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I don’t think anyone denies there are thousands of people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions who really really really did want Russian federation membership, and are celebrating right now.

But I’m willing to bet that they’re massively outnumbered by those who didn’t want this war and aren’t celebrating.

Over 4 million displaced people left the region for safety in Europe and the Ukrainian held regions. How many voted yes to this proposal and didn’t have to do it at gunpoint?

Posted results for the Zaporizhzhia referendum have under 40,000 votes in total. And footage from a russian news broadcast showed a count where the woman on camera was saying “da” and putting the sheets into the yes pile... Sheets that had no tick anywhere on them.

If the Russian annexation was so resoundingly popular across the entire Russophone population you’d expect a far higher turnout in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. And you’d expect the ballot count to not need to be inflated with UNUSED sheets.

Where are the petitions in Zaporizhzhia city, to give their endorsement? Total absence of protest at being denied a vote.

Where are the celebrations in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, even in Russian held territory? All I’m sending is weary, grim fatalism.

Why are there more refugees in Zaporizhzhia city from the south of the Oblast, resolutely staying put, than there were yes votes?

Is it really plausible that after 3 days of voting, there were fewer than 700 no votes, fewer than 40,000 yes votes, and no abstentions? Is the region so depleted of Russophones that you could fit them all into Enerhodar’s service accommodation with rooms to spare?