Moscow is about to annex a swath of Ukraine, releasing what it called vote tallies showing support in four partially occupied provinces to join Russia
It looks like Russia is poised to annex a large chunk of Ukraine.
This comes after so-called referendums were held in four occupied provinces, which showed overwhelming support for joining Russia.
Of course, these referendums were anything but legitimate. They were held at gunpoint and were widely denounced by Kyiv and the West as sham votes.
“They can announce anything they want. Nobody voted in the referendum except a few people who switched sides. They went from house to house but nobody came out,” said Lyubomir Boyko, 43, from Golo Pristan, a village in Russian-occupied Kherson province.
People attend a rally and a concert in support of annexation referendums in Russian-held regions of Ukraine, in Saint Petersburg on September 23, 2022.
Moscow takes charge
Nevertheless, it looks like Moscow is moving ahead with its plans to absorb these Ukrainian regions. A tribune has been set up on Red Square, with giant video screens proclaiming “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson – Russia!”
The Russian-installed administrations of the four Ukrainian provinces on Wednesday formally asked Putin to incorporate them into Russia, which Russian officials have suggested is a formality.
“The results are clear. Welcome home, to Russia!,” Dmitry Medvedev, a former president who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Telegram.
It’s expected that President Vladimir Putin will give a speech within days confirming the annexation. This would mean that, in just over a week, Putin has gone from endorsing the sham referendums to formalizing the annexation of Ukrainian territory.
This latest development is sure to increase tensions between Russia and the West. It also further diminishes the chances of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
Ahron Young is an award winning journalist who has covered major news events around the world. Ahron is the Managing Editor and Founder of TICKER NEWS.
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has broken his silence on the Manhattan District Attorney pursuing charges against Donald Trump.
DeSantis has vowed his office will not get involved if the matter trickles into the former President’s adopted home state – that is Florida.
But the Florida governor stopped well short of offering support to Trump, instead poking fun at the situation.
A New York grand jury is in the final stages of determining whether Trump should face charges over an alleged payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
This is all related to an alleged affair.
The dismissive and tongue-in-cheek comments made by DeSantis travelled quickly.
Trump’s allies immediately started attacking the Florida governor across social media, suggesting he will face a political price for failing to rally around Trump.
This was before the former president responded himself, saying “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about false accusations & fake stories sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known”.
The episode is just another example of the tension and rivalry between two of the GOP’s biggest stars as they battle for party supremacy.