Russia proxies hold breakaway polls in Ukraine

Voting on whether Russia should annex Kremlin-controlled regions of Ukraine opened Friday as the West denounced the referendum that has dramatically raised the stakes of Moscow’s seven-month invasion.

As polling got underway, Ukrainian forces said they were clawing back territory from the Moscow-backed separatists, contesting territory the Kremlin seeks to control.

The votes in four regions are the latest shock development in a ferocious war that UN investigators said had seen violence -- like executions and torture -- that amounted to war crimes.

The referendums in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been dismissed as a “sham” by Kyiv’s Western allies.

And even diplomats from Russia’s closest ally since the war began, Beijing, told Ukraine that the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected”. Authorities in the Russian-controlled regions are going door-to-door for four days to collect votes. Polling stations then open Tuesday for residents to cast ballots on the final day of voting.

It was also possible to vote at the building in Moscow that represents the Donetsk breakaway region.

Leonid, a 59-year-old military official, told AFP he was “feeling happy”.

“Ultimately, things are moving towards the restoration of the Soviet Union. The referendum is one step towards this,” he said.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces seized back most of the north-eastern Kharkiv region in a huge counter-offensive that has seen Kyiv retake hundreds of settlements that had been under Russian control for months.

On Friday, Russian news agency TASS showed officials in Donetsk alerting residents to the polls by loudspeaker, surrounding one local as he voted.