Russian-installed authorities in newly occupied territories in southern Ukraine are under increasing pressure from Moscow and possibly preparing to hold referendums on joining Russia later this year, Britain’s Defense Ministry said on July 30.
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"Local authorities are likely coercing the population into disclosing personal details in order to compose voting registers," the ministry said in a regular intelligence update.
It said that Russia classifies the occupied areas as being under interim "civil-military administration.”
Last month, the Moscow-installed military administration ruling the area around the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson said it was preparing to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
Kherson, an important port on the Black Sea, has been fully under Russian control since early March, just weeks after Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
In 2014, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula following a disputed referendum that was widely believed to be falsified, with results showing nearly 97 percent of voters supported joining Russia.