US says Russia preparing sham vote as pretext to annex Ukrainian territory

Russia is preparing to illegally annex territory it has captured during its’ unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby has said.

Speaking at the daily White House press briefing on Tuesday, Mr Kirby said Russia is “laying the groundwork” for annexation “in direct violation of Ukraine's sovereignty,” and pointed to “ample evidence in the intelligence and in the public domain” showing Moscow’s intentions.

“Russia is beginning to roll out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook, very similar to the one we saw in 2014,” he said, including by installing “illegitimate proxy officials” in Ukrainian territory under its’ control.

“We know their next moves: First, these proxy officials will arrange sham referenda on joining Russia, then Russia will use those sham referenda as a basis to try to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Mr Kirby continued, adding that Moscow was already “reviewing detailed plans to purportedly annex a number of regions in Ukraine,” including the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.

He said Russia is also currently “attempting to set the conditions on the ground by seeking to establish branches of Russian banks to establish the ruble as the default currency” in areas it controls, and by sabotaging civilian internet access.

In the port city of Kherson, Mr Kirby said Moscow is “taking control of broadcasting towers, establishing loyalist security forces, replacing telecommunications infrastructure, forcing residents to apply for Russian citizenship and issuing Russian passports”.

“The Kremlin has not disclosed the timeline for the referenda, but Russian proxies in these territories claimed they will take place later this year, possibly in conjunction with Russia September regional elections,” he said.

He added that Moscow’s claims that it is not interested in annexation should not be believed and noted that Russian officials also said there were no plans to invade Ukraine prior to the start of the invasion in February.

“Annexation by force will be a gross violation of the UN Charter, and we will not allow it to go unchallenged or unpunished,” he said. “We're also going to continue to expose Russian plans so the world knows that any purported annexation is premeditated. illegal and illegitimate ... and we are sanctioning the Russian installed puppets and proxies in areas of Ukraine that are under Russian control”.

“If Russia nevertheless proceeds with their annexation plans, we're going to respond swiftly and severely and in lockstep with our allies and partners. Russia will face additional sanctions and become even more of a global pariah than it is now,” he continued. “We will never recognize any purportedly annexed territories belonging to Russia”.