Referendum of attachment to Russia organized in Mariupol controlled by the Russians

In southeastern Ukraine, Mariupol is the city where the fighting has been fiercest, causing tens of thousands of deaths. The Russians finally seized the city last May. Monday, September 26, a referendum of attachment to Russia is organizedalthough half of the inhabitants fled. The whole city is criss-crossed by mobile polling stations. The members of the polling station are accompanied by a soldier. The vote is not secret. “It’s illegal (…) because everyone shouldn’t see what we’re doing”says a woman.

The votes take place everywhere, on the wreckage of a car or in front of a house under reconstruction. “I am from Ukraine, but I want it to become a Russian Ukraine”says a resident. At the end of the street, other inhabitants voted “yes”denouncing the cost of living and corruption in Ukraine. They are convinced that their house was destroyed by Ukrainian fire. Few are those who openly say that they do not want to vote. Only one man said openly: “That Mariupol stays in Ukraine, I am for that. Historically, that’s how it is.”