Where Russia held a "referendum", now there is Ukrainian flag – Zelenskyy

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — SATURDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2022, 21:50

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasised that there are no traces of the sham referendum in the recently liberated territories of Donetsk region, and over time there will be more and more such "discrepancies" for the Russians.

Source: the president's evening address

Quote: "Russia staged a farce in Donbas, which it wanted to present as an alleged ‘referendum’. They depicted something [that was supposed to show a democratic voting process]; they drove machine gunners around the houses; they carried pieces of paper [ballot papers – ed.]; the propagandists filmed all this in the part of Donbas they controlled. And now a Ukrainian flag is [flying] there.

This week, there were more Ukrainian flags in Donbas. In a week, there will be even more. What then is the sham referendum? Are there two Donetsk Oblasts, two villages of Yampil in Donetsk Oblast, or two villages of Torske? [The liberation of the village of Torske has not yet been officially announced – ed.]

The Ukrainian advance will continue; the Ukrainian flag is already in Lyman, Donetsk Oblast. Fighting is still going on there, but there is no trace of any sham referendum. For Ukraine, this is logical, but for the enemy, there will be more and more such ‘discrepancies’."

Details: The president noted that in Russia, they have already started to "turn on each other, looking for the culprits, blaming some generals for their failures there."

"This is the first signal that should be heard at all levels of the Russian government – until you all deal with the problem with the one who started it all, who started this war against Ukraine, which makes no sense for Russia, you will be killed one by one, making scapegoats, so as not to admit that this war is a historical mistake for Russia," he said.

Zelenskyy recalled that on 1 October, 76 years ago, the Nuremberg Tribunal completed its work.

"Another tribunal will inevitably take place, one that will put an end to the careers of all those responsible for this Russian ‘special operation’ against the international system, which began in 2014, became full-scale on 24 February, and will end thanks to the heroism of our people. Today we don’t yet know the day it will happen, but we know that the day of our victory will surely come, and after it will come the day of reckoning for the Ruscists," the president emphasised.

Background:

• On Saturday, a Ukrainian flag was hoisted at the entrance to the recently liberated city of Lyman, Donetsk Oblast.

• The Ministry of Defence of Russia reported the withdrawal of troops from Lyman. However, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Hanna Maliar, said that fighting is still going on in Lyman.

• On 30 September, Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, signed the "agreement on the accession to Russia" of the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and declared that from now on, residents of these territories are citizens of the Russian Federation.
  
  

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