Gun-to-head vote, Russia promises "full protection" for any annexed Ukrainian region

2022-09-25 19:16:08Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Gun-to-head vote, Russia promises "full protection" for any annexed
Voting in war, with a gun "to your head"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the United Nations General Assembly that regions of Ukraine holding referendums rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies would be under Russia's "full protection" if annexed by Moscow. .

Referendums in four eastern Ukrainian regions aimed at annexing territory that Russia has taken by force since it began its aggression in February continued for a third day on Sunday, and the Russian parliament could formalize the annexation within days.

Claiming Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its own, Moscow may characterize Ukraine's efforts to retake them as an attack on Russia itself, a warning to Kiev and its Western allies.

Meanwhile, images from the second day of voting in the referendum in 4 provinces of Ukraine, which was organized by pro-Russians with the support of Moscow and which calls for their union with Russia, have been published.

The Kremlin has sent soldiers to force residents to vote, while gunmen are a real threat to the innocent citizens of those 4 regions.

"My family was just forced at gunpoint to vote in Russia's referendum game," said Hromadske International journalist Maxim Eristavi.


He also published footage that he claims shows armed soldiers standing in the premises where his family was forced to vote in favor of joining Russia.

Russian annexations raise the risk of a direct military confrontation between Russia and the NATO military alliance as Ukrainian troops are using Western weapons.

Ukraine and its allies have dismissed the referendums as a contrived move to justify an escalation of the war and a push for mobilization by Moscow after recent battlefield defeats.


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