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© Thomson Reuters 2022.Russian annexation of Ukraine territory expected within days
By Jonathan Landay ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
55 Comments
Madverts
Putinistsan Über Alle!
Fascist state on the move...
Haaa Nemui
Maybe a January 6th type event based on actual truth happening soon.
2020hindsights
This is good news. Now is when Ukraine need these arms.
tooheysnew
Vote ‘yes’ to joining Russia at the the point of a gun.
that's how democracy works in Russia
this sham referendum will not have any effect on the war. Ukraine will retake these territories & Putin will fall on his sword (or be pushed onto it)
wallace
Putin's "Dad's Army" elderly men had 48 hours of training, a sprinkling of holy water, and old weapons and were sent to Ukraine. Many complain about the lack of food and provisions.
PTownsend
Putin's big lies will be believed by his idolaters in Russia, especially those that 'voted' for him to remain in power until 2036 and also believed by those in anti-west populations, including anti-democracy extremists like US Republicans. China will probably continue to back Putin hoping Putin can further weaken Russia which would give China the upper-hand in the new imperium.
lincolnman
Among the names released on the referendum were "Elvis", "Bigfoot", "Jimmy Hoffa", and "Roger Stone"...
theFu
Any election with only single choice (or 20 choices) running where the willing person gets over 80% of the votes is election fraud. This is been shown over and over and over around the world. There are studies which prove it. The last 2 elections that Putin won in Russia ... it was proven to be fraud with multiple methods deployed by Putin's team.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/08/12/leaked-archive-indicates-large-scale-election-fraud-meduza-a78558 shows how 17M ballots in Russian elections last year were actually only cast by 2M people. Putin has election fraud down to a science ... but not enough to actually make anyone think the elections were fair.
tooheysnew
we all hope & pray that he doesn’t.
But if he does, he has been warned of the consequences - nato will respond with all their might.
1glenn
Hitler would be right at home in Putin's Russia.
Nemo
Thank God NATO had all those election monitors in place, eh?
What a crock.
This sham referendum amounts to a small belch at an all you can eat buffet.
theResident
Yes @Padraig - As terrified I was for my future as a teenager in the early 80's I guess. Whats should we do, wrap them up in cotton wool and not tell them the facts? You just yourself they have easy access to media by way of smartphones. Go and watch 'Threads' - made by the BBC in 1984. That will scare you for sure.
fallaffel
Ok. What other countries have door to door voting, with armed soldiers present to make sure you check the right box? I don't remember it happening in Japan or the US. I must be old fashioned.
wallace
There will be an increase in EU sanctions.
Kabukilover
No question the annexation was rigged with the proverbial pointed gun at the head. And for what? Putin needs those provinces like a dog needs a fifth leg. Once annexed by Putin there will be revolts and sabotage. It is going to cost the lives of innocent people. Meanwhile, young men are fleeing Russia.
Putin may be a smart candy man who brought Western consumer goods to Russia but he has been a disaster in everything else.
Padraig Bohannan
@theResident.
Threads. For sure I was scared when I watched that.
I don't think we should wrap kids in wool. But I don't believe in scaring the bejesus out of them when you and I know that nuclear conflict (on a world scale) is NOT.... repeat NOT, going to happen.
Rodney
Total BS. Russia didn’t annex. The people of these states democratically voted to join the Russian Federation. It is now up to the Russian government to consider their applications. It is same process as the EU, except western countries are racist against Russians and can’t except democracy as a universal right.
Rodney
@theFu.
you do know there were independent international election monitors and all said there was no fraud. The western propaganda machine reacted to these facts by putting personal sanctions on any independent international election monitor who didn’t lie for the greatness of the US proxy war.
Rodney
hitler was defeated by Russia with the loss of 26 million lives. Ukraine has amalgamated neo-Nazi into its government and military. They openly display Nazi symbols and Ukraine’s nation hero is Stepan Bandera, a Nazi. A US backed ultranationalist coup in 2014 overthrew the democratically elected government. they tortured and even burnt people alive.
One of Russia’s goals is to confront followers of Hitler.
(some people should not of skipped their history classes)
2020hindsights
Rodney
No there isn't. Completely untrue.
Rodney
@toheysney.
lve been to six active conflicts, and the only time I was in a basement was because of rockets and mortars.
that why I live in safe Japan. Well maybe safe…?
wallace
Rodney
So sad when you post false information. An illegal referendum is already a fraud. Only Russians voting is a fraud. Going door-to-door with armed soldiers is a fraud.
