DISINFO: The populations of the "occupied territories" in Ukraine have expressed their desire to join Russia via referendum
SUMMARY
Western leaders continue to talk about territories occupied by Russia but forget to consider the will of the populations of these territories, those of Donbas in particular, who have clearly expressed their desire to integrate into the Russian Federation. These populations, bombed for over ten years by the Kyiv junta, do not want to return under the government of the Kyiv Banderist junta. The principle of self-determination was expressed in a referendum and in the will to fight to defend their identity.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on the Russian invasion of Ukraine which aims to manipulate public opinion about the annexation of Ukrainian territories and on war crimes in Donbas allegedly committed by Ukrainian army aimed at to deflect attention away from Russian actions and justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine..
The occupation administration of the territories in Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts claimed that these regions had joined Russian Federation with a referendum organised by the occupation administration. Such referenda are considered illegitimate by Ukrainian and international law. Article 4 of the UN Charter reads:
"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."
In these so called "referenda", voters are coerced into voting with armed soldiers going door to door to collect votes. Individuals are not allowed to vote, as there is only one vote allowed per household. Voters do not need any form of identification in order to cast a vote.
It is impossible to establish how many people will support the referendum. There are no independent opinion polls on occupied territories. Many residents of these oblasts left the region after occupation.
Ukrainians who are in contact with friends and relatives in the occupied territories describe groups of men armed with Kalashnikov rifles, accompanied by a person with a portable ballot box, going door-to-door in apartment buildings and houses.
The EU High Representative Josep Borrell already condemned the decision to held a referendum, stating that the EU won't recognise it. “These illegal ‘votes’ cannot be considered under any circumstance as the free expression of the will of the people living in these regions under constant Russian military threat and intimidation,” EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement. In 2014, the EU established sanctions against Russia condemning Kremlin's decision to stage an illegal referendum on occupied peninsula.
As for the claims on genocide in Donbas, the number of deaths – military and civilian alike - are a result of a war Russia had started in Ukraine. It was not an internal civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine which has closely monitored the conflict has observed no such genocide
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