Security forces expose attempt at sham referendum in Mykolaiv Oblast

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — WEDNESDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2022, 10:43

Ukrainian law enforcement officers have exposed an attempt to prepare a sham pro-Russian referendum in the temporarily occupied territory of Mykolaiv Oblast.

Source: Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv Oblast; Security Service of Ukraine 

Details: According to the investigation, a resident of the Bashtanka district voluntarily agreed to participate in the organisation and conduct of a sham referendum, proposed by the occupation authorities, on secession from Ukraine and accession to the Russian Federation by the temporarily occupied territory of the Oleksandrivka Village Council in the Bashtanka district.

Acting in conspiracy with an unidentified group of people, the woman in question organised mobile polling stations on the territory of the hromada [an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories], conducted surveys of the population, and notified people of the holding of a sham referendum.

Working together with others, the woman also played a direct role in the creation of the territorial polling stations, the formation of electoral commissions, the compilation of voter lists, the development of ballots, and the provision of financing for the preparation and holding of a sham referendum.

The occupiers’ accomplice, once exposed, was informed in absentia that she was under suspicion for collaboration committed by a group of people upon prior conspiracy.

In addition, law enforcement officers exposed several residents of the city of Mykolaiv, who, being active users of an anti-Ukrainian Telegram channel, publicly supported the initiative to hold a sham referendum in the temporarily occupied territory of Snihurivka hromada, as well as justifying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

A 65-year-old woman was the most active among them; she had about a thousand publications on this topic, and also reported on the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, on the eve of a rocket attack on one of the districts of Mykolaiv, she passed on information that allowed the Russian forces to identify the location of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as reported by the prosecutor's office.

She was informed that she was under suspicion for unauthorised dissemination of information about the location of the Armed Forces, committed under martial law; the court detained her without bail.

Two other women were also charged with justifying and denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

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