Haaa Nemui
I know right. 98% of the 20% of citizens who the Russians didn't chase out of the regions voted to join the Russian Federation.
Rodney
https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-sanctions-russia-referendums/32054285.html
fallaffel
LoL, not even the Russian public believes this is a real referendum. You are one of the true believers I guess. Please don't let us disillusion you.
Numan
It will be another embarrassment for Putin when the Ukrainians roll in and the poorly trained, ill-prepared, unmotivated Russian soldiers retreat or surrender without fight. I think the Russian sympathizers will be more willing to fight because of the consequences of being tried as traitors.
Reclaiming these newly annexed territories will give Ukraine the confidence to retake its jewel, Crimea!
commanteer
You mean people will go to the seat of government to protest, only to be shot and/or arrested and sentenced to prison for the actions? Already happening in Moscow.
Nemo
There were a whole lot of Russian women crying as their men of varying ages and conditions got called up.
They’re right to cry. Many of those men, poorly trained, poorly organized, poorly led, poorly equipped and sent into combat by a sociopath to back up his lie are not coming home.
Russian Army Conscripts = Combat Alfalfa ready for the reaping.
rcch
I was reading this this morning:
“ “Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’ U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service," the embassy warned Tuesday. The embassy warned that the ability to leave Russia has already become increasingly difficult with limited commercial flights and crowded border check points. “Those residing or traveling in Russia should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain," the statement released by the embassy added.
Putin’s decree to mobilize 300,000 soldiers to go fight in his war in Ukraine has reportedly resulted in hundreds of thousands of conscription age men attempting to flee Russia.
Images have surfaced on social media showing packed airports and Finnish border check point officials have said thousands of cars have jammed up highways as Russians, mostly fighting age men, look to flee from Putin's order.
Russian men have reported flooded into Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia as other European nations have blocked their borders to Russian citizens.
Over a five-day period after Putin announced the mobilization on Sept. 21 some 261,000 men had already fled Russia. “
It only shows that Putin has the world and his own people against him.
..
Best comment of the year (!)
Haaa Nemui
Exactly, but based on actual truth.
Sheikh Yerboaby
The most ironic of truths. I suspect the only way out of this is for Russians to top Putin........
tooheysnew
uniformed officers’ speech to these conscripts as they were sent off on buses - ‘ you will undertake two weeks of training, then be sent to the front lines to fight - most of you won’t be coming home’
elephant200
Well done Russia, get back your lost lands: Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic states. The dissolution of USSR was an illegal attempt and it should be FIXED!
starpunk
Putin didn't care about his regular army, do you think he cares about these conscripts? Think again.
The walls are starting to cave in on Pudding Head. Russian soldiers are getting killed every day, the war has bogged down considerably with no easy victory like Kazakhstan was, and the Russian public are getting sick of this crap.
Sanjinosebleed
I wonder if Russia will now pull back to the new borders and defend from there. Could possibly be a de-escalation from here...
stormcrow
Despicable. Even the Russians are fleeing from their own government. Their own government!
Get out while you can!
UChosePoorly
They can try, but Ukraine gets a vote in these "referendums" too.
elephant200
I think Russia should learn from China, claiming that Ukraine was part of Russia since ancient times and mobilizing the will of soldiers to fight and die for the land where it was given from ancestors. Russia took Ukraine in 1793 during the reign Queen Catherine. So if this part of history had been served as a propaganda purpose, the result of the Russian's campaign will be different. The Russians were not serious over history like the Chinese does!
elephant200
The people of Russia has lost their minds, they were not serious enough over claiming back the lands of the Soviet Union. This is a very serious morale problem and this has got to be changed. This is not a Putin's War, this is all the Russian's war. They should learn from the Chinese, China has never giveup her claims over Taiwan although the Chinese rule has never been implemented there. The lands of Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet. Xinjiang, Hong Kong & Macau were solidly under Chinese control because there is a consensus of those lands were Chinese lands. It is a crime if someone denial it or telling stories of otherwise. The new generation of Russians has forgotton, unenthusiastic or ignoring the history that Ukraine was the land that was taken by heavy loses of lives during the Russian civil war and the Second World War.
Nemo
I like the part where the Russian officer is telling the new conscripts to get sanitary napkins on their own so that if they get shot, they can use them as bandages.
