... In late September 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine staged so-called referendums on the annexation of occupied territories of Ukraine by Russia.[1][2][3][4]
They were widely described as sham referendums by commentators and denounced by various countries. The validity of the results of the referendums has only been accepted by North Korea. ...
The votes were conducted in four areas of Ukraine " the Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, and the Russian-appointed military administrations of Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, captured and occupied in the first week of the 2022 invasion[5][6] -- as well as in Russia.[1]
At the time of the referendums, Russia did not fully control any of the four regions, where military hostilities were ongoing. Much of the population had fled since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] The referendums were illegal under international law and have been condemned by the United Nations as violations of the United Nations Charter.[8][9] ...
Under the conditions of Russian military occupation and complete dominance of Russian media, the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine were promised the inclusion of these regions into Russia, as with Crimea. As the director of the Donetsk Institute for Social Research and Political Analysis suggested in 2014, it had been decided to refuse accession referendums due to low support for joining Russia: 35% supported it, while 65% saw themselves as part of Ukraine.[11]
In Russia, a 2015 poll by the Levada Center showed that 19% of polled Russians wanted eastern Ukraine to become part of Russia.[12] In March 2021, 25% of polled Russians supported the annexation of the Donbas separatist republics to Russia.[13] ...
