Occupation authorities set annexation votes for 23–27 September
A look back at the announcements made in occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on 20 September 2022.
What did the occupation authorities announce on 20 September 2022? They set dates for referendums on bringing parts of occupied Ukraine into Russia, to be held from 23 to 27 September.
The "People's Council" of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" scheduled a vote on joining Russia as a federal subject. Soon afterwards, the "People's Council" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" said its referendum would take place on the same dates. As announced, the referendums would also cover the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
The announcements followed a call on 19 September 2022 from the "public chambers" of both self-proclaimed republics, which urged their leaders to hold a referendum on joining Russia "immediately".
The same day, Ukrainian Ground Forces recaptured the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, as they advanced on Lysychansk. On 18 September 2022, Russian forces shelled a psychiatric hospital in Strelechya, Kharkiv Oblast, killing four medics and injuring two patients.
The votes were later widely described as sham referendums by commentators and denounced by various countries. Later accounts note that only North Korea accepted the validity of the results.
