The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is still continuing, and the Ukrainian army's large-scale counterattack has stagnated. At the same time, the four regions in eastern Ukrainian want to make a referendum to Russia. In response, Lavrov expressed support, while the United States and the West on the other side are anxious.
According to Global Times , on September 19 local time, Gaide, the military chief executive of the Lugansk region, said on the same day that the Ukrainian army has completely controlled the Belogorovka settlements in the western part of Lugansk. The Russian army is building fortifications in the Lugansk area. The difficulty of recapturing the Lugansk area will be far greater than that of Kharkiv Prefecture, so the Ukrainian army cannot make rapid progress. The day before, Ukrainian President Zelensky said in his speech that he believed that the Ukrainian army suspended its operations after a series of victories, in preparation for regaining all Ukrainian territory.
It is understood that the Ukrainian army launched a counterattack in northeastern Ukraine in the past week, regaining part of the land previously controlled by the Russian army. Ukrainian officials also said that Ukrainian troops drove away Russian troops in two key areas of Kharkiv Prefecture and would not relax. On the 19th, there were other Ukrainian media reports that the Ukrainian army had re-controlled a settlement in the Lugansk area during the counterattack. Foreign media said that if Ukraine's statement is true, it will be the first time that the Ukrainian army regained control of Lugansk settlements after retreating from North Donetsk and Lisichangsk Twin Cities in late June and early July.
It is worth mentioning that just as the Ukrainian counterattack rhythm was stagnant, according to Russian media reports on September 20, the four regions of Lugansk, Donetsk , Khlsson and Zaporoze will hold a referendum to Russia from September 23 to 27. Miroshnichenko, chairman of the People's Committee of the "Luhansk People's Republic of China", said on the 20th that the referendum on Luhansk's entry into Russia will be held from the 23rd to the 27th. Pushlin, the leader of the "Donetsk People's Republic", announced on the same day that Donetsk will hold a referendum to Russia in the same period as Lugansk. Subsequently, Khlsong and Zaporoze in southern Ukraine also announced the same news. According to a telephone survey conducted by the Moscow-based National Institute of Poll and Marketing on the 19th on 4,000 respondents, Luhansk's "entry into Russia" received support from 83% of residents, while the Donetsk region's support rate was 80%. In Zaporoze and Khlsun areas, 72% and 65% of respondents respectively agreed to join.
It is reported that the above four regions account for about 15% of Ukrainian territory, and their area is basically the same as Hungarian . Among them, the authorities of the "Donetsk People's Republic" currently control almost the entire territory of Donetsk. The authorities of the "Luhansk People's Republic" occupy about two-thirds of the territory of Luhansk Prefecture, and the "military and civil administration" in the Khlsong region also occupy most of the territory of the region. In Zaporozhe, Russian troops and pro-Russian armed forces have not yet obtained much of the local control.
It is undeniable that once the referendum in the above four regions joins the Russian Federation and establishes its legal status, the Ukrainian army's counterattack rhythm will definitely be greatly frustrated. You must know that due to legal restrictions, conscripts recruited by the Russian armed forces cannot go abroad to fight. Only contract soldiers can participate in military operations outside the Russian Federation. It is precisely for this reason that only a portion of the contract soldiers participated in the Russian military's special military operation in Ukraine, which is also one of the reasons for the major failure of the Russian military in Kharkov . If the above four places in eastern Ukraine referendums to Russia, things will be easy to deal with. Lugansk and Donetsk are both territory of the Russian Federation. In theory, The Russian Federation armed forces can send conscripts to the front line of Donbas . In this case, Ukraine will not have an advantage in terms of military strength, let alone counterattack.
Regarding the referendum in eastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov responded that Russia's position from the beginning was that the people of the corresponding territory must decide their future, and the current situation confirmed that the people in the Donbass region want to become the masters of their own destiny.Meanwhile, Russian Federation Security Conference Vice Chairman Medvedev said that the referendum in the Donbas region is "necessary" and is to "restore historical justice." On the contrary, the United States and the West are a little anxious about this. U.S. national security adviser Sullivan said that Washington "clearly" rejected any such referendum, and EU and Canada also condemned the plan. French President Macron said during the UN General Assembly that the referendum plan was "tragic" so much that it seemed "funny" and "apparently it would not be recognized by the international community." Lithuanian President Nauseda claimed, "These areas are now and in the future are also territory of Ukraine. Russia's false referendum is illegal. Lithuanian will never recognize them."
