Russia claims victory in 4 sham Ukraine referendums, paving way to annex shrinking Ukrainian holdings

Referendum voting in Donetsk, Ukraine
(Image credit: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Russia announced late Tuesday that four Ukrainian regions it partially controls have voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. These preordained outcomes were dismissed by Ukraine and Western nations as illegal sham referendums, thin pretexts for the bald theft of 15 percent of Ukraine's territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce plans to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson provinces on Friday, and Russia's parliament could vote on annexation legislation on Oct. 4.

Over four days of voting, "Ukrainians were alternately cajoled and bullied into casting ballots in referendums stage-managed by the Kremlin," The New York Times reports. "The Russian authorities and their proxies in Ukraine blended raw intimidation tactics," like armed men in ski masks, "with Orwellian messaging and a few stabs at festivities, among them thinly attended concerts on central squares."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.