OEKRAÏNE
Ruslands "schijnreferenda" in bezet Oost-Oekraïne
September 26, 2022 - Voting in referendums organised by the Kremlin and accompanied by security officials is taking place in four occupied regions of Ukraine. Kyiv and the West have denounced the referendums as rigged.
The referendums in Russian-controlled areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhya regions are widely viewed as a pretext for annexation, according to AP.
By incorporating the areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhya into Russia, Moscow could portray efforts to retake them as attacks on Russia itself, a warning to Kyiv and its Western allies, Reuters said.