Ukraine War – Volodymyr Zelenskiy: “We are liberating our country!”

Kyiv Despite the sham referendums held by Russian occupiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that he will recapture affected areas of his country. “This farce in the occupied territories cannot even be described as an imitation of referendums,” said Selenski in his video speech on Wednesday night. “We move forward and liberate our country!”

Shortly before, the occupation administrations set up by Moscow in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as in Cherson and Zaporizhia in the south, had said that the people there were said to be in favor of accession, some with more than 99 percent approval Russia would have spoken.

“As in the case of Ukrainian Crimea, the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions remain sovereign territories of Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv said in a statement on Wednesday. the Ukraine have every right to restore their territorial integrity by military and diplomatic means.

The EU, the Nato and the G7 countries should immediately impose new tough sanctions on Russia, it said. In addition, military support for Ukraine must be increased.

The military needs “tanks, combat aircraft, armored vehicles, long-range artillery and anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense means,” the statement said.

After mock referendums, Russian occupiers speak of a high level of approval

After counting all the votes, 99.2 percent of the voters in Donetsk agreed, said the occupation administration there. According to Russian information, it was more than 98 percent in Luhansk, more than 93 percent in Zaporizhia and more than 87 percent in Cherson. Thus, an unprecedented annexation of the territories is likely to begin in the coming days.

The mock referendums, which have been held for a total of five days since last Friday amid widespread international protest, are not recognized worldwide because they were held in violation of Ukrainian and international laws and without minimum democratic standards. In the past few days, observers had pointed to numerous cases in which residents of the occupied territories had been forced to vote.

Russian upper house could decide on annexations next week

The Russian-appointed head of Ukraine’s Luhansk region has already taken the next step and, according to an agency report, has submitted the formal application for incorporation to Russia. The separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik has the Russian president Wladimir Putin asked to review the application, reports the Russian news agency Ria. Before the start of the sham referendums, Putin had emphasized that the areas would then be completely under the protection of the nuclear power Russia.

The Federation Council – the upper house of the Russian parliament – could decide on the accession of the occupied territories to Russia next Tuesday, according to the chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko. The next scheduled meeting is scheduled for that day, Matviyenko said on Tuesday, according to Russian agencies.

United States prepare UN resolution against Russian mock referendums

The US is preparing a UN resolution against the Russian sham referendums. Ukraine’s fight is also a fight for the values ​​of democracy, said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a session of the most powerful body of the United Nations in New York. “Therefore, we will introduce a resolution condemning these sham referendums, urging member states not to recognize a changed status of Ukraine, and obliging Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.”

A vote in the Security Council will almost certainly fail due to Russia’s veto, but could allow conclusions to be drawn about the degree of Russia’s isolation. After that, the resolution should go to the UN General Assembly with 193 member countries for a vote.

scholz: “Putin is lining up mistakes after mistakes”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) reiterated that the sham votes in eastern Ukraine made no difference to Germany. “We will not accept the results of these sham referenda and will continue to support Ukraine with undiminished strength,” Scholz told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (Wednesday).

With a view to the partial mobilization of the Russian reservists ordered by Putin, Scholz also said: “Putin is lining up mistakes after mistakes”. The Russian President “could end this war immediately by withdrawing his troops and then engaging in talks with Kyiv”.

The Austrian federal government also condemned the sham referendums. “The mock referendums lack any legitimacy under international law and will of course not be recognized by us – just like an annexation of Ukrainian territories,” the Foreign Ministry in Vienna announced.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war and the consequences:

Putin praises nuclear industry for rearmament

Amid Russia’s recent nuclear threats against the West, Vladimir Putin has praised the contribution of Russia’s nuclear industry to the rearmament. “I would particularly like to highlight your significant contribution to the development of the latest, unprecedented types of weapons that will reliably ensure the nuclear balance and the defense capability of our state,” the Kremlin chief wrote in a telegram congratulating Russia’s Day of Nuclear Workers, published by the Kremlin on Wednesday.

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