- Hundreds of collaborators face treason charges, Ukraine says
- Intense fighting at the start of Russian referendums on the last day
- Russian recruiting sparks protests, exodus
- No decisions have been made on closing the Russian border, Kremlin says
Kyiv, Ukraine, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Ukrainians who support Russian-backed referendums to annex large swathes of the country will face treason charges and at least five years in prison, Ukraine’s presidential adviser said, as voting in four regions entered its final day. .
“We have lists of names of people who have been involved in some way,” presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick.
“We are talking about hundreds of collaborators. They will be prosecuted for treason. They face prison terms of at least five years.”
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Podolyak said Ukrainians who were forced to vote would not be punished. Ukrainian officials have reported that ballot boxes have been taken door-to-door and that residents have been coerced into voting in the face of Russian-backed security.
Moscow hopes to annex Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia provinces in the east and south, which make up about 15 percent of Ukraine.
None of the provinces is fully under Moscow’s control, and fighting has continued along the entire frontline, with Ukrainian forces reporting further advances since defeating Russian troops in a fifth province, Kharkiv, in beginning of this month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian soil, which would include the four provinces if annexed.
Voting on whether to join Russia began in the regions on Friday and is due to end on Tuesday, with the Russian parliament possibly approving the annexation within days.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that Putin is likely to announce the accession of occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation during his speech to parliament on September 30. read more
Kyiv and the West have dismissed the referendums as a farce and vowed not to recognize the results.
Ukrainian and Russian forces were engaged in heavy fighting in different parts of Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the eastern Donetsk region remained his country’s – and Russia’s – top strategic priority as fighting engulfed several cities as Russian troops try to advance towards to the south and west.
There were also clashes in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the center of Ukraine’s counteroffensive this month. And Ukrainian forces continued a campaign to knock out four bridges and other river crossings to disrupt supply lines to Russian forces in the south.
The Southern Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Tuesday that its counteroffensive in Kherson had resulted in enemy losses of 77 soldiers, six tanks, five howitzers, three anti-aircraft installations and 14 armored vehicles.
Reuters could not immediately verify reports from the battlefield.
A man rides his bicycle past banners reporting a referendum on the union of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine with Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on September 26 of 2022. The banner (C) reads: “Future. September 23-27, 2022”. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
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In Russia, the call-up of some 300,000 reservists has sparked the first sustained protests since the invasion began, with a monitoring group estimating at least 2,000 people have been detained so far. All public criticism of Russia’s “special military operation” is banned.
Flights out of Russia have sold out and cars have clogged border checkpoints, with reports of a 48-hour queue on the only border road with Georgia, the rare pro-Western neighbor that allows Russian citizens to enter without visa
Asked about the prospect of closing the border, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday: “I don’t know anything about that. So far, no decisions have been made.”
Russia has millions of former conscripts as official reservists. Authorities have not specified precisely who is to be called, as that part of Putin’s order is classified.
The mobilization has also seen the first sustained criticism of the authorities within the state-controlled media since the war began.
But Sergei Tsekov, a senior lawmaker representing Russia-annexed Crimea in the upper house of the Russian parliament, told the RIA news agency: “Everyone who is of conscription age should be banned from traveling to the ‘foreigner in the current situation’.
Two exile news sites, Meduza and Novaya Gazeta Europe, reported that authorities planned to ban the men from leaving, citing unidentified officials.
Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Podolyak, said his country was well positioned to counter Russia’s mobilization, with 700,000 men in reserve or fighting.
“We already have an effective army, well positioned and with experienced forces,” he said.
Moscow says it wants to rid Ukraine of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Kyiv and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.
Late Monday, Zelenskiy described the military situation in Donetsk as “particularly severe.”
“We are doing everything to contain enemy activity. That is our No. 1 objective right now because Donbas remains the No. 1 objective for the occupiers,” he said, referring to the wider region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk .
Russia has carried out at least five attacks on targets in the Odesa region using Iranian drones in recent days, according to the regional administration.
Russian missiles hit the airport in Kriviy Rih, Zelenskiy’s hometown in central Ukraine, destroying infrastructure and rendering the airport unusable, Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, told Telegram.
More funding from the United States appears to be on the way as negotiators of an interim spending bill in Congress have agreed to include nearly $12 billion in new military and economic aid to Ukraine, sources said. Read more
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Reuters bureau reports; Written by Michael Perry and Costas Pitas; Shri Navaratnam Edition
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