Missiles strike in Ukraine as Putin’s polls get under way
Ukrainian cities have been bombarded by missile strikes as Kremlin-organised votes in occupied regions continue.
The referenda, which have been dismissed as a sham by G7 leaders, are expected to lead to annexation by Moscow after polls close on Tuesday.
There are reports of armed Russian soldiers going door-to-door to gather votes in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.
One resident said: “It’s clear that if military people approach you holding weapons in their hands then writing no is very scary.”
Voting in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south began on Friday and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will heed the residents’ will amid fears the Kremlin is poised to quickly annex the regions once the voting is over.
Meanwhile, attempts by Russia to mobilise 300,000 reserve soldiers have seen thousands flee the country, with the number of crossings into Finland doubling in a week, while the queue on the Russian side of the Upper Lars land border crossing to Georgia was at least 8km long.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged unwilling Russian recruits to carry out acts of sabotage, saying: “If you get into the Russian army, sabotage any activity of the enemy, hinder any Russian operations, provide us with any important information about the occupiers – their bases, headquarters, warehouses with ammunition.”
Zaporizhzhia governor Oleksandr Starukh said yesterday the Russians hit infrastructure facilities in the Dnieper river city, with a missile hitting an apartment building, killing one person and injuring seven others. Missiles also struck other areas, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.