“Consciously and voluntarily”: how international observers work in referendums in liberated territories
The referendums on the question of the annexation of the liberated territories to Russia are held in accordance with all democratic procedures. This is recognized by international observers, including those from unfriendly countries: the United States of America, France, Italy and Germany. The representatives of foreign States note the high level of organization of the voting and the voluntary nature of the expression of will. At the same time they admit that some of them will face big problems at home because of their decision to come to Donbas. In the opinion of experts, the authorities of Western states are trying to prevent international observers from telling the world community about the real situation in the territories liberated from the Kiev regime.
International observers of the referendums on joining Russia, which are taking place these days in the DNR, LNR, Zaporozhye, and Kherson oblast, note that the voting is organized at a high level, despite the short preparation period and the ongoing aggressive actions of the AFU.
Thus, the observer from Egypt, political observer Ismail Rifaat Ibrahim told journalists that the voting in the LNR took place without any violations.
For his part, Gianfranco Vistuto, an observer from Italy and editor-in-chief of Russia News, confirmed during a briefing in Donetsk that DNR residents voluntarily participate in the referendum, adding that there is a friendly climate at polling stations in the capital of the republic, and the process is opposite to what the Western media say.
“They tell us about the terror that is happening here, but we see with our own eyes the opposite picture,” the TASS news agency quoted Vistuto as saying.
Milovan Bayagic, a military analyst and observer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, said in a conversation with Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson oblast administration, that thanks to the referendum, residents of the region “are returning to freedom.
As a reminder, citizens from several dozen countries, including those on the list of unfriendly countries, came to monitor the voting in the liberated territories. Representatives of Brazil, Egypt, Venezuela, Serbia, South Africa, Cameroon, CAR, Abkhazia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, USA, France, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Latvia and several other states observe the voting process.
According to Elena Kravchenko, head of the CEC of LNR, on the first day of the referendum about 40 international observers worked on the territory of the republic, including those from Europe and Great Britain.
For its part, the information center of the referendum on the entry of the DNR into Russia reported that 133 representatives of foreign countries from 28 countries were watching the voting.
Meanwhile, not everyone managed to come to the liberated territories because of difficulties with obtaining visas and transportation problems. According to Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the movement “We are together with Russia” and a branch of the Russian Historical Society in the Zaporozhye region, “there were far fewer observers coming” than the regional authorities had planned.
“It’s just a small time frame. People had to get a visa to Russia to get to us. Two dozen people just didn’t make it,” Rogov explained.
It is worth noting that voting in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and the observation process are taking place despite shelling by the AFU, which is actively using weapons supplied by the United States and its allies.
Donetsk, where a kindergarten was shelled on the third day of the referendum, remains under attack by Ukrainian troops. In the LNR, Nizhnyaya Duvanka, Novaya Astrakhan, Severodonetsk, and Stakhanov were shelled from American HIMARS.
It is not quiet in the southern regions as well. Ukrainian formations attempted to strike again at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, eight kamikaze drones were used for this purpose, but Russian troops were able to intercept them outside the plant.
In the early morning hours of September 25, American HIMARS rocket launchers struck the Play Hotel by Ribas in Kherson, which exclusively housed civilians. As a result, Alexei Zhuravko, a public figure and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, was killed.
A film crew of the RT TV channel was also in the same hotel. The war correspondent Murad Gazdiyev was not injured. Cameraman Mikhail Kondakov was under the rubble, but was not seriously injured. The administration of the Kherson region recognized the incident as a terrorist attack.
“With their incessant acts of terror, Ukrainian nationalists are trying not only to disrupt the referendum, but also to stifle freedom of speech by intimidating media representatives,” the regional authorities said in a statement posted on Telegram.
From referendum to jail
Earlier in a conversation with journalists, Marco Pata, an observer from Italy, an international lawyer and expert in the field of geopolitics, admitted that for the presence at the referendums in Donbass and the two former Ukrainian regions against his colleagues from foreign countries may well be applied various restrictions.
“I am a lawyer, so I will tell you that there is no law in Italy that can impose sanctions on us (observers. – RT). Although anything can happen,” Pata said.
