The Kremlin-orchestrated referendums, which have been widely denounced by Ukraine and the West as shams with no legal force, are seen as a step towards annexation of the territory by Russia. Voting is taking place in the Luhansk, Kherson regions and the partially Russian-controlled regions of Zaporizhia and Donetsk. The vote, which asks residents whether they want their regions to be part of Russia, is certain to go Moscow’s way. This would give Russia the pretext to claim that efforts by Ukrainian forces to regain control are attacks on Russia itself, dramatically escalating the seven-month war. Voting will continue for five days until Tuesday. The referendums follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for a partial mobilization, which could add about 300,000 Russian troops to the fight. SEE l Hot scenes in Dagestan due to mobilization order:
The mobilization of the Russian troops begins with the gathering of men
Videos are emerging of what Russia’s mass mobilization of troops looks like, with men mostly from poorer neighborhoods gathering to fight in Ukraine. Inside Russia, tension and doubt are rising and people are leaving in droves. As voting began in the occupied territories, Russian social media was filled with dramatic scenes of tearful families saying goodbye to men leaving military mobilization centers. In cities across the vast country, men hugged their weeping family members before leaving as part of the army. Russian anti-war activists, meanwhile, planned more demonstrations against the mobilization.
Going door to door
Election officials will bring ballots to citizens’ homes and set up makeshift polling stations near residential buildings during the first four days of the referendum, according to Russian officials based in the occupied territories, who cited security concerns. Tuesday will be the only day voters will be invited to attend regular polls. The polls have also opened in Russia, where refugees from the occupied territories can vote. A military vehicle drives along a road under a billboard that reads “With Russia forever, September 27,” in Luhansk, Ukraine, on Thursday. It is one of four regions that will hold referendums on joining Russia. (The Associated Press) Denis Pushilin, leader of Moscow-backed separatist authorities in the Donetsk region, called Friday’s referendum “a historic milestone.” Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, addressed the occupied territories on Friday in an online statement, saying: “If you decide to become part of the Russian Federation — we will support you.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy only briefly mentioned the “fake referendums” in his overnight speech, in which he switched from speaking Ukrainian to Russian to directly tell Russian citizens they were “throwing themselves to their deaths.” “You are already complicit in all these crimes, murders and tortures of Ukrainians,” he said. “Because you were silent. Because you are silent. And now it’s time to choose. For men in Russia, this is a choice to die or live, to become disabled or to keep their health. For women in Russia, the choice is to lose forever their husbands, sons, grandchildren, or try to protect them from death, from war, from one person.”
Evidence of war crimes: United Nations rights experts
In Geneva, a panel of experts commissioned by the top UN human rights body to look into rights abuses in Ukraine said on Friday that its initial investigation showed evidence of war crimes in the country after the Russian invasion nearly seven months ago. Experts from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, mandated by the Human Rights Council earlier this year, have so far focused on four regions — Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy. Presenting their most extensive findings to date, they cited former prisoners’ accounts of beatings, electric shocks and forced nudity in Russian detention facilities and expressed grave concerns about executions in the four regions. “We were struck by the large number of executions in the areas we visited. The commission is currently investigating such deaths in 16 cities and towns,” said Eric Mose, president of the commission. He said his team had received and was documenting “credible allegations of many more cases of executions”. WARNING l Mass graves illustrate the urgent need for military aid: Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada:
President Putin calls up 300,000 reservists for Russia’s war in Ukraine
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovalev, is responding to the news that Putin has mobilized 300,000 reservists to aid his military campaign in Ukraine – and his threat of nuclear retaliation. Mose said an unspecified number of Russian soldiers were found to have committed crimes of sexual or gender-based violence, with victims ranging in age from four to 82. Separately, Ukrainian officials say 436 bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave in the eastern city of Izium, 30 of them with visible signs of torture. Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synyehubov and Oblast Police Chief Volodymyr Tymoshko told reporters in Izium on Friday that three more burials had been found in areas retaken by Ukrainian forces in a counteroffensive this month. Meanwhile, Mose said his team looked into two incidents of mistreatment of Russian soldiers by Ukrainian forces.
Explosions were heard in Melitopol, Mykolayiv
Russian and Ukrainian forces exchange fire as both sides refuse to cede ground. Ukraine’s presidential office said on Friday that at least 10 civilians were killed and 39 others wounded by Russian shelling in nine Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours. An aerial view of the small destroyed village of Hrakove is seen Thursday in Eastern Ukraine. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have retaken villages as Russian forces have withdrawn from areas they have seized since the beginning of the war. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) It said fighting continued in Russian-held southern Kherson despite the vote, while Ukrainian forces carried out 280 attacks on Russian command posts, ammunition and weapons depots in the region. Heavy fighting also continued in the Donetsk region, where Russian attacks targeted Toretsk and Sloviansk as well as several smaller towns. Russian shelling of Nikopoli and Markhanets on the west bank of the Dnieper River resulted in the death of two people and the wounding of nine in Markhanets. Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine bordering Kherson region, said the explosions erupted in the city of Mykolaiv early Friday. Pro-Russian officials in the Zaporizhzhia region reported a loud explosion in the center of Melitopol, a city captured by Moscow early in the war. Official Vladimir Rogov did not provide details on what caused the explosion or whether there were any damage or casualties. Moscow-backed authorities in the Donetsk region also accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the city of Donetsk, the region’s capital, and the nearby town of Yasinuvata.
