2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine
In late September 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine staged so-called referendums on the annexation of occupied territories of Ukraine by Russia.[1][2][3][4] They were widely described as sham referendums by commentators and denounced by various countries. The validity of the results of the referendums has been accepted by North Korea, and no other sovereign state.
The votes were conducted in four areas of Ukraine – the Russian puppet states of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, and the Russian-appointed military administrations of Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, captured and occupied in the first week of the 2022 invasion[5][6] – as well as in Russia.[1] At the time of the referendums, Russia did not fully control any of the four regions, where military hostilities were ongoing at the time. Much of the population had fled since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] The referendums were illegal under international law and have been condemned by the United Nations as violations of the United Nations Charter.[8][9]
On 30 September 2022, Russia's president Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine in an address to both houses of the Russian parliament. The United Nations, Ukraine, and many other countries condemned the annexation.[10]
Opinion polls
There are no public independent statistics on attitudes towards referendums in the occupied territories. A survey taken before the Russian invasion of Ukraine by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) suggested that support for joining the Russian Federation ranges from 1% in Kherson Oblast to 13.2% in Luhansk Oblast. According to closed polls commissioned by the Russian authorities in July 2022, about 30% of those surveyed supported joining Russia, about 30% supported staying in Ukraine, and the rest declined to answer.[81][25][28]
In the poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology between 13 and 18 May 2022, 77% of Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory said they did not support any territorial concessions to Russia, even if it would prolong the war.[82] A KIIS poll conducted in September 2022 found that 87% of Ukrainians opposed any territorial concessions to Russia, up from 82% in May 2022. Only 24% of ethnic Russians in Ukraine supported territorial concessions to Russia.[83]
Many Ukrainians have fled Russian-occupied territories to avoid referendums and living in territory annexed by Russia.[84][85] According to Ukrainian journalist Serhiy Harmash, "In Kherson and the region of Zaporizhzhia, many hate Russia — but in Donetsk and Luhansk, people have had their heads filled with propaganda for the past eight years."[86]
Opinions on the goals of holding referendums
Military analysts link the decision to hold referendums with the weakness of the Russian Federation on the battlefield.[87] Their announcement followed the rapid advance of the Ukrainian army in the weeks prior, defeating Russian troops in the Kharkiv direction and on the offensive in the east and south. Analysts estimate Russia has lost tens of thousands of troops, has announced a mobilisation to recruit new soldiers, and is facing mounting backlash over its long-term invasion and the general mobilisation order.[88][89] Sources such as The Guardian have called the referendums pre-determined and assumed that Russia will dictate that the results will favour annexation.[90]
: UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the referendums a "violation of the UN Charter and international law".[8] Some days later he said, "The Charter is clear. Any annexation of a State's territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter and international law. ... [T]he so-called 'referenda'" cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will.[112]
United Nations
The (OSCE): Heads of OSCE condemned the plans to hold referendums on Ukraine's occupied territories, calling it illegal under both international and Ukrainian law.[113]
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
NATO: Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter that "Sham referendums have no legitimacy and do not change the nature of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. This is a further escalation in Putin's war".[114]
EU: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that "The European Union strongly condemns these planned illegal 'referenda' which go against the legal and democratically elected Ukrainian authorities".[115][116]
