Ukraine and Western countries have widely condemned the referendum, being planned in accordance with the Kremlin’s plan, and called it an action without legal force. The referendum is being seen as a step towards the annexation of the region by Russia.
Voting has been in Luhansk, partly Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk region. At the same time, voting is expected to start in Kherson on Friday morning. Russia also has complete control over this area.
Voting is being held to determine whether people want these regions to be included in Russia and the results are believed to be in Russia’s favour. This would give Russia a chance to claim that Ukrainian forces’ attempts to retake the territories were in fact an attack on Russia.
Ahead of the referendum, Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced a partial deployment of 300,000 ‘reservest’ (reserve soldiers).
Voting will last for five days. Russia’s social media platform was flooded with emotional images amid the vote.
In these pictures, people were seen hugging their loved ones leaving for military centers and bidding them farewell.
Men from almost all the cities of the country were seen hugging and comforting their emotional relatives before leaving. Russian anti-war activists have drawn up plans for further demonstrations against these deployments.
On the first four days of the referendum, election officials will carry ballot papers to people’s homes and build each temporary polling place near residential buildings, officials said.
Donetsk region separatist leader Danish Pushilin called the referendum a “historic milestone”.
“We will support you if you decide to become part of the Russian Federation,” V Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said in an online statement on Friday, addressing the occupied territories.
AP
Shobhana Santosh
Satisfaction