'Sham' referendum in Russian-held areas of Ukraine enters final day
The final day of voting was taking place in Russian-held regions of Ukraine on Tuesday in a referendum that is expected to serve as a pretext for their annexation by Moscow but which has been rejected as a sham by Kyiv and its western allies.
As the vote was nearing its end, a senior Kremlin official issued the bluntest warning yet that Russia is prepared to use nuclear weapons to halt a Ukrainian push to reclaim Russia-occupied areas.
The five-day vote, in which residents are asked whether they want their regions to become part of Russia, has been anything but free or fair.
Tens of thousands of residents had already fled the regions amid the war, and images shared by those who remained showed armed Russian troops going door to door to pressure Ukrainians into voting.
Russian media also speculated that Mr Putin may follow up on last week’s order of partial mobilisation by declaring martial law and shutting the nation’s borders for all men of fighting age.
The mobilisation has triggered a massive exodus of men from the country, fuelled protests in many regions across Russia and sparked occasional acts of violence.
On Monday, a gunman opened fire in an enlistment office in a Siberian city and wounded the chief military recruitment officer.
The shooting came after scattered arson attacks on enlistment offices.
And trying to assuage public outrage, numerous Russian officials and politicians have acknowledged that mistakes were made during the mobilisation – when military conscription offices were rounding up random people without military experience who were not supposed to be called up – and promised to quickly correct them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday once again called the Russian mobilisation as nothing more than “an attempt to provide commanders on the ground with a constant stream of cannon fodder”.
Mr Zelensky said the Ukrainian military will attack efforts to take back “the entire territory of Ukraine”, and has drawn up plans to counter “new types of weapons” used by Russia.
Mr Putin has warned that once the Russia-held regions are absorbed, Moscow will defend its territory with “all available means”, including nuclear weapons, raising fears of a sharp escalation of the seven-month conflict.
Mr Medvedev said the US and its Nato allies understand that “if a threat to Russia raises above a certain limit of danger, we will have to respond without asking anyone’s consent and holding long consultations”.
“And it’s certainly not a bluff,” he added.
Mr Medvedev said the US and its Nato allies would not dare to use nuclear weapons against Russia even if it makes a nuclear strike on Ukraine.
Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, said Russia would pay a high, if unspecified, price if it made good on veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.
“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively,” he told NBC.
Even as the voting has continued in Russia-held areas, Russian forces have kept up their strikes across Ukraine.
Overnight, Russian missile attacks targeted the southern areas of Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv, damaging residential buildings and other sites, officials said.