KYIV: Moscow-held regions of Ukraine began voting Friday on whether to become part of Russia, in referendums that Kyiv and its allies have condemned as an unlawful land grab.
The referendums in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been roundly dismissed as a sham by Kyiv’s Western allies.
They come after Putin announced this week a mandatory troop call-up for about 300,000 reservists, which also sparked resounding condemnation in the West.
The mobilization comes after Ukrainian forces seized back most of the northeastern Kharkiv region in a huge counter-offensive that has seen Kyiv retaking hundreds of towns and villages under Russian control for months.
The four regions’ integration into Russia — which for most observers is already a foregone conclusion — would represent a major new escalation of the conflict.
“We cannot — we will not — allow President Putin to get away with it,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a UN Security Council session on Thursday, lashing out against the referendums as a “sham.”
“The very international order we’ve gathered here to uphold is being shredded before our eyes... (Defending Ukraine’s sovereignty) is about protecting an international order where no nation can redraw the borders of another by force,” he said.
The referendums are reminiscent of one in 2014 that saw Ukraine’s Crimea annexed by Russia.
Western capitals have maintained that the vote was fraudulent and hit Moscow with sanctions in response.
In New York this week, Western leaders have unanimously condemned the ballots and the troop call-up, with French President Macron telling the UN General Assembly that the referendums were a “travesty.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lashed out at the accusations, condemning Ukraine for driving “Russophobia.”
“There’s an attempt today to impose on us a completely different narrative about Russian aggression as the origin of this tragedy,” Lavrov told the Security Council.
In the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions — already recognized as independent by Putin right before he launched the invasion in February — residents are answering if they support their “republic’s entry into Russia,” according to Russian news agency TASS.
Ballots in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have the question: “Are you in favor of secession from Ukraine, formation of an independent state by the region and its joining the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?“
Russian news agencies reported that the voting process began on Friday at 0500 GMT. Earlier, TASS said the balloting in the four regions would be untraditional.
“Given the short deadlines and the lack of technical equipment, it was decided not to hold electronic voting and use the traditional paper ballots,” it added.
Instead, authorities would go door-to-door for the first four days to collect votes, and then polling stations would be open on the final day, Tuesday, for residents to cast ballots.
Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, told TASS they have been waiting for this referendum since 2014, calling it “our common dream and common future.”
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the referendums as a “farce,” and hailed Western allies for their condemnation of Russia’s moves.
“I am grateful to everyone in the world who supported us, who clearly condemned another Russian lie,” he said during his daily address on Thursday.
Putin said Moscow would use “all means” to protect its territory — a statement that former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said on social media would mean including “strategic nuclear weapons.”
Medvedev also predicted the voting regions “will integrate into Russia.”
Moscow on Thursday began its mandatory troop call-up, after Putin’s call for about 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort.
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Russia holds breakaway polls in Ukraine
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Russia holds breakaway polls in Ukraine
- Referendums in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions
Venezuela interim leader sacks industry minister, a Maduro ally
CARACAS: Venezuela’s interim president on Friday dismissed businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, from his post as minister of industry.
In a Telegram message, Delcy Rodriguez announced the ministry would be combined with a commerce ministry and thanked Saab — a Colombian-born Venezuelan — “for his service to the Homeland; he will be taking on new responsibilities.”
The change comes amid pressure from Washington following the January 3 US military raid that ousted Maduro.
Saab, released in 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States, was appointed to office in 2024 by Maduro.
He had been arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 due to an Interpol notice over accusations he had served as a money launderer for the socialist leader.
He was subsequently extradited to the US, where he and his business partner Alvaro Pulido were charged with running a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela.
Saab’s dismissal is among the latest key changes to Venezuela’s government by Rodriguez since the US capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado meanwhile said her country is starting a “true transition” to democracy and will become free with support from the United States and President Donald Trump.
Trump however has sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and backed former vice president Rodriguez as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the seizure of Maduro.
“We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy,” Machado said during an event in Washington, adding that this will have an “immense impact in the lives of all Venezuelans” as well as around the region and the world.
“Venezuela is going to be free, and that’s going to be achieved with the support of the people of the United States and the president, Donald Trump,” Machado said.
Her party has presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election — claims supported by Washington and much of the international community.
