“We can no longer live without Russia”: how refugees voted in the regions

The counting of votes began immediately after the end of voting at 16:00.

In Volgograd within five days, the work of the precinct commissions for holding a referendum was organized both with a visit to the place of residence of the refugees, and permanently. Two precinct commissions for residents of the LPR and DPR worked in the Volgograd leisure center Rodina. From 10.00, as soon as the commission started its work and opened the doors, referendum participants began to come here actively.

One of them, Lyubov Ivanova, came to the region with her husband at the end of February.

“I voted for connection with Russia, there is no secret in this. For 8 years now, I could not come to terms with the fact that our history was turned upside down at school, they were forced to tell children that there was no Great Patriotic War, that there were no heroes, – says the pensioner. – I am a teacher and I know exactly how history, the principles of pedagogy have changed. And I am Ukrainian by nationality, and it hurts me that our brothers did not believe that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were shooting at us.”

Since 2014, residents of the city of Yasinovataya, where Lyubov Ivanova came from, have been forced to live in basements, they say that they have never seen anything worse in their lives. “Something is whistling from above, and all of us, both children and the elderly, are running to the basements,” the woman shares. “Now, I think, a strong Russia will protect us, and we will live in peace.”

And people all this time go and go to the polling station. The two commissions on the referendum of the DNR and LNR are working together. Having presented a passport, the voting participant receives a ballot, goes to the booth, puts a mark and lowers it into the ballot box.

“The referendum began on September 23 for those who temporarily reside in the region,” says Lyudmila Reznik, chairman of the Volgograd precinct commission for the LPR. “Safety is assured, we feel confident. People are determined to vote for joining Russia. It’s not a secret. And I, as chairman of the commission, can only observe that people are in a good mood. Everyone is just happy. This is a real holiday – exactly what we have been waiting for so long. The unbearable life near Ukraine will end and will begin with the big great Ross.

People of both retirement and middle age come to the site. All of them are happy to share how and for what they voted, without hiding their nationality.

– I came here in August from Artemovsk, DPR. I am Ukrainian, but I voted for reunification with Russia. Why reunion? Yes, we have always felt like a part of Russia, – says Anna Boyarina. – We speak Russian, like my whole family, which is mostly there now, in the Donbass. They imposed on us what language to speak, we were imposed hatred for the Russians. For what? I am sure that now everything will be according to the laws of morality and human relations. I came to vote to contribute to this. I love my country!

Another woman said that all the shelling, which lasted 8 years, Ukrainian propaganda attributed to Russia. “We saw where the Armed Forces were and where the shells were coming from,” she recalls with tears in her eyes. “We were waiting to be released from this, and here we are. We will restore everything.”

Anna said with pain that now there – in the Donetsk region – her parents were left in the basement, and it was very difficult for them. But soon everything will change, the woman is sure.

Another voter, Anatoly Zakharchenko, when asked if people are not afraid to openly express their opinion and vote for what the entire “collective West” is against today, answered: “We have been living here all our lives, this is our land, our roots and our the right to choose with whom to build their future. All my life – 30 years – I worked at the mine and my right to choose where to go. It’s not scary – they fought off their own in the basements and under the shots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

– We also lived in Donetsk all our lives, – Leonid Matukhno joined the conversation. “But, they never thought that they could be prosecuted for it. My children from Kyiv were forced to leave, as they were persecuted there only because they were from the Donbass.

Everyone who came to the polling station to vote in the referendum said that he had never considered Russia a neighboring country. It has always been the Motherland for the residents of Eastern Ukraine, and today they are performing a formality – they vote for the inscription “Citizen of the Russian Federation” in the passport.

It was possible to vote in a referendum on these days and in Leningrad region. As the senator from the region Sergey Perminov noted, the voting took place without violations. The polling station was created because residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye live in the region.

Five precinct election commissions were opened for voting. Voting is carried out by precinct referendum commissions of the respective Republics and regions. According to the press service of the government of the 47th region, the Leningrad region provides the necessary assistance in organizing the voting process.

temporarily residing in Kursk region refugees from Donbass are actively participating in the referendum on joining the Russian Federation, as in other regions of the country. Exact data and results will be known after the ballot boxes are opened and the votes are counted. Judging by the mood of the participants in the process, there is no need to conduct exit polls at the exit from the polling station.

