Ukrainians forced to vote for Kremlin control at gunpoint
Russian forces are taking residents to polling stations under threat of their families being massacred
RUSSIAN soldiers are going door-todoor armed with machine guns, forcing Ukrainians to vote in “sham” referendums that will annex newly occupied areas, sources say.
Voting began yesterday and is expected to continue until Tuesday, with polling stations featuring seethrough ballot boxes and armed guards monitoring voters.
The stations have been set up across Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, as well as Russia itself.
Ukrainians living in territory that Moscow has taken since the start of the war have been told their families will be massacred if they refuse to take part, with soldiers sometimes even leaning over their shoulders and watching them as they vote.
“We are forced to go under the pretext of being shot. If we didn’t go, they said that they would shoot or massacre the whole family,” said a resident in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, who wished to remain anonymous because of fears of reprisals.
“We’re scared. At the referendum, turn-out is required or arrest or worse. Many are being forced with a threat to life.”
Five Ukrainians based in occupied territory shared similar experiences with The Daily Telegraph.
Moscow-backed officials in these territories announced earlier this week they will hold votes on the prospect of joining Russia, marking a significant escalation in the Kremlin’s plans to annexe Ukraine.
Russian forces have already imposed administrative measures, including introducing the rouble and issuing Russian passports, but the votes will formalise the Kremlin’s control.
Kyiv has decried the referendums as an illegal sham that will not be free or fair and therefore are not valid.
Melinda Simmons, Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, said the results of the “sham referenda” had been “almost certainly already decided”.
She described the polls as “a media exercise designed to pursue further an illegal invasion by Russia”.
Ivan Fedorov, Ukraine’s elected mayor of Melitopol, has said “participation in a pseudo-referendum is the worst betrayal”.
Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, said that all those involved in running the “referendums” would be punished.
In Novoaidar, Luhansk Oblast, armed forces could be seen approaching homes with weapons.
“Residents were informed in advance that for the first three days they will go from house to house to collect votes,” a resident said.
“If a person ran away and is not at home on the first day, they will come on the second and so on. It is not possible to refuse because there are two people in front of you with weapons and are aggressive.”
Russian news agency TASS showed officials in courtyards of buildings in Donetsk notifying residents by loudspeaker that voting had started and surrounding a resident while he cast his ballot.
In Bilovodsk, a company director reportedly told employees that voting was compulsory and that anyone refusing to vote will be fired.
Referendum ballots from Zaporizhzhia shared by activists at Severodonetsk Donbas Live read: “Are you in favour of the departure of the Zaporizhzhia region from Ukraine, the establishment of Zaporizhzhia as an autonomous state, and its accession to the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?”
Propaganda leaflets were distributed among residents in Severodonetsk, declaring that “Russia is the future” for Ukraine. “The collapse of the once unified state became the greatest geopolitical catastrophe. Millions of native people in an instant found themselves on opposite sides of artificial borders,” it said. “Now it is time to restore historical justice.” It added: “We have the opportunity to determine our own destiny, to defend the right to a better future for our children, to choose the path that will lead us to well-being and prosperity. We are one people and we will be together.”
Similar leaflets have been seen across the city of Kherson, according to one resident. Another said she planned to avoid Russians by dressing as a child.
“I try to maintain this image of a child, it seems to me that it is safer that way,” the 24-year-old woman said. “I stopped wearing make-up, I don’t wear women’s clothes. It seems as if a child cannot look dangerous to the occupiers.”
She added that she was “unable to describe” the pain she would feel if Russia annexed her home.
“This is complete despair. I want to cry and scream. Unbearable pain. I dream that it will all end, we live in constant stress. I find grey hair in me, and I’m only 24.”
While Russian forces rule with an iron fist, the rallies seen at the beginning of the occupation have evaporated – but resistance against the referendum remains, moving underground.
A Kherson resident described antirussian leaflets being shared among her friends encouraging them to abstain from voting.
“As soon as the occupation began, people went to rallies almost every day.
“Now the residents are fighting more covertly,” she said. “I do not want to feel like a part of those people who all this time were silent.”
Maria Khudenova, 21, from Slovyansk, said: The referendum is held illegally. There is no honest election commission and there is a complete falsification of votes. Russia is propaganda. Slovyansk is Ukraine.”
Eliza, also from Kherson, said she feared for her family’s safety but remains hopeful for the future.
“If Kherson became part of Russia I would leave here with great frustration and anger,” she added. “But I am sure that Kherson was, is and will be Ukraine.”
Not everyone was unhappy about the vote, however.
“All of us have been waiting for a referendum on joining Russia for eight long years,” said Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-backed leader of Luhansk.
“We have already become part of Russia. There remains only a small matter – to win (the war).”
“We are returning home,” said Denis Pushilin, the Russian-backed leader of Donetsk. “Donbas is Russia.”
‘We’re scared. At the referendum, turn-out is required or arrest or worse. Many are being forced with a threat to life’