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Moscow prepares for Wednesday annexation of large swathes of Ukraineafter Kyiv and the West condemned an illegal sham referendum held at gunpoint, the so-called results of the vote were released showing that four partially occupied provinces supported joining Russia.
On Moscow’s Red Square, a forum with a huge video screen has been set up, and billboards read “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye, Kherson – Russia!”
President Vladimir Putin could announce annexation in a speech within days, just over a week after he backed a referendum, ordered the mobilization of the military at home and threatened to defend Russia with nuclear weapons if necessary.
The four provincial governments of Ukraine set up by Russia on Wednesday formally asked Putin to incorporate them into Russia, which Russian officials said was a formality.
“The result is clear. Welcome home, back to Russia!” Dmitry Medvedev, former president and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on Telegram.
Russia-backed authorities claim to have held referendums for five days in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, which make up about 15 percent of the country’s territory.
Residents who fled to Ukraine-held areas in recent days told PEOPLE that circuit officials pointed people at gunpoint and were forced to mark ballots in the streets. Footage taken during the exercise showed Russian-installed officials dragging armed men from house to house to pick up ballot boxes.
“They can declare anything they want. No one voted in the referendum except for a few who changed their positions. They went door to door but no one came out,” said 43-year-old Golo Pristan, from the Russian-occupied village of Kherson. of Lyubomir Boyko said the province.
Russia said the vote was voluntary, in line with international law, and the turnout was high. The concept of referendums and annexation has been rejected globally, as has Russia’s takeover of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought to garner international support against a possible Russian annexation in a series of calls with foreign leaders including Britain, Canada, Germany and Turkey.
“Thank you all for your clear and unequivocal support. Thank you all for understanding our position,” Zelensky said in a late-night video address.
The United States said it would impose economic costs on Moscow’s referendum in the coming days and add to several tranches of sanctions since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, which devastated the city and killed thousands.
“We will continue to work with our allies and partners to increase pressure on Russia and the individuals and entities that help support its land grab,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
The European Commission has also proposed more sanctions on Russia, but the EU’s 27 member states need to overcome their differences to impose sanctions.
‘New phase’
Denis Pushlin, Russia’s appointed leader in Donetsk province, said he was heading to Moscow to complete the legal process to join Russia.
“Now we are entering a new phase of military operations,” he said, amid speculation Putin will transform what he has so far called “special military operations” status into counterterrorism operations.
Russian officials have said any attack on annexed territory would be an attack on Russia itself.
Putin changed his strategy in early September as Russian troops took a hit in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and Ukrainian troops recaptured dozens of towns and villages. He also announced a swift call for hundreds of thousands of Russians to fight and issued a fresh warning about the possible use of nuclear weapons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia needed to keep fighting until it took control of all of Donetsk. About 40 percent of the area is still under Ukrainian control and is the scene of the most intense fighting in the war.
Russia repelled 11 attacks on Wednesday, most of them north of Donetsk, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said. It said in a Facebook post that Russian troops shelled dozens of towns along the front.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield report.
Gas pipeline ‘broken’
Russia’s annexation plans have picked up pace as gas leaked for a third day in the Baltic Sea after a suspected explosion at an undersea pipeline built by Russia and European partners. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, once Russia’s main gas pipeline to Germany, has been closed but cannot be easily reopened now.
NATO and the European Union have warned of the need to protect critical infrastructure from what they called “disruption,” although officials have made no accusations. Interfax news agency quoted the Prosecutor General’s Office as saying that the damage to the pipeline was being investigated by the security services of Russia’s FSB as “international terrorism”.
The Nord Stream pipeline has been a flashpoint in a widening energy war between Moscow and European capitals that has hurt major Western economies and sent gas prices soaring.
A senior U.S. military official told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. believed it was too early to conclude that there was sabotage. “The jury is still out,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the United States unveiled a $1.1 billion Ukrainian weapons program that includes 18 High Mobility Rocket Artillery System (HIMARS) launchers, accompanying munitions, various types of anti-drone systems and radar systems. The announcement brings U.S. security assistance to $16.2 billion.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn, Toby Chopra and Grant McCool; Editing by Peter Graff, Hugh Lawson and Bill Berkrot)
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