Mr. Dmitry Medvedev declared that Russia will win in Ukraine and the country's territory will continue to expand with the campaign here.
"The special military operation will continue until the Kiev government is completely defeated and the territories that are Russian are liberated from the enemy. We will win. And Russia will have many new territories," Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram on September 30.
The statement was made by Mr. Medvedev, who served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012, on the occasion of a year since Russia held a referendum to annex the four regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson into its territory.
He said that residents of these regions had decided to "return to the motherland" in the referendum. Medvedev said this milestone demonstrated "the unity, will and determination of the Russian people".
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow in February 2022. Photo: AFP
President Vladimir Putin presided over a signing ceremony on September 30, 2022, to annex four new territories to Russia from four Ukrainian provinces. These provinces have a total area of 90,000 km2, accounting for 15% of Ukraine's area and an estimated population of about 4 million people, but Russia has not yet fully controlled any of them.
In a message marking the first anniversary of the annexation of four regions into the federal territory, Mr. Putin affirmed that this was a "brave and upright" decision of millions of Ukrainians in the localities.
Ukraine and the West consider Russia's move pointless and illegal. Kiev also rejects Russia's accusations that it has committed "genocide" in Donbass.
Ukraine's foreign minister has called the Russian referendums in four regions "sham" and invalid. Ukraine's security service said it had drawn up a list of "collaborators" who helped organize the election and promised to punish them.
In February, the Kremlin reiterated that Russia was ready to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, but would not abandon the four provinces. Meanwhile, Kiev stressed that it would not accept any peace deal that did not include a withdrawal of Russian troops from the areas it controlled.
People in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk held elections for governors, local leaders and regional parliaments in late August and early September.
The Central Election Commission of Russia announced the election results on September 10, showing that Mr. Putin’s United Russia party received more than 70% of the vote in all four regions. All of the party’s gubernatorial candidates in the four regions were elected. These were people who had been appointed by Moscow as acting governors.
Pre-war administrative boundaries of the four regions Russia announced to annex from September 30, 2022. Graphics: YRV
Thanh Danh ( According to TASS, AFP )
Source link
Comment (0)