In the Russian-occupied territories of eastern and southern Ukraine, the Russian authorities continued to hold the alleged referendums on Saturday. It is known from the Ukrainian media how the “referendums” in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions can be imagined in practice.
“Ukrainskaya Pravda” reports on Russian soldiers combing apartment buildings in the city of Enerhodar to seek out the remaining residents and persuade them to vote. Surveillance footage shows Russian soldiers, accompanied by civilian-clad representatives of the “electoral commission,” knocking on doors with lists in hand.
The Ukrainian governor of the largely Russian-occupied Luhansk region, Serhiy Gajdaj, also reports that people have been forced to vote at home or on the street, and no passport is required for this. Gajdaj further said the so-called “referendums” were more reminiscent of a “vote at gunpoint”.
Rocket and artillery attacks on Ukrainian cities
Meanwhile, Russian state media are distributing footage that is apparently intended to give the impression that the event was being carried out as planned. It mostly shows older people throwing ballots into ballot boxes in houses or on buses. Alleged “election observers”, often foreigners from Western countries, who have their say on Russian state television also serve as proof of a “smooth process”.
Even during the sham voting, the Russian army continued to attack Ukrainian cities. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army reported in the morning of massive artillery attacks, especially in the Donetsk region. At least one civilian was killed in a rocket attack on the city of Zaporizhia on Saturday night.
Tougher penalties for Russian deserters
In Russia there were also protests on Saturday against the mobilization announced by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. According to OVD-Info, more than 400 people were arrested in a total of 25 cities in the afternoon. Russian opposition media reported on protests in major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but also in other regions, such as the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Irkutsk.
The editor-in-chief of the Russian foreign broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonian, wrote on Twitter that more than 200 male Protestants who demonstrated against the war in central Moscow had been drafted. There have been numerous reports of this practice in recent days.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new package of laws providing for tougher penalties for soldiers who surrender or desert.
Anyone who deserts during mobilization or a state of war can be punished with up to 15 years in prison. Anyone who voluntarily becomes a prisoner of war – the Ukrainian government had called for this – can face up to ten years in prison.
