(ANSA-AFP) - KYIV, SEP 23 - Moscow-held regions of Ukraine
began voting Friday on whether to become part of Russia, in
referendums that Kyiv and its allies have condemned as an
unlawful land grab. The referendums in eastern Donetsk and
Lugansk regions, as well as in the southern Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia regions have been roundly dismissed as a sham by
Kyiv's Western allies. They come after Putin announced this week
a mandatory troop call-up for about 300,000 reservists, which
also sparked resounding condemnation in the West. The
mobilisation comes after Ukrainian forces seized back most of
the northeastern Kharkiv region in a huge counter-offensive that
has seen Kyiv retaking hundreds of towns and villages under
Russian control for months. The four regions' integration into
Russia -- which for most observers is already a foregone
conclusion -- would represent a major new escalation of the
conflict. "We cannot -- we will not -- allow President Putin to
get away with it," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in
a UN Security Council session on Thursday, lashing out against
the referendums as a "sham". (ANSA-AFP).
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