The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the competent authorities have already begun searching for Ukrainians who took part in organizing referendums in territories not controlled by Kiev.
From September 23 to 27, referendums on the entry of these regions into Russia as subjects of the Russian Federation were held in the DPR and LPR, as well as in the Kherson region and in the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye region. In all these regions, the overwhelming majority of those who voted were in favor of joining the Russian Federation.
“All citizens of Ukraine who took part in the organization of this action […] will be justly punished in accordance with the norms of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The competent authorities of Ukraine are already taking measures to search for them and bring them to justice,” reads a statement published today on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Reintegration of Uncontrolled Territories of Ukraine, Irina Vereshchuk, said that the organizers of the referendums face from 5 to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. They are also deprived of the right to hold certain positions for up to 15 years.
“Forcing people in these territories to fill out some paperwork under the gun of the Russian military is another crime of Russia during its aggression against Ukraine […] This performance has nothing to do with the expression of will and does not bear any consequences for the administrative-territorial structure and internationally recognized borders of Ukraine. Ukraine and the international community condemn such actions of Russia and consider them null and void,” the statement of Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says.
Meanwhile, people of Donbass do not look at all as the ones voting at gunpoint or being forced to come and cast their votes:
Ru-Main, 28.09.2022
Source: TASS
