A senior Russian official has been tasked with organizing a “mock” referendum to annex Ukrainian territories to Russia, a US State Department spokesman said on Tuesday, saying the vote could take place quickly.
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Sergei Kiriyenko, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration and close to Vladimir Putin, oversees efforts to “attempt to annex to Russia” Ukrainian territories, “which, if carried out, would be illegal” , said Vedant Patel during a press briefing.
The White House had already warned on August 24 that Moscow could announce one or more “illegitimate” referendums in occupied Ukraine in the coming weeks.
“The sham referendum will try to lend a veneer of legitimacy to an overt land grab that would violate Ukraine’s constitution and international laws,” Patel continued.
“The United States and the international community know the truth, which is that all of Ukraine is and will remain Ukraine,” he added.
The American executive had specified on August 24 that these referendums could take place in Kherson (south), in Zaporijjia, in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as in Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country.
Crimea was annexed in March 2014 by Russia after an intervention by Russian special forces and a referendum denounced as illegal by Kyiv and the West.