MELITOPOL, September 23. /TASS/. Voting at the referendum on the accession to Russia on the liberated territory of the Zaporozhye region is proceeding as scheduled, despite several provocations of the Ukrainian side, Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the regional military-civilian administration, said on Friday.

"All polling stations in the Zaporozhye region are open. All are working as scheduled. There were several provocations in the morning. <…> But we think it is practically nothing as compared with the conditions we have been living here in," he told journalists.

A referendum on joining Russia is running in the Zaporozhye region from September 23 through 27. Similar referendums are being held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and in the Kherson region. In the interests of security, voting during the first four days is organized in neighborhoods and at people’s homes. Voting is also organized in Russia.