Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will vote in a referendum from September 23 to 27 their accession to Russia

The Government of Ukraine has assured that this “farce of referendums” will not change “nothing”. Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have accused Zelensky of being responsible for the destruction of his country, and Zaporizhia has announced a decree on the formation of “volunteer battalions”.

01:17

The authorities of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and the pro-Russian authorities of Kherson and Zaporizhia announced this Tuesday that the referendum on possible accession of these territories to Russia will be held between 23 and 27 Septemberalthough the Government of Ukraine has ensured that this “farce of referendums” it won’t change “anything”. Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have accused the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenskyto be the responsible for the destruction of your country, and the region of Zaporizhia has announced a decree on the formation of “volunteer battalions”.

In this context, the president of the Luhansk Parliament, Denis Miroshnichenko, has made the announcement of the referendum hours after the members of the Public Chamber unanimously approved a law on that point, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax. Shortly after, the Donetsk Public Chamber confirmed that the vote in this territory will take place on the same dates, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

Likewise, the president of the Supreme State Administration of Kherson has signed a decree confirming the date of the vote, just a few hours after the civic council installed by the pro-Russian authorities presented an initiative to hold this vote, arguing that the union with Russia “will guarantee security in the territory of the region.” Later, along the same lines, the pro-Russian governor of Zaporizhia, Yevhen Balitski, reported that this Tuesday he had signed “a regulation on holding a referendum” on the region’s accession to Russia.

Ukraine assures that “nothing” will not change

The Foreign Minister of the Russian Government, Sergei Lavrov, has indicated that this type of initiative is a sign of the desire of the population of these territories to be able to determine if they want to be part of Russia. The Government of Ukraine, on the other hand, has stated that “the farce of” announced “referendums will not change anythingAnd neither will any hybrid mobilization.” The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, said this in a message on his Twitter account: “Russia has been and continues to be an aggressor that illegally occupies part of the Ukrainian territory,” he said. denounced.

In this regard, he stressed that “Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will continue to liberate them, regardless of what Russia has to say”, within the framework of the counter-offensives launched by the Ukrainian Army in recent weeks in parts from the Kherson and Kharkov regions.

For his part, the head of the Luhansk Regional Administration, Serhiy Haidai, has stated that the pro-Russian authorities have launched the referendum “considering the fact that they will lose on the battlefield. The only thing left for them is to quickly hold referendums.” , which, of course, will be false and with prepared results”, he said.

Russia accuses Zelensky of destroying Ukraine

In parallel, the Russian authorities have accused the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, of being the responsible for the destruction of the countryas a consequence, they say, of the counteroffensive launched by kyiv to expel Russian troops from cities like Kharkov.

“Zelensky’s counteroffensive has had a counterproductive effect in Ukraine. It has destroyed both the country and the people entrusted to it,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who has criticized the Ukrainian head of state for make use of the “damn wild card” of the United States to carry out their reconquest attempts.

Volunteer battalions, in Zaporizhia

The pro-Russian governor of the Zaporizhia region, Yevhen Balitski, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday the signing of a decree on the formation of “volunteer battalions”. In this way, the region will join others, such as Donetsk and Luhansk, which are also under the control of the Russian Armed Forces, and will have militia groups to defend the territory.

Likewise, Balitski has detailed that “the recruitment of volunteers will be announced in the near future”, although it is true that, according to him, there are already many natives fighting on the side of the Russian Army.