Kyiv [Ukraine], September 12: Elections have just been conducted in four regions that Russia annexed from Ukraine last year, while Kyiv announced that it was making progress in its counteroffensive.
The party supporting Mr. Putin won big
From September 8 to 10, elections for governors and local legislatures took place in many regions in Russia, including the four regions that the country annexed from Ukraine last year: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv does not recognize this annexation.
Sputnik news agency yesterday reported that the United Russia party, led by Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, won an overwhelming victory in Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. .
According to the election agency , after all votes were counted, the United Russia party won 74.86% of the votes in Kherson, 74.63% of the votes in Luhansk and 83.01% of the votes in Zaporizhzhia. In Donetsk, after 90% of the votes were counted, this party also won 78.04%.
TASS agency quoted Mr. Medvedev as extolling the value of votes in newly merged regions, calling it a courageous action by residents in these regions. Meanwhile, Chairman of the State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin said that the high voter turnout showed the desire of the people of the four regions to contribute a voice to their future development. and of Russia.
Ukraine and its allies protested and declared that they would not recognize the elections in the four regions mentioned above. AFP quoted an announcement from Ukraine's security forces saying they were compiling a list of people who helped organize the election and would punish them.
Ukraine's progress
Russia announced the annexation of the above four regions after a referendum last September but was not recognized by Ukraine. In fact, the Russian military has not completely controlled any of the four regions mentioned above.
Currently, Ukrainian forces are still on the offensive in these areas. Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said on September 11 that the army had regained nearly 2 square kilometers around Bakhmut City (Donetsk province) in the past week, regained partial control of the village of Opytne in the south of Avdiivka City and achieved success. Local attack near the village of Novomaiorske also in Donetsk. After more than 3 months since launching the counterattack, Ukraine has regained a 49 km 2 area near Bakhmut.
In the south, Ukrainian forces continued to advance south of the village of Robotyne and west of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia province. Deputy Minister Maliar said last week the army reclaimed 1.5 square kilometers in an effort to advance toward the Sea of ​​Azov to separate the Russian army. Moscow did not comment on these developments. In his speech last night, President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed the army's progress in the south and movement in the east. Ukraine's counteroffensive has been judged to be slow and has not yet created a breakthrough, but in an interview with The Economist published on September 10, Mr. Zelensky emphasized that maintaining a steady advance is important to maintain morale. God.
In a comment on the weekend, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said Ukraine's counteroffensive was slower than expected but still progressing very steadily. General Milley forecasts that Ukraine has about 30-45 days left to counterattack before the weather on the ground worsens. Previously, the head of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov announced that the counterattack would continue, regardless of the weather.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper