The so-called referendums on the annexation to the Russian Federation of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow’s troops are ending today. Held as of Friday in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, in the east, and in those invaded since spring, Kherson and Zaporozhe, in the south, the alleged people’s consultations were denounced as a „simulacrum” by Ukraine and its Western allies. The so-called G7 group, gathering the world’s seven richest democracies, has warned that it will „never recognize” the results of the referendums, while Washington has vowed a „swift and severe” response, through further economic sanctions, to these annexations, which follow the model of the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. Communist China, a close partner of Moscow, did not denounce the referendums, but demanded respect for the „territorial integrity of all countries”. The so-called local authorities, instated by the invading Russian army, announced that the „provisional results” of the referendums should be announced on Tuesday evening or in the coming days. The Russian Parliament will then have to vote on a text formalizing the integration of the four Ukrainian regions into Russia.
