The EU has slammed “illegal” annexation votes Russia held in four occupied regions of Ukraine and their “falsified” results.
“[The] EU denounces holding of illegal ‘referenda’ and their falsified outcome,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter.
“This is another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, amidst systematic abuses of human rights,” he said.
Kremlin-installed authorities in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, Russian-controlled regions that together make up about 15 percent of Ukraine’s landmass, claimed victory on Tuesday in annexation votes, sparking global outrage.
Ukraine and its allies have denounced the so-called referendums, saying the West will never recognise the results of the ballots, which have ratcheted up the stakes in Russia’s seven-month invasion.
Pro-Russian authorities in Zaporizhia said 93.11 percent of voters backed joining Russia, according to preliminary results on Tuesday evening.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
