The “attachment” to Russia obtains up to 99 % of the votes to Donetsk. The recognition by Moscow of this vote will mark a new escalation in the conflict.
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First step in the annexation by Russia of an additional 100,000 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine, the referendums organized in four occupied regions have delivered perfectly awaited results – to the point of not arouse in Russia even as rise in the rise in Distracted shoulder, far from what the authorities have tried to present as a historic event.
The final results, but not yet official, report an overwhelming victory of “attachment to the Russian Federation”, a term retained for the consultation: 99 % in the self -proclaimed “People’s Republic” of Donetsk, 98 % in That of Louhansk, 93 % in the part controlled by Moscow for the region of Zaporijia and 87 % in that of Kherson.
Participation figures are in the endorsement, oscillating between 77 % and 97 %. Knowing that a good half of the inhabitants of these regions have chosen flight and exile, and that no census has been conducted, this “exceptional” participation can constitute a reliable indicator of consultations.
Only a handful of foreign observers have endorsed the process and praised a “democratic exercise” without a hitch. The profile of these observers, mostly installed in Russia, attests to a serious difference compared to the Crimean annexation referendum, in 2014, or to the various votes organized in Donetsk and Louhansk since that date – no European political party of importance has risked sending an observer.
History will undoubtedly remember these referendums the images of hooded and armed men accompanying the mobile ballot boxes even in the apartments of voters, or those of police cars covering empty streets to call for voting by speaker. Even the company of Mercenaries Wagner, whose ranks were recently bailiff by detainees, said he contributed to the holding of this vote organized over five days, from September 23 to 27.
enthusiasm and climate of Terror
The procedures were elastic enough to allow a high number of irregularities. French journalists were able to observe a woman voting in place of her granddaughter, in Donetsk, without the presence of a camera annoying the organizers. Le Monde has not been authorized to work in separatist territories.
A more “traditional” vote was held on the last day of the consultation, Tuesday, September 27, to offer beautiful images to Russian televisions. You can see there an over -representation of the elderly and women – thousands of men have been sent to the front and thousands of others go to their homes to escape forced mobilization.
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