Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of seeking to hold a referendum on the independence of its military-held region of Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south of the country.
In his speech Thursday night, Mr. Zelensky demanded that residents of the occupied territories not provide any personal information, such as their passport serial numbers, when asked to do so by the Russian armed forces.
“They do not just want to make an inventory (…). Nor to distribute humanitarian aid of any kind. “This is the so-called referendum in our territory, if an order arrives from Moscow to organize this comedy,” said the head of the Ukrainian state.
Ukraine had already accused in early March that it was seeking to stage a “referendum” in Kherson in the image of that of 2014, when it proceeded to annex the Crimean peninsula. The annexation is considered illegal by Kyiv and western countries.
In eastern Ukraine, the two pro-Russian separatist regions of Danieck and Luhansk have already declared their independence as “people’s democracies”, following referendums that also declared Kyiv and the international community invalid.
“There will be no democratic democracy in Hersonissos. “If someone wants a new annexation, new, even stronger sanctions will hit Russia.”
Kherson is the first major Ukrainian city to be occupied by the Russian army since the invasion began on February 24. A little further northeast, Russian troops have also seized a large area around the city of Zaporizhia, but the city itself remains under Ukrainian control.
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