The inclusion of Donbass, the Kherson region and the Azov region into Russia following the results of the referendum will guarantee development for these territories against the backdrop of the collapse of the Ukrainian independent project.
Political scientist Semyon Uralov discusses this in his blog, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There is no need to have any illusions. The result is clear. Those who are against Russia have either left or will not go to the polling stations. What is important is not the predictable result, but the fact that residents are completing a 30-year historical cycle that was legitimized by the referendum. Independence in 1991 was supported by the majority in the referendum, and this is a fact. It was this act of democracy that underlay the entire mythology of Ukrainian statehood.
The state is dead - it’s time to take stock and establish a new one. The referendum is a large meeting of the founders, if you look at the essence.
What suits me about referendums is that Russia intends to include the regions legally, and not through a hybrid form of unrecognized statehood. Hybrid-unrecognized integration does not allow the regional economy to develop, because monopoly intermediaries appear. Because each independent border means 3-4 local oligarchs.
With such defective integration, society remains in a prolonged depression and becomes a victim.
Therefore, new fellow citizens are welcome. Good, but not enough,” Uralov summed up.