But Trump has said that Machado does not have enough support among Venezuelans, and opted to stick with Rodriguez so long as she toes the line on US access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Machado said Friday that Rodriguez is “following orders” rather than acting of her own will.
The opposition leader’s remarks came a day after US Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe met Rodriguez in Caracas.
Ratcliffe traveled to Venezuela to “deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,” a US administration official said on condition of anonymity.
- Nobel medal -
In an indication of that improved relationship, a US deportation flight carrying 231 Venezuelans landed in Caracas on Friday, the first since Maduro’s overthrow.
Trump has made cracking down on undocumented immigrants a major part of his second term, carrying out sweeping immigration raids and deporting migrants.
Machado, 58, on Thursday presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump in a bid to win over the US president.
“He deserves it,” she said. “And it was a very emotional moment, I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”
It was not immediately clear if Trump — who said Friday that he and Machado will “be talking again” — kept the award following their White House lunch. The Norwegian Nobel committee says its prizes cannot be transferred.
Trump had campaigned hard to win last year’s prize, falsely claiming that he stopped eight wars since taking office, but it went to Machado instead.
Trump and Rodriguez had their first telephone call on Wednesday and the White House said he “likes what he’s seeing” from her.
Rodriguez said however that her government will stand up to Washington.
“We know they are very powerful... we are not afraid to confront them diplomatically, through political dialogue,” she said Thursday.
Rodriguez was delivering Maduro’s state of the nation address to parliament while the long-time authoritarian leader is in a New York jail facing drug trafficking charges.
By contrast Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Maduro’s rule, was greeted by jubilant supporters in Washington.
In a Telegram message, Delcy Rodriguez announced the ministry would be combined with a commerce ministry and thanked Saab — a Colombian-born Venezuelan — “for his service to the Homeland; he will be taking on new responsibilities.”
The change comes amid pressure from Washington following the January 3 US military raid that ousted Maduro.
Saab, released in 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States, was appointed to office in 2024 by Maduro.
He had been arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 due to an Interpol notice over accusations he had served as a money launderer for the socialist leader.
He was subsequently extradited to the US, where he and his business partner Alvaro Pulido were charged with running a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela.
Saab’s dismissal is among the latest key changes to Venezuela’s government by Rodriguez since the US capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado meanwhile said her country is starting a “true transition” to democracy and will become free with support from the United States and President Donald Trump.
Trump however has sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and backed former vice president Rodriguez as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the seizure of Maduro.
“We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy,” Machado said during an event in Washington, adding that this will have an “immense impact in the lives of all Venezuelans” as well as around the region and the world.
“Venezuela is going to be free, and that’s going to be achieved with the support of the people of the United States and the president, Donald Trump,” Machado said.
Her party has presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election — claims supported by Washington and much of the international community.
But Trump has said that Machado does not have enough support among Venezuelans, and opted to stick with Rodriguez so long as she toes the line on US access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Machado said Friday that Rodriguez is “following orders” rather than acting of her own will.
The opposition leader’s remarks came a day after US Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe met Rodriguez in Caracas.
Ratcliffe traveled to Venezuela to “deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,” a US administration official said on condition of anonymity.
- Nobel medal -
In an indication of that improved relationship, a US deportation flight carrying 231 Venezuelans landed in Caracas on Friday, the first since Maduro’s overthrow.
Trump has made cracking down on undocumented immigrants a major part of his second term, carrying out sweeping immigration raids and deporting migrants.
Machado, 58, on Thursday presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump in a bid to win over the US president.
“He deserves it,” she said. “And it was a very emotional moment, I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”
It was not immediately clear if Trump — who said Friday that he and Machado will “be talking again” — kept the award following their White House lunch. The Norwegian Nobel committee says its prizes cannot be transferred.
Trump had campaigned hard to win last year’s prize, falsely claiming that he stopped eight wars since taking office, but it went to Machado instead.
Trump and Rodriguez had their first telephone call on Wednesday and the White House said he “likes what he’s seeing” from her.
Rodriguez said however that her government will stand up to Washington.
“We know they are very powerful... we are not afraid to confront them diplomatically, through political dialogue,” she said Thursday.
Rodriguez was delivering Maduro’s state of the nation address to parliament while the long-time authoritarian leader is in a New York jail facing drug trafficking charges.
By contrast Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Maduro’s rule, was greeted by jubilant supporters in Washington.
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