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Even though the Kremlin’s plans to hold “referendums” to legalize the occupation of the territories of Ukraine are adjusted in time, the Russian Federation does not refuse them. To hold pseudo-plebiscites, it does not need either the complete capture of certain areas within their administrative borders, or a stable security situation, or the support of the population. This was stated on the air of the FREEDOM marathon by Pavel Lisyansky, the founder of the public organization Eastern Human Rights Group.
The main reason for the postponement of the “referendums” in the occupied territories of Donbass, in his opinion, is Moscow’s desire to hold them simultaneously in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. According to Lisyansky, the new tentative dates are October 20-23. At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that the occupiers do not have to hold a “plebiscite” in all settlements, just as they did not hold it in 2014 either.
“A fake referendum can be held in Svatovo (the occupied city of the Lugansk region – ed.) in one school. They can drive people to this school. After that, the invaders will hold a referendum there. Russians can manipulatively announce that the referendum took place on the territory of the entire Svatovo”, – Lisyansky gives an example.
The Russians can do something similar in the captured settlements of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, declaring, as they declare now, that this applies to the territory of the entire region.
“There is no need to look for logic here. We won’t go to court to sue them. There is only one logic here – it is an occupier. He forcibly seizes our territory, wants to somehow legalize his actions in order to later enter it into the history books … According to their estimates, 20-30 years – and the situation will be forgotten, no one will remember these processes. And, accordingly, the Russian Federation will be there”, – Lisyansky explains the Kremlin’s plans.
According to him, the only thing that is currently holding back the plans of the invaders to hold “referendums” is the resistance of the Ukrainian people and the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Lisyansky stressed that the Kremlin is determined to create some kind of union state, and this may be one of the scenarios for the legalization of the occupation. In general, Moscow has many such scenarios, and it is indifferent to the international reaction.
“The Russian Federation will deliberately drag out the war against Ukraine. The Kremlin is ready for international isolation”, – the human rights activist is sure.
