Although four regions of Ukraine, which are already de facto linked to Moscow, will begin organizing referendums on joining Russia on Friday, experts believe the move will disintegrate Ukraine as a country and usher in a new phase of conflict. begins It burns for 7 months
Today until September 27, referendums will be held in Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
Moslem Shaito, head of the Russian-Arab Dialogue Center, said in an interview with “Sky News Arabic”: These are the four regions that called for a referendum to be held in them to get rid of the long-term oppression of Ukraine. For this reason, joining Russia is a popular general choice in those regions, which are divided into two parts.
First: those located in the east of the Donbas region, including the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, which have taken the initiative to declare their independence from Kyiv since 2014, but have been subjected to violent and almost daily pressure for 8 years. The bombing of the Ukrainian forces, which led to the death of more than 14 thousand people from Kiev. Therefore, the referendum to join Russia is the only way for Luhansk and Donetsk to escape from the constant threats of Ukraine.
Second: Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are located in the south, and their residents always suffer from persecution and discrimination due to the presence of Russians in the majority, and for this reason, the referendum in them enjoys wide public support. Eligible voters are estimated at more than half a million, while the total population was more than 5 million, but due to the discriminatory policies of Kyiv and because of the war, many of them emigrated in the past years. .
Shaito adds: These four regions are historically Russian, for example, Kherson was one of the important ports of the Russian Empire in the Black Sea, as well as the port of the city of Mariupol, and it was even called the capital of Ukraine. In Tsarist Russian Kyiv, as residents of these regions speak Russian as a native language, they have ancient historical, religious and cultural ties to Russia, both in its Tsarist and former Soviet Union eras. , are related.
And the expert on Russian issues explains: “The Soviet government divided its regions and administrative territories based on ideological considerations and calculations to create many republics, and with its collapse, Boris Yeltsin replaced Gorbachev as the first president. The new Russian Federation relinquished Russia’s historical and geographical rights to republics such as Ukraine.
According to Shaito, these areas have a lot of wealth and natural resources and are the main source of coal, grains and crops, especially sunflowers.
“In addition to the numerous factories that distinguish it, dating back to the Soviet era, which is the most prominent factor that led the Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, to make it a Soviet republic at the time,” he adds. Ukraine to join. “In an effort to create a strong working class in it in accordance with Marxist-Leninist ideology.”
In an interview with Sky News Arabic, Rami al-Qalyoubi, an expert on Russian issues and a professor at the Moscow Higher School of Economics, said: “Two of the four regions that will join Russia, namely Donetsk and Luhansk, are out of control even before the expected referendum is held tomorrow.” It’s Russia.” Kyiv and its authority have been separated from Ukraine since 2014 during the Crimea crisis between Moscow and Kyiv at the time.
He added: Regarding Kherson province, this province is one of the first regions that Russian forces took control of at the beginning of their military operations in Ukraine, and its center is the city of Kherson, and the Russians expanded their complete control over it. In mid-March, while Russia controls about 75% of the Zaporozhye region.
He continues: After this referendum and the annexation of those regions to Russian sovereignty, the number of Russian administrative institutions will increase from 85 to 89 institutions, and in this way, the Russian military doctrine will be automatically applied in these regions, so that Any attack on them would be considered a threat to the existence of the Russian state as a whole.”
“Thus, Russia’s threats of nuclear weapons prior to the organization of this referendum should not be seen as a direct threat to use them, but as a warning message to the West to reduce its preoccupation with military support for Ukraine and surrender to this,” he says. be considered a referendum. The new geopolitical reality that will result from four referendums.
Source: Lebanon Debate
