Security Service of Ukraine names main Kremlin puppets running sham referendums in Donbas

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA — MONDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2022, 13:42

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has identified the organisers of sham referendums in the occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and notified them that they are under suspicion.

Source: SSU press service

Details: Law enforcement officers have issued the following individuals with notices of suspicion of collaborative activity and encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine:

• Volodymyr Vysotskyi, "Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the DPR" [self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic];
• Olena Kravchenko, "Chair of the Central Election Commission of the LPR" [self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic];
• Oleksandr Kofman, "Chairman of the Public Chamber of the DPR";
• Maryna Filipova, "adviser to the Head of the LPR".

According to the SSU, these four individuals played key roles in the organisation and holding of fake "referendums" in Eastern Ukraine. In particular, Oleksandr Kofman and Maryna Filipova were involved in setting up so-called "public chambers" - fake structures in the occupied territories that imitate public initiatives. They sent a request to the so-called "heads of the L/DPR" asking them to hold a "vote" and proposed the immediate accession of these regions to Russia. According to the investigation, the suspects have also been involved in campaigning to cultivate a positive attitude to Russia among local residents.

The "voting" is being run by so-called "electoral commissions of the D/LPR". Representatives of these "electoral commissions" underwent a special training programme in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Volodymyr Vysotskyi and Olena Kravchenko instructed their subordinates to form "territorial election commissions"; to adopt the procedure by which the "electoral" process would be funded from the so-called "budgets" of the so-called republics; and also to determine the procedure by which the holding of the "referendums" would be monitored by the security forces of the occupation administration (these are the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation" and the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Russian army) and develop the voting procedure.

The suspects will shortly be declared wanted.

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