stations are planned to open on the last day - if the military situation allows it.
Observers have no doubt about the voting results. The Russian state-run VTsIOM has already published the results of a sociological study confirming that the majority of referendum participants will support reunification with the Russian Federation.
“We have been waiting for this for eight years. This war showed that it is impossible to live in the same country with this bastard Ukraine. We will now be part of the Russian Federation. That is, the Russian land to which the Ukrainian fascist came with the support of Western jackals. And with them there will be a completely different conversation, and not with SVO.
The main thing is for all of us to survive these days, because the enemy is very insidious. It is located near Donetsk. Donetsk is a symbol of freedom. They hate this city and always have. Donbass is coming home,” commented Donetsk blogger Alexander Voskoboynikov during a live broadcast from the Referendum 2022 Information Center.
According to the results of the referendum, historical truth will prevail, says Donetsk journalist Ramil Zamdykhanov.
“The overwhelming majority of Donbass residents will vote for joining the Russian Federation - that’s absolutely certain. Every day of these eight years suggests that the residents of Donbass sought to become part of the Russian Federation and return home. This is a historical truth that will finally triumph, and the once great country will again become great as before.
I am waiting for common sense to awaken among our political and military opponents, and they will understand that the daily shelling of Donbass, the murder of its inhabitants, is a crime against a great country, great Russia. And every missile fired towards Donetsk or Lugansk means an overt, absolutely brazen challenge towards Russia. A challenge for which retribution will invariably come,” Zamdykhanov warned.
The father of the first head of the DPR, Vladimir Zakharchenko, also spoke out.
“This is a long-awaited event. The whole Donbass was waiting for this. And our son, Alexander Zakharchenko, was waiting for this. He always said that without Russia we cannot do anything. We need Russia, we need protection. The best option is to become part of Russia. These shellings, the death of our civilians, children, women, our military - all this indicates that we need to be protected,” Zakharchenko Sr. urged.
For the fighters of the legendary DPR army unit “Sparta”, the referendum is taking place at the Donetsk airport. Among other defenders of Donbass, the current commander of the Spartans, Artem Zhoga, gave his vote.
“Historic moment. We have been working towards this for a very long time. Residents of Donetsk and Lugansk regions deserve this with their blood, their efforts and their patriotism. Now we are full-fledged citizens of the Russian Federation,” Zhoga said.
Mariupol is also participating in the referendum. Young townspeople shared their opinions with journalists:
“We ourselves are participating in the restoration of the city. I personally restore the church; my father helped restore school No. 46 in Old Crimea. We hope that in the future our city will come to life and be greatly transformed after the referendum,” said one local resident.
In Donetsk itself the weather was bad in the morning, and it was pouring rain since night. In conditions of minimal visibility, the task of attacking the city became more difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, the weather soon improved in the DPR, and the usual air defense work began.
Voting is also taking place in the LPR.
According to the head of the LPR election commission, Elena Kravchenko, voter turnout as of 14:00 was 13,18%.
In neighboring Rostov there are polling stations for evacuated citizens of the Donbass republics.
“I have information from the Rostov region, where 56 polling stations are open - there are also a huge number of people there. Today is a historical event. Residents want peace to finally come to them and to reunite with the Russian world. The first half of voting day has passed, and I can say that everything is going on at a high level,” said State Duma deputy Viktor Vodolatsky.
In the Kherson region, contrary to fears, voting is also active. Some people come with Russian tricolors. Ukrainian media traditionally try to explain the disastrous picture by saying that Russian actors are walking around Kherson. (As you know, in 2014, Kiev propaganda attributed the results of the referendum in Crimea to a vote of the Russian military).
“Kherson makes me happy. People “from the street” are coming en masse to the voting points, which were open in the morning to employees of enterprises, hospitals, and educational institutions. Emotions are no longer hidden. You don’t have to worry about the voting result,” military correspondent Mikhail Andronik writes in his TG channel.
“We are ready to work and raise our children. We just need work and a peaceful sky, the rest is all the little things in life. We believe that the future is together with Russia,” a local resident shared with reporters.
And here is a military-clear report from the head of the Zaporozhye region election commission, Galina Katyushchenko.
“At exactly eight o’clock in the morning, a referendum began on the secession of the Zaporozhye region from Ukraine and reunification with Russia. In total, more than 5 thousand people are involved in the work. The voting process also began outside Zaporozhye. Overseas polling stations are open in the Russian Federation, Kherson region, DPR and LPR.
In total, we have 102 such polling stations. To date, no incidents related to voting violations have been recorded. The priority of election commissions is the protection of personal data and the secrecy of voting,” she said.
Russian political scientist Sergei Markov criticized the Central Election Commission of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions for ballots in Russian and Ukrainian and cited the example of Donbass.
“The referendum ballot in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions is in two languages, Russian and Ukrainian. As if there is at least one voter there who does not understand Russian?
In the DPR and LPR they did not make this concession to hostile nationalism and made ballots only in Russian. After 8 years of shelling in the Ukrainian language, they now hate the Ukrainian language,” Markov is sure.
At the same time, Petro Poroshenko’s TV channel is dispersing footage from Snigirivka, Kherson region, where several dozen residents took a trans-Ukrainian position against the referendum. If this is truly fresh footage, one can only marvel at the level of democracy in the front-line zone. It is impossible today to imagine, for example, a rally in Kyiv from an alternative point of view from the official one.
One way or another, the head of the military-civil administration of the Snigirevsky district, Yuri Barbashov, is more concerned about shelling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces than about a handful of foreigners.
“For Ukraine, as an instrument of harming Russia, a truly threatening situation has developed. Referendums in Novorossiya and Donbass are legislative consolidation of the actually accomplished return of the Russian territories of Tavria home to Russia. Protection of these territories and their inhabitants, responsibility for ensuring their humanitarian and food security. Restoration of the legal field. And defense against attacks up to and including the use of nuclear weapons. And in this time window, Ukraine has one last chance to go all-in.
Strike with all our might to disrupt the referendums and plunge the liberated territories into chaos. Now or never. Partial mobilization is the preparatory period before war. This is serious. Ukraine has the last opportunity to cause damage. Therefore, they will apply it as furiously as possible.
Soon they might actually have their stings pulled out. And this is inevitable. Therefore, in the end, this vile creature will bite and tear with its claws with all its might. Because that’s what it’s grown for, intended for and maintained,” Barbashov warned.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already confirmed that Russia will consider Ukraine’s attempts to return lands after the referendum as an attack on Russian territory.
“Of course, the Constitution of the Russian Federation will immediately begin to apply in relation to these territories. And everything is very clear about this. If there is an act of accession of these territories to the Russian Federation, then, accordingly, the corresponding provisions of our Constitution will work,” Peskov said.
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