“When someone with a machine gun is next to you, you won’t choose a ‘No’”: pseudo-referendums in occupied territories

From September 23 to 27, on Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, “referendums” were held regarding joining the Russian Federation. Fake votes were held in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts. Even though none of these regions is fully controlled by Russia, the question of joining the regions to the Russian Federation within their administrative boundaries was raised.

On the evening of September 27, the Russian mass media already began to spread information about the results of the “expressed will”. As expected, more than 90% “in favor” were reported. In the so-called “DPR”, occupation authorities made up 99.23%.

Find out how people “voted” in the occupied territories in the hromadske material.

People vote at a mobile polling station during the referendum in Mariupol, September 24, 2022

Photo: AP Photo

Kherson Oblast

On the first day of the so-called referendum, the occupation authorities tried to create a festive atmosphere in some “polling stations”. Russian tricolors were distributed to the people, and Russian folk songs were played by acoustic speakers. Some started dancing and became “stars” of the propaganda media.

“These are not Kherson people, we analyzed this video together with the locals. It was impossible to identify those people; they are brought from somewhere else. The goal is to create a classic propaganda picture. Moreover, in most polling stations we saw that people did not come to this referendum. There was nobody,” said Serhii Khlan, deputy of the Kherson Regional Council.

Volodymyr Saldo, the Gauleiter of Kherson Oblast appointed by Russia, promised the people of Kherson at the polling station that “now they will be safe under the protection of Russia”. Obviously, Saldo was not talking about those who do not go outside and hide at home from the occupation authorities.

“My grandmother stayed in Kherson. Since the beginning of this referendum, she has not left the apartment. This is what the majority of citizens who have a pro-Ukrainian position do,” says Serhii, a native of Kherson, in a comment to hromadske.

Realizing that there would be no commotion at the polling stations, “members of the commissions” accompanied by armed soldiers began going from house to house, urging people to “vote”. Human rights activists from the “Media Initiative for Human Rights” organization learned that the occupiers broke down the door and broke into the apartment of a resident of Kherson. In response to the demand to “vote”, a man named Viktor answered: “I was born in Ukraine, I will die here! I have nothing to lose!” On the ballot, he indicated that he does not support the referendum initiative. After that, according to human rights defenders, the military made a mess in his apartment.

“But even if the military personnel as part of the delegation do not resort to violence, their very presence is a factor of pressure – to force people to 'vote,'” notes Anastasiia Pantielieieva, documentarian of the “Media Initiative for Human Rights”. She adds: “When someone is standing next to you with a machine gun, you are unlikely to choose the 'No' option.”

Going around houses with weapons is not the only way to involve locals in “voting”. According to the Kherson publication, MOST, members of the “election commissions” called on passers-by to “vote” and did not always even check passports. And “members of the commissions” peeked behind the screens for “voting”, and spied on what mark a person had put. In addition, representatives of the “commission” deliberately invited people from other regions to the “voting” in Kherson.

The editor-in-chief of MOST Serhii Nikitenko notes that the turnout reported by the occupiers in Kherson Oblast is not true, and therefore this is another factor that calls into question the legitimacy of the “voting”.

“International law provides that even when such a referendum on self-determination takes place, at least half of the population must participate in it. The occupation authorities report that 50% voted. But 50% of whom? Of the list of voters? However, it doesn't exist, because they write these people down on blank sheets. Just everyone who came. That is, they cannot say that 50% voted, because it is not known how this number was calculated.”

On the evening of September 27, propagandists reported that in Kherson Oblast, all the votes had already been counted. They made up a number of 87.05% of those who allegedly “voted” for joining the Russian Federation.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast

In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the occupiers immediately resorted to intimidation. For example, according to the report of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, due to the catastrophically low voter turnout in Enerhodar, the Russians forced people to “vote” at gunpoint right in the middle of the streets.

“Currently, the streets of the city and surrounding settlements are practically empty. The locals sit at home, trying not to go out unless absolutely necessary. On the streets, there are patrols of the military of the Russian Federation with questionnaires for voting in the so-called referendum. Weapons are pointed at all passers-by, ‘ballots’ are given and people are told which exactly box to tick. There have been recorded frequent cases of coercion to “vote” for long-dead relatives.”

Similarly, people were forced to vote instead of deceased relatives in Melitopol, which has been occupied since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, said. However, the people of Melitopol did not go to the so-called referendums.

In some cities of the region, the Russians tried to give the appearance of “voter” turnout. In Berdiansk, the Russian military repeatedly went around the apartments of those who had previously refused to “vote”. However, according to the Berdiansk City Council, the townspeople refused even after threats. Then the occupiers resorted to tricks.

“In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, they are turning off the electricity in order to force people who ignore this ‘referendum’ to go to ‘vote’”, says Anastasiia Pantielieieva.

Against the background of the pseudo-referendum, the occupiers have already started handing out summonses. According to the information of the General Staff, those residents of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts who previously went to obtain Russian citizenship started receiving summonses to the military enlistment office. However, according to Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, the danger of forced mobilization to the occupation forces exists for all residents of the region.

