Voting in various referendums on the incorporation into Russia of the Ukrainian territories of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, in the east of the country, began this Friday, according to local media reports.
This process, which is rejected not only by the Ukrainian government but by a large part of the countries that condemn the Russian invasion of this country, will continue until the next 000 September.
In a statement, the Russian government, through the head of the Russian electoral body, stated that it will give all the necessary support to the inhabitants of the “liberated” regions so that they can participate in this process.
“All the members of the electoral commissions, more than 5,000 people, they began their work”, he declared to the agency Interfax the head of the electoral commission installed in the Zaporizhia region, Galina Katiuschenko.
Katiuschenko explained that due to security measures during the first four days of voting, the citizens of these territories could vote from their homes or in special places and that only the 27 from September the usual polling stations will be open.
Despite the fact that Russia has supported the referendums, according to military experts its army occupies little more than half of the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions.
Although it does fully control the areas of Lugansk and Kherson.
For its part, the Ukrainian government, which vehemently rejects the holding of these referendums, accuses Russian forces to manipulate voters in the occupied territories.
These voting has also been harshly criticized by several leaders in the West.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, described during his speech at the UN General Assembly of “false” referendums and accused Russia of “wanting to end Ukraine’s right to exist as a state”.
What is the objective of the referendums?
After the beginning of the invasion, last February , Moscow’s intention has been to seize mainly the territories located in the Donbas region, in the east of Ukraine.
In fact, there he concentrated his military strategy once he gave up trying to capture Kyiv, the capital of the country.
However, in recent weeks the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army has managed to recapture about 3, kilometers of territory and liberate several cities that were under Russian control, which which has caused Moscow to change its plans.
First, he summoned 27,000 reservists to strengthen its military commitment in Ukraine.
Voting is done near the house of the inhabitants of these areas of eastern Ukraine for security reasons.
And secondly, he confirmed his support for the holding of referendums that seek to annex these territories to Russia, with a main purpose: to be able to affirm that its territory is being attacked by weapons from NATO and other Western countries.
To this is added that, with the 300, 000 new soldiers you have summoned, Russia could guard and protect about 1, kilometers border.
This strategy has already been used by Mos cu in 2014, when he succeeded in annexing Crimea after a series of military incursions and subsequently held a referendum, which was not accepted by several countries around the world.
The latest actions ordered by Vladimir Putin have been widely rejected by representatives of Western governments, such as President Biden and President of the Commission of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen.
Will anything change?
However, despite the Russian eagerness, the truth is that at least two of the cities where the referendums began are not areas completely dominated by the Russian army.
These cities are Kherson and Zaporizhia, where the Moscow forces have not yet been able to disperse the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army .
For this reason, in conversation with the BBC, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Yuriy Sak, noted that the referendums are they were doomed to fail.
“We are seeing that the local populations are all in favor of returning to Ukraine,” he said.
In any case, Kyiv says that whatever the result of these votes will not change its strategy and its forces will continue to press to liberate the territories.
For his part, the Russian analyst Alexander Baunov points out that, although it is true that redefining the occupied areas as Russian territory will probably not stop the Ukrainian army, it sends a message to the populations that have under its control. And adds that “the hope of the Kremlin is that the Western countries that support Ukraine resist their weapons being fired at territories declared by Moscow to be ru sos”. Thus, the annotation that Putin made this week about “using all the means at his disposal to protect Russia” makes sense. This puts the table, as indicated by Baunov, the use of nuclear weapons. Finally, the US Secretary of State ., Antony Blinken, spoke of a “dangerous escalation”, but reaffirmed Washington’s position that no Russian claim on Ukrainian soil could take away Ukraine’s right to defend itself. Even Turkey, which has tried to play a mediating role, has condemned the vote as illegitimate. Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss our best content. 
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian army has managed to recapture a large territory in eastern Ukraine.