Yes, they are telling conscripts to the army to supply their own basic kit and telling them to use sanitary napkins.
That is how badly equiped these poor devils are.
itsonlyrocknroll
Putin will annex whole swathes of sovereign Ukraine.
To save face and justify his war.
It will be cowardly appeasement, an outright betrayal of the Ukrainian people, many dead from barbaric atrocity.
A signal to the tyrant in china that genocide prevails over freedom of life.
This must never be allowed to happen.
Eastman
every elections where is sure that winner will be not loved by US and wetsern democracies are marked as illegal not democratic ones.
every referendum held where is chance that result will not please USA and its westeran allies is marked as fraud,fake,illegal.
very simple thing.
this narrative you can find in this propaganda piece as well.
good job Jonathan/irony off/
PTownsend
who knows what the above might mean? Both Russia and China have rewritten their histories so many times, and both confuse actual historical events with myths,. Both have populations of people that willingly believe what their masters tell them to believe.Fortunately today there appear to be many Russians that have stopped believing the Kremlin's lies and have chosen to leave Russia rather than getting killed fighting in a war they do not support. Look at how many people have left Russia and other countries that had been under thee jackboots of the USSR. Many of those that left have contributed greatly to 'western' nations, same with many ethnic Chinese that had been able to escape Chinese rule.
2020hindsights
Eastman
Not true. The Brexit referendum passed.
How can a referendum in Zaporizhzhia Oblast be fair considering Zaporizhzhia city is under Ukrainian control and represents around half the population of the oblast?
Nemo
Never fear, Eastman!
After the return of these areas to Ukraine, I’m sure the authorities will allow Russians to visit the graves of their loved ones who died for the Moscow Midget’s boondoggle.
It will be a cottage industry.
HonestDictator
Putin can't even take care of the Russian citizens he has in Russia's current proper borders. Why is his regime so stupid to try and grab more land (that doesn't belong to Russia) that they still can't take care of!?!?
Rodney
what proof do you have of this apart from western biased media. You do know that Zelenski passed a law that anyone participating in this democratic referendum facing up to 15 years in prison?
what you you say if some well armed geezers from the Azov Battalion asked you to comment on camera?
RichardPearce
The term "annexation" is used when a larger entity takes over a smaller one against the wishes of the smaller.
These areas declared their independence from Zelensky, and now their desire to join Russia to prevent the US from giving ZELENSKY the ability to ANNEX them.
When a smaller entity petitions a larger to allow it to merge, the term is AMALGAMATION.
PS a plebiscite is when a government or government agency asks the population of as a whole to grant them the power to do something. That the population has the ability to do so is the essence of sovereignty and democracy. A referendum is when a government or government agency asks the population about a specific decision within its power to make. So, the declaration of independence vote would be a plebiscite, the vote on the decision to amalgamate would be a plebiscite if the government was constitutionally prohibited from dissolving itself, otherwise it would be a referendum.
Asakaze
@stormcrow
You should look at Ukraine first. They've already had five or six "waves" of mobilizations, draft men chase their prey on streets, at shops, clubs etc. More then one million of able-bodied Ukrainian males took refuge in Europe or even Russia ( there are hundreds of thousands of them) without any desire to fight for the Kyev midget and his regime.
@Nemo
Boy, what a huge disappointment expect some posters!!
2020hindsights
RichardPearce
No the haven't.
wallace
Rodney
Like in Russia, anyone calling the invasion a war, or opposing the war people can face 15 years in prison.
But you are incorrect. Possible 5 years in prison for anyone helping the illegal referendum. Well, it is illegal and criminal against the state.
Official outlines punishments for those found guilty of helping Russia but says those forced to vote will not be punished.
"There have been multiple reports of voter intimidation. CCTV footage from the occupied Kherson showed pollsters from the occupying authorities going door-to-door accompanied by armed Russian soldiers. Local people have been made to vote on behalf of residents who evacuated, because of low turnout, claimed Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/27/ukrainians-involved-in-russia-referendums-face-prison-terms-says-kviv
Non-western media.
Luhansk Governor Haidai said Russian pollsters were issuing passports in return for “yes” votes to a referendum on annexing the region to Russia.
In the devastated port of Mariupol, Ukraine’s military intelligence said that occupation officials went door-to-door, forcing households that received humanitarian aid to vote.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/28/russias-mobilisation-sparks-backlash-over-war-in-ukraine