Russia's threats with referendums and mobilisation are not going to work

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2022, 14:07

Russia is blackmailing Ukraine, threatening to hold "referendums" in the occupied territories, as well as announcing mobilisation. Ukraine will solve the "Russian issue" and eliminate the threat by force.

Source: Andrii Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on Telegram

Quote: "Naive blackmail, [and] threats to hold referendums and announce mobilisation from those [Russians] who only know how to fight with children and unarmed people. This is what the fear of defeat looks like. Russia is afraid, it tries to primitively manipulate.

Ukraine will solve the "Russian issue". The threat can be eliminated only by force."

Background:

• On 19 September, the so-called "public chambers" of the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) demanded to immediately initiate "referendums" on recognising them as federal subjects of the Russian Federation.
• Following the Russian-sponsored militants in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, the occupying authorities in Kherson called for an urgent holding of a "referendum" on merging with the Russian Federation.
• The State Duma of Russia introduced the concepts of mobilisation and wartime into their Criminal Code; it also passed a draft law on responsibility for desertion during mobilisation or wartime.