Such a move could give Moscow a pretext to escalate its faltering war, which has seen Kyiv reclaim thousands of square miles of territory this month. In a speech on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the specter of nuclear weapons in his speech, saying he would use “all means at our disposal” if he judged Russia’s “territorial integrity” to be at risk. The votes, expected to take place over five days, were called by pro-Russian officials in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics and the Russian-controlled regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, with questions on the ballot varying slightly by region. Together the four regions make up about 18% of Ukraine’s territory. The plans, held under military occupation and effectively carried out at gunpoint, have been strongly condemned by both Ukraine’s government and its Western allies as a “fraud”. The European Union has said it will not recognize the results and has said it is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia. Putin backed the referendums in a speech to the nation on Wednesday. “The parliaments of the people’s republics of Donbass and the civil-military administration of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have decided to hold a referendum on the future of these territories. They asked Russia to support this step and we stressed that we will do everything to ensure safe conditions for for the people to express their will,” he said. In both Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions, local authorities urged citizens to vote from home, saying ballot boxes could be brought to them. The Luhansk region is almost entirely controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces. But it remains disputed — Ukrainian forces liberated the village of Bilohorivka earlier this week. The Ukrainian governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region on Friday said “the Russians will calculate and get any result favorable to them” in what he described as a “sham referendum”. “The opinion of the population does not matter,” Serhii Hayday said on Telegram, adding that “a gunman is involved in every polling station, whose appearance should force people to vote with humility.” Before the votes, the pro-Russian authorities tried to excite the voters. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti showed a poster being distributed in Luhansk. He says: “Russia is the future.” “We are united by a history of 1,000 years,” he says. “For centuries, we were part of the same great country. The dissolution of the state was a huge political disaster… It is time to restore historical justice.” Observers say it seems unlikely that such a rushed process, in areas where many voters live near the front lines of the conflict, will be successful or fair. Additionally, due to extensive internal displacement since the beginning of the conflict, voting databases are likely out of date. In Kherson, for example, Ukrainian officials said about half the pre-war population has left. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitors the elections, condemned the “illegal referendums”. “Any so-called ‘referendums’ planned by or with the support of the forces illegally exercising de facto control over the occupied territories of Ukraine would be contrary to international standards and obligations under international humanitarian law and therefore their outcome would not it is legal. force,” said the OSCE, which monitors elections in 57 member states. A referendum held in Crimea in 2014, in which 97% of voters officially supported annexation, was ratified by Russian lawmakers within a week. This time, some regions are planning to announce the results earlier than others. Authorities in Luhansk said they would announce the results the day after voting closed, while in Kherson, authorities would wait five days after polls closed. Earlier this week, pro-Russian officials in the occupied territories said potential votes would be postponed because of the security situation — as Ukrainian forces advance offensives in parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhia and Russian positions and supply lines in Kherson come under almost daily strikes by Ukrainian artillery. There was a sudden and synchronized change of heart earlier this week. Russian politicians have since been quick to offer their support, noting that when these regions join Russia — assuming the votes are in favor — they will be entitled to Moscow’s full protection. Russian MP Konstantin Kosachev said that Russia would have a duty to protect these areas and that any attack on them would be considered an attack on Russia “with all its consequences”. Former Russian president and deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev was more specific, saying it would be of “tremendous importance” for the “systemic protection” of residents and that weapons in Moscow’s arsenal could be used, including strategic nuclear weapons. for the defense of territories joining Russia from Ukraine. “Trespassing on Russian territory is a crime that allows you to use all self-defense forces,” Medvedev said. CNN’s Mick Krever contributed to this report.