“There is a real danger for men in the temporarily occupied territories. The invading authorities plan to once again violate the rules of warfare and conduct mobilization on our territories, forcing Ukrainian men to fight against their people. For this purpose, men aged 18-35 have already been banned from leaving at the checkpoint near Vasylivka,” says Starukh.

In some towns and villages, those people who refused to vote were immediately detained and taken to an unknown destination. According to Vladyslav Morok, director of the Department of Culture and Information Policy of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, he was informed about this by people from occupied Vasylivka.

“Women walk around the houses with a portable box for ‘voting’ and ‘ballots’. They are accompanied by five armed soldiers. People tick the ‘yes’ box because the machine guns are aimed at them. Those who try to protest or oppose are taken away."

A man votes at a polling station during the referendum in Melitopol, September 27, 2022

Photo: AP Photo

Donetsk Oblast

The so-called vote in Mariupol, which was almost destroyed by the Russians, looks especially cynical. One of the members of the “polling station” Olena said in a comment to Reuters that the local people seem to be looking for any opportunity to “vote”. And the sick or bedridden people allegedly call and ask to come to their home.

Petro Andriushchenko, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, shares other information. According to his testimony, on September 23, “voting” in the city began at gunpoint. People were stopped on the street and forced to “vote”.

“Today, in Mariupol, there are at most 90,000 people who can vote. No more than 10% of these people are openly pro-Russian. All the others are those who were caught on the street,” says Andriushchenko.

And on the last day of the referendum, in order to create a picture of massiveness, the occupiers included in the “voting” Russians who work in the city on construction. “There are approximately 15-20 thousand construction workers, and almost all of them voted in the ‘referendum’. That is, the citizens of Russia are openly deciding the fate of the ‘expressed will’ of Ukrainian Mariupol,” Andriushchenko noted.

On the same day, men in Mariupol began receiving messages asking them to come to the military enlistment office, the city council reports. The occupiers justified the decision by the fact that, according to the results of the pseudo-referendum, Mariupol would become part of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the Mariupol resistance published documents from the occupation administration, according to which mobilization in the city will begin on October 10.

Given this information, Andriushchenko advises the men to flee from Mariupol: “While the border with Russia is open. Go with a Ukrainian passport through Russia to some normal country. For example, the Baltic countries. Or Georgia.”

At the same time, the occupation authorities reported that the turnout at the “referendum” in Donetsk Oblast had exceeded 86%. The head of the Donetsk Regional Military-Civil Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, believes that the Kremlin has made up all the numbers: “The entire civilized world and, in general, conscious people with the ability to think critically, have no doubts: what Russia has arranged in the occupied territories is nothing but a farce.”

One of the most flagrant violations of human rights norms took place in occupied Olenivka. There, the Russians forced captured Ukrainian soldiers to “vote” and recorded it on video.

“We understand that additional pressure can be placed on a person in places of deprivation of liberty. Their life and health can be threatened,” emphasizes Anastasiia Pantielieieva, documentarian of the “Media Initiative for Human Rights”.

Builders vote in the referendum in Mariupol, September 23, 2022

Photo: AP Photo

Luhansk Oblast

“If on the first day of the so-called referendum, armed soldiers only went round by apartment and forced people to ‘vote’ in the yards, then on weekends men with machine guns inspect places of mass gathering of people. In particular, the markets. They check the documents and send people to the ‘polling station’, Serhiy Haidai, head of the Regional Military Administration, talks about the situation with pseudo-referendums in Luhansk Oblast.

According to him, the role of observers is performed by only five persons from Belarus and Cameroon who have international accreditation.

“The number of those who voted is not announced anywhere – only the percentage. In Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, and Rubizhne, which were almost completely destroyed, the occupiers claim a turnout of 41% to 46%, but at the same time they do not have lists of the population that remained in these cities," adds Haidai.

According to his calculations, approximately 10,000 locals remained in Sievierodonetsk. Before the full-scale invasion, 110,000 people lived in the city.

The occupiers can count 46% of the 10,000 people who remained in Sievierodonetsk. And this is only 4.5 thousand. Instead, people who left for the territory controlled by Ukraine organized protests against the pseudo-referendum, reports the Telegram channel “Sievierodonetsk | LHS 1934”.

Occupiers made up 98.42% of those willing to join Russia in Luhansk Oblast.

A man votes during the referendum in Luhansk, September 27, 2022

Photo: AP Photo

“These lands are Ukraine”

"The Russian government can officially announce that the ‘referendum’ is over and make the results public. This will make it impossible to continue any diplomatic negotiations with the president of the Russian Federation, and he knows it very well. I spoke about it publicly. I think that this is a very dangerous signal from Putin, which indicates that he is not going to end this war,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CBS News.

For his part, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called pseudo-referendums illegitimate and a “gross violation of international law”. And he also wrote on Twitter: “These lands are Ukraine.” Stoltenberg assured that our NATO allies are “unwavering” in their support of Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-defense.

Author: Yevhenii Shulhat