By Oyintari Ben
Following phoney referendums denounced as a sham by Ukraine and the West, Vladimir Putin of Russia will host a signing ceremony on Friday, officially annexing four more regions of Ukraine.
Russian-backed officials had earlier claimed that the five-day exercise had almost 100% public approval.
Votes that were supposedly held took place in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east.
At the Kremlin, the Russian President will deliver a powerful speech.
The four areas have been proclaimed part of Russia on billboards that have already been erected on a stage in Moscow’s Red Square.
There were shades of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, which likewise happened after a sham referendum and was announced with a victory speech from the president on stage.
However, there was no independent oversight of the procedure, despite reports of armed military accompanying election workers as they went door to door.
As a result of the referendums, the US has declared it will impose penalties on Russia, and EU member states are mulling an additional round of sanctions.
According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, individuals in the seized parts of Ukraine have been forced out of their homes and places of employment under threat of violence and occasionally at gunpoint.
“Elections that are free and fair are the opposite of this. In addition, this dictated peace is the complete opposite of peace, “She said.
With only a few days’ notice, the drill started last Friday across 15% of Ukraine. The employment of armed guards was justified by Russian official media as being for security, although it was obvious that locals were also intimidated.
One woman in Enerhodar told a news agency, “You have to respond verbally, and the military marks the response on the sheet and keeps it.”
None of the four regions Russia has chosen to acquire is entirely under its authority. Although Russia still has the majority of Luhansk, barely 60% of Donetsk is under its control.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the north, east, and south began seven months ago, and the battle is still raging on the front lines in all four regions. The Ukrainian government has complete control over Zaporizhzhia’s capital, and a counteroffensive is already underway in Kherson.
