“Kiriyenko is responsible for overseeing the Russia-held territories in advance of their attempted incorporation into Russia, which would be illegal if completed,” Patel noted.
Washington expects Moscow to hold a series of sham votes in occupied Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts in coming weeks.
Read also: Russia won’t be able to hold sham referendums in occupied territories, says Luhansk governor
“We expect Russia to manipulate the results of these referendums in order to falsely claim that the Ukrainian people want to join Russia,” the official added.
“This is a part of Russia’s playbook to attack the sovereignty, identity, and history of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier warned that any such fake voting would rule out any potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
