Residents cast their votes in controversial referendums in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on September 23, 2022.
Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Illegal “referendums” are underway in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Armed soldiers are going door-to-door to collect votes in the “sham” polls, per reports.
Some Ukrainians have been threatened with the murder of their families if they don’t take part, per The Telegraph.
Armed soldiers are going door-to-door in Ukraine to collect votes and threatening Ukrainians with the murder of their families if they fail to participate in so-called referendums that would see Russia annex occupied parts of the country, according to The Telegraph.
Voting in the Kremlin-orchestrated polls, which were announced earlier this week, has begun in the four occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
The “referendums” are illegal under Ukrainian and international law, per NPR. President Joe Biden on Friday described them as a “sham” and a “false pretext” to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force,
The voting is expected to end on Tuesday, but the results are likely predetermined.
Polling stations include transparent ballot boxes and armed guards who, on occasion, have leaned over and watched as people vote, according to The Telegraph.
In Novoaidar, Luhansk Oblast, The Telegraph reported that soldiers armed with machine guns had been seen approaching homes in order to collect votes.
“It is not possible to refuse because there are two people in front of you with weapons and are aggressive,” said a local, per The Telegraph.
A woman in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia, told BBC News that “collaborators” arrived at her parents’ flat, accompanied by Russian soldiers, to give them a ballot to sign.
The door-to-door voting is for “security reasons”, according to Russian state media.
Several Ukrainians living in the occupied territories have also been threatened with the massacre of their families if they refuse to participate, according to six of The Telegraph’s sources.
“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 Ukrainian in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, who asked to remain anonymous, per The Telegraph.
“We’re scared,” the Ukrainian continued, according to the newspaper. “At the referendum, turnout is required or arrest or worse. Many are being forced with a threat to life.”