About seven months after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the end of September, so-called referendums on joining the Russian Federation were held in the Russian-occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Pro-Russian appointed officials in the regions said voters overwhelmingly "supported proposals to join Russia".
Citing the results of the vote, Russian media published the articles that Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed so-called accession treaties, formalising Russia's annexation of the four regions.
"People came to the referendum and made their choice to be with their historical homeland, Russia," Russia's President stated.
Similar statements were made by Russian state media and pro-Kremlin sites.
In fact, the referendums violated international law because they took place in territories under Russian occupation, during an armed conflict, and Ukraine's legal and constitutional framework Ukraine, according to UN officials and international law experts. These "referendums" violate international protocols, including the Geneva Convention, Article 47 of which states that no state can claim sovereignty over the territory it occupies.
Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, stated on September 27, 2022, during a briefing at the UN Security Council, that the Ukrainian referendums "cannot be considered legitimate under international law" and "cannot be called a genuine expression of the will of the people." Describing the events leading up to the referendums, DiCarlo said: "The so-called "referenda" conducted by de facto authorities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine have been held during the active armed conflict in the country and cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will."
According to Article 72 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a referendum must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) or the President of Ukraine and can be announced only at the request of at least three million citizens --- on the condition of collecting signatures for the referendum in at least two-thirds of the regions, at least 100,000 signatures in each region. In addition, according to Article 73 of the Constitution, a referendum on changing the territory of Ukraine should be held nationally, not locally - this is how four referendums were held in occupied Ukraine.
On October 12, 2022, the UN General Assembly recognised the referendums as illegal from the point of view of international law and demanded that Russia change course. The results were also rejected by the European Union.
