Ukrainian rebel region Luhansk may vote to join Russia

[Uncle Joe]

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The Russian-backed eastern Ukrainian rebel region of Luhansk said on Sunday it may hold a referendum on joining Russia, drawing a warning from Kyiv that any such vote would have no legal basis and trigger a stronger international response.

Three days before ordering the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin recognised the Ukrainian rebel regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, though the rest of the world considers them part of Ukraine.

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Ukraine, which says it is fighting for its existence against what it casts as an imperial-style land grab by Russia, has repeatedly said it will never agree to Russia's annexation of its territory - the hardest part of peace talks with Moscow.

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Ukraine said such a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, deepening Russia's global isolation. read more

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-rebel-region-may-hold-referendum-joining-russia-2022-03-27/

[samnsara]

1. the misstennidafloohio of ukraine

[paleotn]

2. And anyone trusts that "vote"? Right.

[Igel]

3. You miss the PR value.

"They voted democratically to join us--after we patiently allowed them to ethnically cleansed and oppressed to uphold our international agrees. Now it's clear to the world that the fascists in Ukraine don't like democracy. We must fight to defend democracy against Ukraine and their fascist backers and supporters, out to kill good Russians."

It writes itself.

Yes, many in Russia will trust the vote. And many who remember having Venezuela's and Cuba's votes doubted will see a similarity, so those (like Bolivia) that are trying to stay neutral will just see a reason to be non-committal.

The problem is that the occupied territories probably will vote for annexation. Why? Because for years they've been fed only Russian-state media; no local sources. You stoke hate and division, polarization, that's what you get. Easy to bill yourself as the liberator of the Slavs if you've already enserfed them.

Even in newly occupied territories the Internet keeps failing, cell phone towers stop recognizing Ukrainian-registered phones, etc. If you control the information, you shape the information space to suit yourself and your views--that lets you define the past and present, and that grants you control over much of the future. Just ask anybody who seeks to revise the past to redefine the present in order to change the future. In the USSR, in the PRC or PRNK you find the past is heavily politicized. A running joke in the USSR was that it's easy to predict the future, it's predicting the past that's difficult.

[paleotn]

4. No one outside of a few Russians believes the PR.

No matter how they vote in the Dunbas, no one outside of Moscow will consider it legit.