Kremlin proxies claim historic victory in annexation vote sparking global anger

KYIV – Kremlin-appointed authorities in four Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine claimed victory in annexation votes on Tuesday, sparking global outrage.

In spite of the global backlash, Moscow warned it could use nuclear weapons to defend the territories.

Ukraine and its allies have denounced the so-called referendums as a sham and said the West would never honor the results of the votes, which dramatically raised the stakes for Kremlin’s seven-month invasion.

According to preliminary results on Tuesday evening, pro-Russian authorities in Zaporizhia said 93.11% of voters were in favor of joining Russia.

In Kherson, another Kremlin-controlled region in southern Ukraine, officials said more than 87.05% of voters backed the decision after all ballots were counted.

In the eastern Lugansk region controlled by pro-Russian separatists, more than 98.42% voted in favor of annexation, according to local authorities.

Officials from the Moscow-held Donetsk region also claimed victory, with the local electoral body saying 99.23% of the vote was in favor of annexation.

“Rescuing people in the areas where this referendum is being held (…) is the focus of attention of our whole society and the whole country,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting with officials.

His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the votes would have ‘radical’ legal implications and the so-called referendums ‘will also have security implications’, citing Kremlin’s threats to use nuclear weapons to defend its territory.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed the West will never recognize Russian annexations of the territories, threatening Moscow with “swift and heavy additional costs” for its “diabolical plan”.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who surprisingly was in Kyiv for a meeting with Zelenskyy, called the election a “masquerade” that would trigger new Western sanctions.

At the United Nations, senior official Rosemary DiCarlo told a session of the Security Council that the body “remains fully committed to the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”

The United States intends to table a resolution urging UN member states “not to recognize Ukraine’s change in status and compelling Kremlin to withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” the statement said. US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

However, there is no chance that the Security Council will come to a unified position on the annexation project.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Wassily Nebenzia made clear that Russia would again use its veto in the Security Council and criticized the move as “tantrums of Western delegations”.

“Referendums were conducted exclusively in a transparent manner, respecting all electoral standards,” Nebenzia argued, adding that the West’s sole objective was “to weaken and bleed Russia as much as possible.”