Putin expected to seize Ukraine after ‘sham’ referendums

• Russian-led referendums will end on Tuesday in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
• The results are expected to show that a majority of Ukrainians support annexation.
• Moscow has already said that any attack on any of the four regions will be seen as an attack on Russian soil.

In parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian-led referendums will end on Tuesday. The results are expected to show that a majority of Ukrainians support the illegal annexation of four regions by the Kremlin.

Kyiv and Western leaders have already called Moscow’s referenda a “sham” and a “political trick” that looks like what Russia did in 2014 when it allegedly changed voting results to make it look like Crimeans wanted to break away from Ukraine.

After four days of “voting,” the same decision is likely to be made about Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. This is likely to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Reports from the weekend said that Russian proxies forced Ukrainians still living in war-torn areas to vote by showing up at their homes with ballots and, in some cases, armed people. They also reportedly kept track of those who voted against annexation.

Moscow has already said that any attack on any of the four regions will be seen as an attack on Russian soil.

If Russia took over parts of Ukraine, where brutal fighting has been going on since the invasion started seven months ago, this could give Russia a reason to be even more aggressive.

Dmitry Medvedev, the acting vice chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday that Russia would use nuclear weapons if “conventional weapons threaten the very existence of our state.”

In a Telegram post, he said, “We will have to act if the threat to Russia goes above the set level of danger.” “Without asking anyone’s permission or spending a lot of time talking about it. And it’s not a trick at all.”

Medvedev’s comments are just the latest in a string of escalating words that have put the threat of nuclear war at the forefront of the Ukraine conflict.

The acting chairman also said that the U.S. and NATO wouldn’t do anything if Moscow used nuclear weapons because they were afraid of starting a nuclear war..

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