Marie Zakharova on referendums…
⚡️ Statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the holding of referendums in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions
💬 On September 23-27, referendums were held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions on the entry of these regions into the Russian Federation. The results of the expression of will have been summed up. The overwhelming majority of those who voted – 99.23% in the DPR; 98.42% in the LPR; 93.11% in the Zaporozhye region and 87.05% in the Kherson region supported the idea of uniting these regions with Russia. The turnout was: in the DPR – 97.5%; in the LPR – 92.6%; in the Zaporozhye region – 85.4% and in the Kherson region – 76.9%.
Despite the provocations of the Kyiv regime, which issued criminal orders to inflict massive artillery strikes on crowded places and civilian objects, people were not afraid to come to the polls and express their will. The results of the plebiscite speak for themselves: the residents of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye do not want to return to their former lives and have made a conscious and free choice in favor of Russia.
They basically have no alternative. Not everyone in Ukraine reconciled and accepted the coup d’etat in Kyiv in February 2014, as a result of which radical national forces came to power, unleashing a bloody massacre with dissenters in the south-east of the country. The signing of the Minsk agreements, approved by a UN Security Council resolution, did not save the situation either. The Ukrainian side, as its representatives cynically say today, was not going to comply with them from the very beginning, but was preparing for war. The population of Donbass was subjected to systematic and cynical extermination for eight years. The logical outcome of the anti-people policy pursued by the Kyiv regime was the decision of the residents of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye to seek protection from Russia.
The referendums were held in full compliance with the norms and principles of international law. The people of Donbass and southern Ukraine have exercised their legitimate right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Charter, the International Covenants on Human Rights of 1966, the Helsinki Final Act of the CSCE of 1975, as well as the opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo of 22 July 2010, confirming the fact that a unilateral declaration of independence by a part of a state does not violate any norm of international law.
International observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Latvia and other countries (a total of 133 people), who followed the course of the referendums, also recognized their results as legitimate. We thank foreign experts, bloggers, journalists, representatives of public organizations for their courage, honesty and objectivity.
In the near future, a crucial stage of our joint actions is coming to fulfill the aspirations of the residents of the DPR, LHP, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to be together with Russia.
Marie Zakharova
WtR