Sunday 25 September 2022 11:59 AM Moment soldiers armed with assault rifles 'force residents to cast their vote ... trends now

Sunday 25 September 2022 11:59 AM Moment soldiers armed with assault rifles 'force residents to cast their vote ... trends now
Sunday 25 September 2022 11:59 AM Moment soldiers armed with assault rifles 'force residents to cast their vote ... trends now

Sunday 25 September 2022 11:59 AM Moment soldiers armed with assault rifles 'force residents to cast their vote ... trends now

The Kremlin appears to have sent soldiers to force Ukrainians to vote in its staged referendums at gunpoint, according to residents who say troops came to their homes in occupied territories to enforce the 'vote'.

'My family was just forced to vote at gunpoint in Russian cosplay of a "referendum” in southern Ukraine,' said Maxim Eristavi, journalist and co-founder of Hromadske International, a broadcasting station in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian journalist posted a video purporting to show armed soldiers entering the hallways where his family live and forcing them to vote in favour of joining Russia.

Western countries have accused Russia of staging illegitimate referendums in Ukraine as a pretext for annexing parts of its neighbour.

Kyiv called out the exercise as a bare-faced attempt by Russia to hold on to occupied territory now threatened by the Ukrainian army's counter-offensive.

Eristavi added that his family members were also forced to take part in the same exercises in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 — in an attempt to fool foreign audiences into thinking the voting was free and fair.

Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea are all Ukrainian regions at least partially under Russian occupation where the referendums are being held — with the results fixed by Moscow.

Russian state media said the armed guards enforcing the door-to-door voting are there for 'security'.

The pre-determined result would see Ukrainian territory become an 'independent' country under Russian law, before quickly joining the Russian federation as a 'federal subject', said Kremlin state media. 

A Ukrainian journalist has posted a video allegedly showing Russian troops entering the residence of his family before forcing them to vote in 'sham' referendums across occupied territories of Ukraine

A Ukrainian journalist has posted a video allegedly showing Russian troops entering the residence of his family before forcing them to vote in 'sham' referendums across occupied territories of Ukraine

Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of staging illegitimate referendums on foreign soil as a pretext for annexing parts of its neighbour

Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of staging illegitimate referendums on foreign soil as a pretext for annexing parts of its neighbour

A copy of the ballot papers being handed to people, asking whether or not they agree to become part of Russia

A copy of the ballot papers being handed to people, asking whether or not they agree to become part of Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the regions where votes are underway would be under Moscow's 'full protection' if they are annexed by Russia.

He said any territory which is 'further enshrined' into Russia will be 'under the full protection of the state'.

The four-day vote saw residents forced into voting and banned from leaving their area, according to Kyiv.

The votes allow Putin to spin the narrative to his own people that any Ukrainian attack to try and reclaim its territories is an assault on Russia itself — allowing the Kremlin to justify mass mobilisation, which more than 2,000 Russians have been arrested for protesting against. 

More footage surfaced of armed troops entering residents' homes during the days the

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