Occupation authorities set annexation votes for 23–27 September
A look back at the announcements of 20 September 2022 and the calls and battlefield events that preceded them.
What did the announcements of 20 September 2022 amount to? On that date, the "People's Council" of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" set a referendum on the republic's entry into Russia as a federal subject for 23–27 September. Soon afterwards, the "People's Council" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" said its own vote on joining the Russian Federation would run on the same dates.
The announcements were also reported as covering more than the two self-proclaimed republics. As reported on 20 September, referendums on entry into Russia as federal subjects were to be held from 23 to 27 September in the Luhansk and Donetsk "republics" and in the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
A sequence that began a day earlier
The decisions followed a call made on 19 September 2022. The "public chambers" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk" and "Luhansk" republics appealed to their leaders to hold a referendum on joining Russia "immediately". Within a day, the dates were fixed. The order of events shows how quickly the timetable moved: an appeal on one day, a formal scheduling on the next, and a voting window only three days further on.
The military backdrop
The announcements came while fighting continued. On 19 September 2022, the Ukrainian Ground Forces recaptured the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast as they advanced on Lysychansk. Civilians were also under fire: on 18 September, Russian forces shelled a psychiatric hospital in Strelechya, Kharkiv Oblast, killing four medics and injuring two patients.
What followed
Later, in late September 2022, Russian-installed officials staged the votes. They were widely described as sham referendums by commentators and denounced by various countries. Only North Korea has accepted the validity of the results.
The 20 September announcements were thus the point at which the plan moved from appeals to a formal schedule. Whether judged by the speed of the process or the short voting window, the decisions of that day set the framework for what came next.
