Kremlin wants to “listen to the will” of the people of Ukraine’s occupied territories

IRYNA BALACHUK – THURSDAY, 19 MAY 2022, 14:59

Dmitriy Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that without the will of the people of the occupied territories of Ukraine, nothing can be done with these territories.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Quote from Peskov: "All actions have their precursors, and the will of the people of these areas is the precursor of any action. Without the will of the population of these regions, without their determination as to how and with whom they want to live, nothing can be done"

Details: When asked whether Russia has decided to "occupy part of the territory of Ukraine" against the promises of President Vladimir Putin – who has claimed that there will be no occupation of Ukrainian land – Peskov answered that "there is no contradiction in the words of the president and a number of Russian politicians, in particular, who spoke about the Kherson Oblast or Zaporizhzhia."

According to the representative of the Kremlin, in these territories "it is just necessary to provide life and social security," since "many districts are now without light, sewage, and water."

"This must be done. The need for urgent measures dictated by the care for people, and similar statements are made," claimed Peskov.

What happened before: The so-called authorities of the Kherson Military and Civil Administration, appointed by the occupiers, said that they would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to incorporate Kherson Oblast in the Russian Federation. Putin said that Kherson should enter Russia "as legitimately as Crimea".

On 16 May, the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration reported that the occupiers had received instructions to prepare the captured Enerhodar for a "referendum".

Background:

•         Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February. Putin justified the invasion by claiming that Ukraine and NATO had been preparing attacks on Crimea, Russia, and even Belarus. Putin has claimed that the goal of the so-called "special operation" is the need to cleanse Ukraine from "nazis and nazi ideology," as well as Ukraine’s disarmament, so that it would not be a threat to Russia.
•         The Russian military in Ukraine continues to destroy peaceful towns and villages with missiles and bombs. Civilians are killed and tortured, women and children are raped, everything is looted from homes, businesses, and administrative buildings down to spoons and underwear. The occupants have killed at least 231 children in Ukraine.
•         Russians are destroying infrastructure and food warehouses, and planting mines in the fields to prevent farming.

·         Despite all this, Ukrainian people protest against the occupiers, refuse to take handouts from Russians – in some cases dying of hunger – they heroically resist, even after more than two months under siege and without assistance.