Russian absurd annexation of Zaporizhzhia

On September 30th Russian president Putin signed a paper about annexation of four Ukrainian regions (oblast) — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia based on the sham referendum results held there.

First I will quickly explain why this annexation and referendums are illegal in general, even though it may be obvious. But then I will come to the Zaporizhzhia annexation, which is absolutely absurd.

Illegal annexation

There are several obvious reasons, why this annexation is illegal. It is against international laws, against UN charter, against Paris Charter. It is against Budapest memorandum (when Ukraine gave up its atomic bombs for the promise of security from Russia, USA and UK).

It is also against Putin promises (if you still care about what he says) — in 2014 he said that no other lands, except Crimea will be annexed and on his speech on February 24th 2022 he said, that taking Ukrainian territory was not the aim of a Special Military Operation (that’s how they call the War on Ukraine in Russia).

Sham referendums

There are obvious reasons, why referendums held in these four regions cannot be taken seriously:

Lots of people fled from the regions and some cities have about 10% of the pre-war population left It’s impossible to prepare valid referendum in such a short time There was no control on the voting calculation process (and on secrecy of voting if this matters) People were voting in the situation, where the vote “Against” could be the last thing they ever did in their lives (people who gathered votes around the cities had guns with them) Referendum outcome (about 90%) is against all the previous and current sociological research and it is impossible that this was a real number And it were these referendums, that Russia based its annexation on.

Moreover — none of the regions are fully controlled by Russian forces. Especially Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk.

But Zaporizhzhia is absolutely outstanding.

Annexing Zaporizhzhia is absurd, and I will explain why.

Absurdity of Zaporizhzhia annexation

Historically — Zaporizhzhia is a land of Ukrainian Cossacks — Ukrainian soldiers from XV-XVIII centuries. There were times, when they had their own country. Cossacks are the ones, who are mentioned in Ukrainian anthem:

Soul and body shall we lay down for our freedom,
And we will show, brothers, that we are of the Cossack nation

It’s hard to overestimate the influence Cossacks had on forming the Ukrainian nation. We still sing Cossack songs and dress the Cossack dresses (not casually, though). And Cossacks sometimes even called themselves Zaporozhzhian (Запорожці). And this is this region, which Russia calls the “native Russian territory”?

Ok-ok, maybe history is history and situation is changed now. It’s true, that Russians also live there. But still, most of Zaporizhzhia region are ethnical Ukrainians — about 70% of them are. Population in the region uses Russian and Ukrainian language 50/50. But historically most Russian speakers live in cities and Ukrainian speakers — in villages. And here we come to the next crazy moment.

The Zaporizhzhia-city is far from being occupied by Russian forces. It is under Ukrainian control. And it is the largest city in the region, with about 40% of the whole region population. The situation is even crazier than in Donetsk region, where there are still cities under Ukrainian control, but at least the largest city is under Russians. Given 40% of population are still living in a large Russian-speaking city (which Russia, by the way, bombs), it looks like majority of the population under occupation are actually Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians. What Russia is protecting them from?

Conclusion

Sham referendums were done against all the rules, annexation is illegal and cannot be recognised by any sane country or person. Zaporizhzhia annexation is absurd, as it is can be considered a Ukrainian historical heart; most of people living there are ethnical Ukrainians and while there are some ethnical Russians, there are no clashes between the two ethnicities; Zaporizhzhia city itself is not controlled by Russia, same is true about 30% of region’s territory.

This annexation is not a “liberation” as Russians call it. It’s a simple “occupation”. Liberation will come. But by the Ukrainian forces.