Pro-Kremlin officials in the Ukrainian regions of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye announced the date for a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, while Kyiv pledged to eliminate the Russian threat.
The regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, which make up the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in the south, plan to hold a referendum on joining Russia between September 23 and 27.
Vladimir Saldo, head of Kherson’s pro-Russian authorities, announced in Telegram: I am informing you that according to this decree, the referendum will be held from September 23, 2022 to September 27.
The referendum will be held in Donetsk and Luhansk, both in the Donbas region, whose independence was recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin before the invasion of Ukraine.
Together, Donetsk and Luhansk regions make up the Donbass region, which is partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists who rebelled against Kyiv authorities in 2014 with Moscow’s support.
Denis Miroshnichenko, head of the self-proclaimed parliament of Luhansk region, announced the date of the referendum.
After him, Denis Pushilin, the pro-Russian Ukrainian leader in Donetsk, announced the date of the referendum to join the Russian Federation.
Pushilin asked President Putin to immediately join the region to Russia.
Russian media also confirmed that the Zaporozhye region has set the same time as the date for a referendum on joining Russia.
In this regard, the representatives of the Zaporizhia region gathered in the city of Melitopol to demand an immediate referendum for the reunification of this region with Russia.
Shortly after the referendum date was announced, Kyiv pledged on Tuesday to “eliminate” the Russian “threat”.
Andriy Yermak, director of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram: “Ukraine will solve the problem of Russia.”
He added that the threat can only be eliminated by force and condemned Moscow’s “blackmail” motivated by “fear of failure”.
Russia previously annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 in a referendum that followed a military intervention, a move that Kyiv and the West considered illegal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said regarding the announced referendums: “Since the beginning of the special military operation and in the period before that, we have said that the people of the respective regions should decide their fate.”
“The whole current situation confirms that they want to be masters of their own destiny,” Lavrov added.
The annexation of these areas to Russia would be a major escalation in the conflict that has been going on for nearly seven months over the territory of Ukraine.
On the ground level, Ukraine announced the success of its forces in continuing to penetrate eastward in areas where Russian forces withdrew, reinforcing the belief that it will launch a new offensive against Russian forces in the Donbass region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for the acceleration of the delivery of weapons and aid to his country to maintain pressure on Russia in light of recent military advances by Ukrainian forces on the ground.
Ukraine said its forces were continuing to push eastward into territory Russia recently withdrew from, paving the way for a possible offensive against Russian occupation forces in the Donbass region, as Kyiv sought more Western weapons. Is.
“It’s clear that the occupiers are panicking,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a televised address late Monday, adding that he was now focused on how fast our troops were moving and how fast they were moving. Normal life has been restored in the liberated areas.
Sergei Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region, now part of the Donbass region, which is now controlled by Russian forces, said that Ukrainian armed forces have taken full control of the village of Belhorivka in the region and are preparing for battle. take control of the whole area again.
Gaidai wrote in Telegram: There will be a fight for every centimeter. He added: “The enemy is preparing to defend. Therefore, we will not enter easily.”
In another major development in the counteroffensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s armed forces said their forces crossed the Oskil River over the weekend.
The river flows south to join the Seversky Donets River, which runs through the Donbass region and is the main target of Russia’s invasion.
Luhansk has been a base for Russian separatist proxies since 2014 and fell to Russia in July after bloody fighting.
A Russian-backed separatist official in Donetsk, the second province of Donetsk, said 13 people were killed in artillery attacks on the city of Donetsk on Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in today’s meeting with heads of defense industry companies in Russia, said that Russian weapons and military equipment effectively counter Western weapons and have proven their value.
At the beginning of this meeting, Putin said: I immediately note that the Russian weapons used in this operation show high efficiency, first of all, this is related to aviation, long-range precision missiles, aviation weapons, artillery, armored weapons and Others.”
He added: It provides the possibility of destroying the enemy’s military infrastructure and equipment and hitting the positions of the national organization.
Source: Lebanon Debate
