Kyiv
\nUkraine\u2019s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of attempting to \u201cfalsify\u201d an independence referendum in the partially occupied southern districts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
\nFor the second time this week, Zelensky has issued an appeal to Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territories.
\n\u201cThis is not to help you\u2026 This is aimed to falsify the so-called referendum on your land, if an order comes from Moscow to stage such a show,\u201d the Ukrainian leader said.
\n\u201cThis is the reality. Be careful.\u201d
\nUkrainian authorities accused Moscow of plotting a similar vote to the 2014 Crimea referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of voters chose to join the Russian Federation, in Kherson early in March.
\nThe Ukrainian government and the West both denounced this referendum as unlawful because it occurred after Russia had taken control of the region.
\nDonetsk and Lugansk, two pro-Russian regions in eastern Ukraine, also declared their independence following referendums that the international community deemed invalid.
\n\u201cAny \u2018Kherson People\u2019s Republics\u2019 are not going to fly,\u201d Zelensky warned. \u201cIf someone wants a new annexation, it can only lead to new powerful sanctions strikes on Russia.\u201d
\nAfter Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces.
\nRussian forces also have control of a large territory north of Zaporizhzhia, which is still under Ukrainian authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kyiv Ukraine\u2019s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of attempting to \u201cfalsify\u201d an independence referendum in the partially occupied southern districts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. For the second time this week, Zelensky has issued an appeal to Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territories. \u201cThis is not to help you\u2026 This is aimed to falsify the so-called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6272,6271,338,456],"class_list":{"0":"post-256855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-independence-vote","9":"tag-occupied-regions","10":"tag-russia","11":"tag-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n