in some regions, referendums on annexation to Russia are a foregone conclusion

Ballot boxes transported to homes to protect the inhabitants from danger, or even installed in halls or courtyards of buildings still marked by the scars of war: in Mariupol (Ukraine), in the separatist region of Donetsk, the inhabitants are come to express their will or not to integrate Russia, Friday, September 23. “Everything will be fine, with God’s help. Everyone will come back. We will build our city“, hopes one of them. “Prospects will be much better than under Ukraine. It’s my opinion“, said another.

The head of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk also came to speak in the morning, to the applause of some people. “I am delighted that what we have fought for for so long is finally coming true, the return home, the return to greater Russia“, declared Denis Pushilin on this occasion. Hundreds of offices have been opened in Russia, to make the exiles vote, but also in the zones of Ukraine under Russian occupation. In kyiv, the inhabitants condemn a sham of democracy. Westerners announced that they would not recognize the results.