Countries across Europe are ramping up diplomatic pressure on Moscow in condemnation of Russia’s attempt to illegally annex an additional four Ukrainian regions through referendums widely seen as sham events.
Lithuania on October 3 said it had declared Russia's envoy to the Baltic state persona non grata in the wake of last week's votes in four Ukrainian regions where Moscow has wrested at least partial control. The Kremlin used the votes as a pretense to then illegally seize the regions.
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Vilnius explained the move by saying that Russia's interim charge d’affaires, Sergei Ryabokon, had taken recent actions and made statements that were "incompatible" with his diplomatic status and interfered with internal Lithuanian affairs.
"Lithuania's Foreign Ministry also strongly protested against the Russian President's decision of 30 September to illegally annex the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya, parts of which were temporarily occupied by Russia," it added in a statement.
The move came amid a concerted effort around Europe to what many countries called "sham" referendums.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry in Helsinki said in a tweet on October 3 that it had summoned the Russian ambassador "to express the strongest condemnation of the referendums and the subsequent announcement of the "illegal annexation of occupied Ukrainian regions by Russia, a blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the UN Charter."
In Warsaw, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told TVN24 on October 3 that Russia's ambassador had been summoned to discuss "Russia’s actions last week."
He added that further meetings were likely to be held across Europe to "express this position," though he did not expect to declare the Russian envoy persona non grata for the time being.
"I will not make such an announcement today," he said.
"We are hashing over such decisions with our allies in the EU and NATO. And if we come to the conclusion jointly with all [our] European and Euro-Atlantic allies that such steps would be necessary and beneficial, then we will take them," Przydacz added.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin signed documents on September 30 that formalized Russia’s attempt to annex parts of Ukraine’s four regions, Ukrainian armed forces managed to take over of a key city of Lyman in the Donetsk region and have continued to liberate other territories close to the city.
The Czech Republic’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on October 3 calling on Czech citizens to leave Russia as soon as possible due to a "worsening of security" in Russia for citizens of the European Union and NATO member-states.
The statement called on Czech citizens who are already in Russia and have decided to stay despite the ministry’s warning, "to exercise extreme caution during your stay, follow trusted media, and have an emergency exit plan in place."
"Due to the announcement of a partial military mobilization [by Russian authorities], citizens of the Czech Republic who are also holders of Russian citizenship should bear in mind that, if they are on the territory of the Russian Federation, they are perceived by the Russian authorities primarily as citizens of the Russian Federation and the Czech Embassy in Moscow cannot provide them with adequate, full consular protection," the statement said.
Since Putin announced the partial mobilization on September 21, many individuals with dual citizenship, especially men from Central Asian nations, have been summoned to enlistment offices for military recruitment.
Tens of thousands of Russian men have also fled the country to avoid fighting in Ukraine.