Washington/Moscow/New York/Kyiv: The United States of America today (IST) slammed Russia’s announcement of, what Washington termed, “the pre-baked results of its sham referenda.” Moscow though asserted that in the near future, “we will enter a critical stage in our joint efforts to translate into life the desire of the residents of the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to be together with Russia”.
The referenda were held over five days between September 23-27, 2022, in the Donetsk (DPR), Luhansk (LPR), Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions for residents to vote on whether they wished to become part of the Russian Federation. Russia claimed despite the provocations of the Kyiv regime “that gave criminal orders to massively shell areas where civilians gather and civilian facilities, people were not afraid to come to the polls and express their will”.
September 24, 2022. Photo from the Mariupol City Council
Yesterday, the Russian foreign ministry declared that the results of the voting were tabulated, with the overwhelming majority of voters supporting unification with Russia – 99.23 per cent in the DPR, 98.42 per cent in the LPR, 93.11 per cent in the Zaporizhzhia Region and 87.05 per cent in the Kherson Region”. It claimed that the turnout was as follows: 97.5 per cent in the DPR, 92.6 per cent in the LPR, 85.4 in the Zaporizhzhia Region and 76.9 per cent in the Kherson Region.
“The results of the plebiscite speak for themselves – the residents of Donbass, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions do not want to return to their former life. They have made a conscious and free choice in favour of Russia,” it claimed.
However, earlier, on September 27, 2022, Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, had told the UN Security Council that the “so-called referenda” conducted by de facto authorities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine – in areas under Russian control – were held during an active armed conflict in the country and “cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will”.
“The United Nations remains fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” she underscored, and further stated: “Unilateral actions aimed to provide a veneer of legitimacy to the attempted acquisition by force by one State of another State’s territory, while claiming to represent the will of the people, cannot be regarded as legal under international law.”
DiCarlo noted that the exercises, which began on September 23, were outside Ukraine’s legal and constitutional framework. According to her, as the occupying Power, the Russian Federation was obliged under international humanitarian law to respect the laws of Ukraine in the administration of occupied territories. She warned that recent developments, including heavy fighting, escalating military operations, human rights violations and attacks in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, point to more death and destruction. “The Member States must do all they can to end the war and ensure lasting peace,” she said.
Russia though claimed yesterday that the referenda took place “in full conformity” with the standards and principles of international law. “The people of Donbass and the south of Ukraine exercised their lawful right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Charter, the 1966 international human rights covenants, the 1975 OCSE Helsinki Final Act, and the verdict of the UN International Court of Justice on Kosovo on July 22, 2010. The latter confirmed that the unilateral proclamation of independence by a part of a state does not violate any norms of international law,” Moscow claimed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, who addressed the Council via a pre-recorded video statement, had claimed that people were being forced to fill out papers while threatened with guns and that results were prepared well in advance. He condemned the annexation of the captured territories as an attempt to steal the territory of another State and erase the norms of international law. “There is only one way to stop it all,” he said, calling for complete isolation of the Russian Federation, its exclusion from all international organizations and further sanctions against Moscow.
Russia however referred to the international observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Latvia and other countries (overall, 133 people), who, it claimed, monitored the course of the referenda and recognised them as legitimate. “We are grateful to foreign experts, bloggers, journalists and representatives of public organisations for their courage, integrity and objectivity,” Russia claimed.
Moscow further retorted stating that for eight years, the population of Donbass was subjected to “persistent and cynical attempts to destroy them”. It claimed that the decision of the residents of Donbass, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to seek protection from Russia was a natural result of the “inhumane policy” pursued by the Kyiv regime.
The US however reiterated the claims that the results were concocted in Moscow, not collected in Ukraine. “Let’s be clear: The results are completely fabricated and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine. This is the will of Moscow, not the free will of Ukraine or its people,” the US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters today, adding that the US now expected Russia to use “these sham referenda as a false pretext to attempt to annex Ukraine’s territory”.
Price affirmed that no matter what President Putin and his enablers try to claim, these areas are and will remain part of Ukraine. “Ukraine has every right to continue to defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” he asserted and declared that the United States will never recognize Russia’s referenda and its attempts to annex parts of Ukraine.
“Quite the opposite. We will continue to work with allies and partners to bring even more pressure on Russia and the individuals and entities that are helping support its attempted land grab. You can expect additional measures from us in the coming days. At the same time, we will not be deterred from supporting Ukraine, and as my colleagues at the White House and soon the Defense Department will announce, we will continue to provide security assistance to Ukraine so it can defend itself and its sovereign territory for as long as it takes,” he announced. He though made it clear that at every step of the way, the US was “very clear that everything we’re providing is for the defence of Ukraine’s own territory, the defence of its sovereignty, the defence of its independence, the defence of its territorial integrity”. He added: “We have been clear when it comes to certain longer-range systems with our Ukrainian partners that these systems are for use on sovereign Ukrainian territory. If and when this annexation occurs, as we expect it will, these areas will remain sovereign Ukrainian territory”.
To a question on whether the US have any objections to the Ukrainians using the American weaponry to launch strikes on Russian targets in Crimea, either, Price said, “We don’t select targets for our Ukrainian partners. It is up to them to devise”.
Ukraine today claimed that in the last 24 hours, Russian troops shelled the Kharkiv, the Sumy, the Chernihiv, the Dnipropetrovsk, the Zaporizhzhia, the Donetsk, the Luhansk, the Mykolaiv, and the Kherson regions. 9 people were killed. 17 civilians were injured.
The UN, meanwhile, remains “deeply troubled” by reports of continuing attacks near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and she urged combatants to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
– global bihari bureau
