Posted on 09/23/2022 7:22:28 AM PDT by Kazan
Voting for membership in the Russian Federation has started in four oblast of Ukraine:
Russian proxy officials in four regions — Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizka in the south — earlier this week announced plans to hold referendums over four days beginning on Friday. Russia controls nearly all of two of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson, but only a fraction of the other two, Zaporizka and Donetsk.
Ukrainian officials have dismissed the voting as grotesque theater — staging polls in cities laid to waste by Russian forces and abandoned by most residents.
President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Ukraine’s allies for their steadfast support and said “the farce” of “sham referenda” would do nothing to change his nation’s fight to drive Russia from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian regime has resorted to pure terrorism to prevent the votes from happening:
Ukrainian partisans, sometimes working with special operations forces, have blown up warehouses holding ballots and buildings where Russian proxy officials preparing for the vote held meetings. Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that they are engaged in a campaign to assassinate key Russian administration officials; more than a dozen have been blown up, shot and poisoned, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials. Such behavior by the Zelenski regime against its still Ukrainian compatriots will only encourage the people in the four oblast to vote for an alignment with Russia.
The propaganda in the 'west' will declare that the vote is irregular and that the results, likely to be pro-Russian, will be fake.
But a view on historic election outcomes since Ukrainian independence in 1991 show clear geographic preferences in east and south Ukraine for pro-Russian policies:
(graphs at link)
The graphic above is from research published by the Eurasian Research Institute of the International Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University. Its author writes:
As we can see, the have always been a clear-cut geographical split in the way the regions of Ukraine vote for particular candidates. The East and West division or also referred as Southeast and Northwest division was always present throughout the electoral history of the independent Ukraine. It is conventionally believed that the eastern part of Ukraine is more influenced by Russia politically, economically and culturally. Therefore, the presidential candidates proposing more pro-Russian agenda usually gain much more political support in eastern regions than in other parts of Ukraine. On the other hand, the western part of the country has traditionally been more pro-European with strong reference to traditional core Ukrainian ethnic traditions and values. Consequently, presidential candidates with pro-European political agenda and traditional Ukrainian appeal usually had strong support in western regions of the country. It is interesting to note that preferences of the electorate were not related to the geographical origin or background of the presidential candidates and any candidate could easily become popular in the east as well as in the west. Moreover, the same candidate could be both pro-eastern and pro-western in different periods of time as did Leonid Kuchma in 1994 and 1999, who is the only Ukrainian president to serve two consecutive terms from 1994 to 2005.
The division is consistent with ethnic and linguistic differences between those parts of Ukraine.
In 2014, after the violent fascist coup in Kiev, one of the first laws implemented by the new government removed the Russian language from official use.Instead of overcoming the differences between its people it only sealed the predominant split in Ukraine.
The election promise of the current Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelenski to make peace with the Russia aligned rebellious Donbas region by adhering to the Minsk 2 agreements was rewarded with a large share of southeastern votes for his presidency. However, after having been threatened with death by fascists, Zelenski has made a 180 degree turn and has since posed as Ukrainian nationalist. In consequence he has lost all support in southeastern Ukraine.
The southeastern parts of today's Ukraine have for centuries been part of the central Russian empire. They were only attached to the Soviet Republic of Ukraine under Lenin's rule in 1922 and, in the case of Crimea, in 1954 under Nikita Khrushchev who himself had grown up in the Donbas region.
A likely high turnout and majority vote for membership in the Russian Federation will only correct the historic misalignment created by those illogical transfers.
As long as Putin is making Europe suffer and freeze, I’m for Putin.
No such situation pertained in Donbass
Some of the worst case soros shills on internet forums appear to be getting paid for it. Thjat creates vitriol,,,
Most people have no idea that we were involved in a war in Serbia and Kosovo during Clinton, and the few who do often have trouble remembering what side we were on.
The global empire wing of American politics likes it that way.
John Mearsheimer is a conservative political science prof who has been watching this for years and isn’t the least bit surprised that we are getting ourselves into another war.
Back in 2014 he wrote the essay “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault: The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin”.
Because we have a group of posters, maybe Freepers and maybe just Russian government employees, who post a stream of Russian propaganda. Instead of the usual debate among fellow conservatives based on opinions we get Russian propaganda talking points from Russian aligned media sources.
"The 2008 Kosovo “referendum” wasn’t even a referendum but merely an assembly vote that the West jumped at accepting."
Serbia is a sore point for a lot of the pro-Russian posters. Why would that be? Among Freepers a lot of people didn't like what Bill Clinton did, but Serbia and Kosovo aren't exactly important issues for conservatives here in America.
But Serbia is a big topic of pro Russia posters. That suggests they are from a place that considers what happened in Serbia important. Russia is a place like that, as is Serbia.
Here comes Russian talking point #1, a total lie that only Putin and his propaganda agencies believe.
Even the Russians living in Ukraine know it is not true.
I think you are confused today. The army that invaded Ukraine came from Russia, not the USA or NATO.
I guess that explains why both the Iranians and the Chinese are supplying mortar rounds and othr ammunition to Ukraine.
That's how they show their "resistance".
The people of Donetsk and Lugansk have been under attack for eight years by Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis and they militias from both have done most of the ground fighting during this war. And, their way is absolutely one of self-defense.
But, I guess you think we can invade Iraq to help the Kuwaitis and bomb Serbia to help those in Kosovo but the Russians can't help ethnic Russians avoid genocide in Ukraine.
The double standards from neocons are similar the ones liberals use.
And, never mind that Ukraine was far greater national security risk to the Russians than Iraq ever was to us.
Every single indicator from referendums to polls including Pew
Say otherwise
But I know you’ll dismiss it preferring trustworthy US media
I got it
If you actually believe that you are a fool. But if you are a propaganda poster you are repeating talking point #1 from Putin's list.
So how many people do you think died in 2021 as a result of hostilities between Ukraine and the rebel provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk?
It’s not about the what media you listen to.
It’s about whether a country can invade another country driving millions of people out of the area and killing a lot of people and then hold a referendum on who’s left.
On top of that Russia is supposedly going to count the 2 million people thehy forcibly relocated to Russia, but not the millions of people who fled deeper into Ukraine or to other countries. Again not fair.
And with people afraid to vote no for fear of the Russian military and Wagner groups. It can’t possibly be a fair vote.
And what independent monitors are there? Only Russian puppets would dare claim to monitor the fairness of this referendum given the scenario.
BTW, the Russians come to us in December with their security concerns in an effort to prevent the present war from occurring. That isn't sign of an aggressor looking to pillage and steal.
All the Russians wanted was the Minsk Agreement, which Ukraine signed, implemented and a guarantee Ukraine wouldn't join NATO and remain neutral.
The truth is that the Biden regime, globalists and neocons did everything they could to make this war happen, foolishly believing Russia would lose.
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