Seems kind of dumb. Almost as if Zelensky is afraid that the referendums will legitimately result in votes for independence.
It doesn’t seem dumb.
It doesn’t matter what the referendums shows.
Russia drove hundreds of thousands if not millions of people out of those territories. To take a vote without them is a sham.
It’s like someone invading your house and driving you out. And then the occupants of your house take a vote to make it theirs.
There nothing fair about this.
And even if all the occupants were still there and Russia hadn’t killed a lot of civilians. It would be like letting Stacy Adams count the vote with no independent oversight.
Once Russia used military action no vote can possibly be fair. The land belongs to Ukraine. Period.