Russian state media is reporting that voting has begun in some of the regions of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine where Putin announced referenda this week, informs The Guardian.
Several of Russian media outlets are now reporting that voting has begun in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia provinces.
Luhansk mayor Sergey Haidai claimed in a Telegram post that Russian forces were «forcing» residents to vote and forbidding them from leaving the area.
«According to available information, the occupiers are creating armed groups to go around homes and force people to participate in the so–called «referendum», he said.
At some businesses «those who will not take part in the voting will be automatically dismissed from their jobs». Elsewhere, «authorities forbade the local population to leave the city between 23–27 September.»
The Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia provinces represent about 15% of Ukrainian territory. Voting there is due to run from Friday, 23 September to Tuesday, 27 September. The results are seen as a foregone conclusion in favour of annexation, and Ukraine and its allies have already made clear they will not recognise the results.
Nato has condemned plans to hold «referendums» on joining the Russian Federation in Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine, describing them as Moscow’s «blatant attempts at territorial conquest». The so–called referendum have no legitimacy, the alliance said.
Referenda plans have been widely condemned by the West as illegitimate and a precursor to illegal annexation.
According to news media The Kyiv Independent, the G7 nations will not recognize the pseudo–referendums that Russia is preparing to hold in the occupied territories of Ukraine, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday, 22 September. The G7 members will also «pursue further targeted sanctions» on Russia if the «referendums» take place, she said.
Meanwhile, thousands of men across Russia have been handed draft papers after the mobilisation announcement. Among those called up since Putin’s announcement on Wednesday were Russians detained while protesting against the mobilisation, the independent OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.
The seventh paragraph of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree on mobilization, intended for internal use, states that up to one million people can be drafted into the army, Russian media Novaya Gazeta reported on Thursday, 22 September, citing unnamed sources in the Kremlin.
«They changed the figure several times and eventually settled on a million,» the source said.
At the same time, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on Russians to resist the partial military mobilisation announced by Vladimir Putin, which has sparked protests and a fresh exodus out of Russia. The Ukrainian president said in his daily address on Thursday, 22 September: «55,000 Russian soldiers died in these six months of war … Want more? No? Then protest, fight back, run away, or surrender to the Ukrainian army.»
Traffic at Russian border crossings with Finland and Georgia surged after the mobilisation announcement sparked fears that men of fighting age would be called to the frontlines in Ukraine. Prices for one–way flights out of Moscow to the nearest foreign locations rose above USD 5 000 (EUR 5 107.81), with most air tickets sold out for the coming days.
According to news channel CNN, U.S. Defense Department press Secretary Patrick Ryder said on Thursday, 22 September, that Russia’s announcement would not influence the U.S. and its allies’ support for Ukraine. «We will continue to have those conversations, and we’ll continue to think through not only what they need in the medium to long term, but also what they need now,» Ryder said.
Meanwhile, Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi reported that Russian forces shelled the communities. As a result of Russian shelling, four civilians were injured, and two dozen houses, two businesses, seven cars, a school, power lines, a kindergarten, and a cultural center were damaged, Zhyvytskyi reported. Fragments of Russian shells killed some chickens, he added.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh reported on Thursday, 22 September, that Russian forces launched around 10 projectiles and hit infrastructure. There is no information on casualties and damages available at the moment.
Russia’s military is divided over how best to counter Ukraine’s unexpected battlefield advances this month, according to multiple sources familiar with US intelligence, as Moscow has found itself on the defensive in both the east and the south.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is himself giving directions directly to generals in the field, two sources familiar with US and western intelligence said.
They indicated that this is a highly unusual management tactic in modern military, and it hints at the dysfunctional command structure that has plagued Russia’s war from the beginning, informs CNN.
Russian forces have staged a «terrorist attack,» setting off an explosion in central Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, to accuse Ukraine of launching terror attacks before a pseudo–referendum there, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported on Thursday, 22 September. Three Russian soldiers were killed as a result of the explosion; casualties among civilians are to be clarified, according to Fedorov.