– We all have been waiting for this event for a long time, as far as I know from communication with other refugees, everyone wants one thing – to quickly reunite with Russia. We are tired of surviving, we want to live. Everyone needs peace and tranquility. It’s not normal when people in Donetsk hear constant shelling and get used to the explosions,” says Zarina, a Donetsk resident who is forced to flee horror and destruction with her two young children. Anna agrees with her, who also voted for the entry of the DPR into Russia.

Along with the youth, pensioners, who since February 2022 have found temporary shelter on Kursk land, are in line for ballots. Nikolai Fedorovich Dikarev and his wife Maria from Yasinovataya are also looking forward to the historic moment. Together with their roommate Alexandra Kirillovna from Gorlovka, they expect peace from entering Russia and returning to their homes.

– So that at least our children and grandchildren live normally with Putin. We are only for Putin and for Russia. It was not difficult to vote, the girls in the election commission are good and friendly. We have not taken part in such events for a long time, the last time was in 2014 at a referendum in Donetsk,” pensioners expressed their hopes. We are all for, for, for.

– I expect that after the referendum our Donbass will be helped to restore. It was destroyed not only in the last 8 years. This process began after the collapse of the Union and intensified after the coup on Maidan in Kyiv. Previously, Donbass was the richest region not only in Ukraine, but also in the USSR. Many industrial enterprises worked, everything was adjusted. Now all this needs to be rebuilt, – Mikhail, another participant in the vote, wished. He is from the DPR, but temporarily lives in Kursk with his wife and child.

In conversations with refugees, there was a renewed hope for an early victory in the conflict with the Kyiv regime. Many believe that joining the Russian Federation will become a shield against constant shelling and attacks.

In order for the maximum number of refugees from Donbass to be able to take part in the referendum, another polling station has been organized in the KSU building on Radishchev Street, it will end on September 27. On it, the MK journalist talked with Valentina Gotsuts, who also put her ballot in the ballot box.

– I was born and raised in Kursk. And 40 years ago she moved to live in Donetsk. Now she is forced to flee to her hometown to her mother and sister. I have been living here for two months, but I am going to return home. We are confident in victory and that the reunification will take place, we are all Russian and must live together. It cannot be otherwise, – the native of Kursk believes.

The polling stations for the referendum were open on 27 September and Tula region. There were two of them in the regional capital – in the City Concert Hall and in the Palace of Children’s and Youth Creativity. Citizens of the DPR and Zaporozhye voted in the first, and the LPR and Kherson region voted in the second.

At both polling stations, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs kept order. For the safety of voting participants in the context of the spread of COVID-19, members of the commission were provided with masks and protective gowns.

The polling stations closed according to the schedule at 16:00, although by decision of the regional commissions, the opening hours could be changed. As for the exit polling stations, in the Tula region from September 23 to September 26, for the convenience of the referendum participants, in accordance with the schedule, the commissions traveled around as many as 19 districts. The voting process from beginning to end went smoothly, without failures. Now it remains to wait for the results of the referenda.

The voters themselves are especially waiting for them: “We have been waiting for a long time that they would come to us, that Mother Russia would free us. We all love Russia. I don’t know anyone who would be against teaming up with her. Our Donetsk is a Russian city. Almost everyone here speaks Russian. Understand, we can no longer live without Russia,” commented Valentina Korzhova, a resident of Mariupol, who was evacuated to Tula.

Her compatriot Anzhela Koderugina also took part in the referendum today and is also waiting for its results: “I received Russian citizenship back in 2017. Now I’m already, you can say, a tula. I am very happy that I am in Russia. And my parents are in Mariupol. I would like them to live in Russia too.”

The counting of votes in the Tula region has already started: ballot boxes and safe packages have been opened. Further, the results of the voting will be sent to the foreign territorial commission of the DPR, and from there to the election commission of the republic. Electoral commissions from other territories – the LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions will work according to the same algorithm.

The press service of the governor of the Astrakhan region also reported on the closing of polling stations on September 27 at 16:00. Aleksey Kozyrenko, chairman of the precinct referendum commission for the Lugansk People’s Republic, noted the high turnout and civic consciousness of the referendum participants: “People came to the polling stations an hour before they opened. Members of the commissions went to the addresses of those citizens who, for some reason, could not come to the polling stations themselves. Everywhere we were met very well.” The chairman of the precinct referendum commission for the Donetsk People’s Republic, Maria Morozova, spoke about four men who came to the Astrakhan region from the DPR just to go fishing. When they became aware of the referendum, they came to the polling station and expressed their civil position.