Russia set to annex huge chunks of occupied Ukraine as Putin's lackeys stoke up fears of nuclear weapons
20 September 2022, 23:06 | Updated: 21 September 2022, 00:59
Russia appears set to try and annex huge chunks of Ukraine that it occupies in a serious escalation of the war.
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Vladimir Putin has been humiliated as Ukrainian forces liberated key towns and areas past Kharkiv in the east of the country, some of which came at great cost to the invaders in the earlier part of the war.
Putin's dream of removing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and installing a puppet government was stopped by brave defenders then but Moscow has still managed to occupy chunks of the eastern Donbas – the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russian separatists have fought a war against Kyiv for almost a decade – and places in the south like the Kherson region.
But the referendum ploy has outraged world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, with them describing them as "fake" or "a tragic parody".
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It had long been suspected Russia would seek to legitimise its occupation by annexing regions after holding sham referendums, similar to how Crimea was illegally seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Any annexation would raise concerns over whether Russia would unilaterally consider the territory it has taken by force as part of Russia itself and raise the prospect of the use of nuclear weapons.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], the pro-Russian entity which declared independence from Ukraine, said on social media to Putin: "I ask you, as soon as possible, in the event of a positive decision in the referendum - which we have no doubt about - to consider the DPR becoming a part of Russia."
Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russian president and is now known for his extreme declarations as deputy chairman of the security council, said: "Encroachment onto Russian territory is a crime which allows you to use all the forces of self–defence."
It was initially announced by Russia's propaganda arm RT that Putin would hold an address on Tuesday evening but one never came.
World leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly in New York – which Putin did not attend - were furious while Liz Truss said Russia should be made to pay reparations to Ukraine using its oil and gas reserves.
"There has been grave damage caused across Ukraine," she told Channel 5.
"I'm proud that the United Kingdom has stepped up working with the Kyiv to help them with their reconstruction.
"But I would expect that the Russian state which has vast oil and gas reserves should be contributing to rebuilding it."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: "The Russians can do whatever they want. It will not change anything." His country dismissed the reports of referendums as an attempt to seize the initiative by Moscow as it licks its wounds from Kyiv's stunning counter attack.
French president Emmanuel Macron called any referendum ploy "a tragic parody" while Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to President Joe Biden, said: "The United States will never recognise Russia’s claims to any purportedly annexed parts of Ukraine."
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted: "As Russia moves ahead with fake referenda in occupied territories of Ukraine, let me say it loud and clear: We will never recognise this. Ukraine has every right to take back its territory."
President Zelenskyy said: "I thank all the friends and partners of Ukraine for their massive and firm condemnation of Russia's intentions to organise yet more pseudo-referendums."