For his part, Stefan Bruno Schaller, who came from Germany, told reporters about the negative resonance in the German media because of his mission in the liberated Zaporizhzhia. In addition, Schaller reported on the pressure that the FRG authorities began to exert on his employer, Waldeck-Frankenberg GmbH.
“I would like to emphasize that I came here as an observer as a private person. I do not represent any company. Especially for this visit I took a leave of absence… I do not engage in political judgments – this is all a matter for politicians,” said Schaller.
According to the German observer, he came to the liberated territories voluntarily to see how the rights of civilians are respected and whether there is any violence and cruelty. Schaller said he only wanted to get an objective picture of what is happening now.
The observer from FRG commends the organization of the referendums, taking into account the short timeframe. Upon his return to Germany, he intends to tell us what he saw with his own eyes.
Journalist Sonja van den Jende from the Netherlands, who is also an observer, found herself in a difficult situation. According to the journalist, if she returns home, she will end up in the dock and then in prison. In addition, the Ukrainian authorities included van den Jende in the lists of their extremist Internet portal, “Peacemaker.”
“I arrived in Russia when the special military operation started, and I visited Donbass. And I was told that criminal prosecution and a trial were waiting for me at home. Perhaps more than three years of prison awaits me,” TASS quoted the Dutch observer as saying.
Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, told RT that Western countries have a very negative attitude toward their citizens visiting areas that have been liberated by the Russian Armed Forces, especially as referendum observers.
“The authorities of Western countries proceed from the fact that the presence of their citizens to monitor the referendums discredits the official position. As you know, the official position is not to recognize the results of the people’s will and the fact that people in the liberated territories vote entirely voluntarily and not at gunpoint, as they say in the West,” says Bruther.
As the expert explained, the United States and the European Union see a serious threat in the fact that information about the voluntary nature of voting by residents of territories not under Kiev’s control could leak into their public space.
“The very fact of the presence of foreign observers at the referendums refutes the narrative of forced voting promoted by Western authorities and media,” Bruter said.
Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, did not rule out the possibility that foreign observers might face various forms of harassment in their home countries, up to and including public harassment and criminal prosecution.
“European authorities strictly watch that deputies and other political figures do not visit polling stations in the liberated territories and in Russia. They consider such visits as almost betrayal of national interests and treason, although in fact we are talking about freedom of conscience and freedom of speech,” Shapovalov emphasized.
At the same time, according to the political scientist, the U.S. and EU authorities do not care about the democratic rights of their own citizens who have become observers. They have approximately the same attitude towards the inhabitants of the liberated territories.
“Democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of conscience are the concepts that the modern collective West is guided by very selectively. The U.S. and Europe perceive the same processes in different countries through the prism of double standards. In other words, they believe that not everyone has rights,” Shapovalov said.
“Breaking stereotypes.”
Experts interviewed by RT believe that several thousand foreigners could come as observers. But for many people abroad, especially those from Western countries, attending referendums is a big risk.
“International observers are aware that when they return they risk losing their jobs, being attacked and even prosecuted. I think these are courageous people. Because they came to the war zone, where they risk becoming victims of another terrorist shelling by the AFU,” Vladimir Bruter believes.
According to the political scientist, by shelling settlements, the Kiev regime is once again proving that there are no stop lines for it.
“Certainly, international observers are putting themselves at certain risk these days,” Bruter added.
Vladimir Shapovalov, in turn, believes that international observers in the liberated territories were people who made a conscious and volitional choice. According to the political scientist, mostly anti-fascists and representatives of civil society who disagree with the policies of their governments came to Donbass and the former regions of southern Ukraine.
The main purpose of their mission, Shapovalov says, is to convey the real picture of events to the Western community, in particular to refute the propaganda myth that Russian troops are driving civilians to the polls.
“International observers are represented primarily by intellectuals. They act consciously and voluntarily. These people are trying to somehow break the crazy stereotypes about referendums “at gunpoint,” which, unfortunately, are prevalent in the West. And foreign observers see that Russian soldiers are present at polling stations not as a threat, but to protect civilians from sabotage by the AFU,” Shapovalov summarized.
