PSEUDO-REFERENDUMS IN SEPTEMBER 2022 IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE REGARDING JOINING THE RUSSIA

Abstract

This article examines illegal activities of the Russian occupation regime during the pseudo-referendum on September 23-27, 2022 in the occupied Ukrainian territories, its violation of the norms of international law, in particular the IV Geneva Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War and national legislation - the Law of Ukraine “On the All-Ukrainian Referendum”.

For achieving their goal Russians engaged in a large-scale propaganda campaign based on russia’s fictional historical claims to the South and East of Ukraine. In order to falsify the results, the Russians forcibly

collected the passport data of residents of the occupied territories in advance, threatened the population that if they voted negatively, they would be deprived of access to the medical and educational sectors, and isolated from social security. On the eve of the so-called voting russians carried out shelling of the occupied territories, blaming them on the Armed Forces of Ukraine. People who publicly spoke out against the referendum were repressed, and only certain lumpenized elements of society cooperated with the occupation regime.

According to eyewitnesses, the occupiers did not properly organize polling stations, did not ensure a transparent election process and freedom of expression. During the illegal voting itself, voters were subjected to psychological and physical pressure from the Russian military and collaborators, elements of bribery were used. Despite this, residents of the occupied territories overwhelmingly ignored the elections, thus demonstrating a pro-Ukrainian position. However, this did not prevent the Russians from falsifying the results of the referendum and claiming a 90% voter turnout and 87-99% support for the inclusion of the occupied territories into the aggressor country. The referendum was organized in order to legitimize Russian expansion into Ukrainian lands for its own voters and to have a misleading propagandist influence on world public opinion. According to the author of the article, the organizers and executors of the illegal referendum should be prosecuted for criminal activity.

Key words: pseudo-referendum, annexation, occupied territories by russia, human rights violation, russian military aggression, criminal activity of the russian occupation administration.