MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. Kiev and its American handlers do not want to accept reality, cynically questioning the procedure and results of referendums on becoming part of Russia in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"The [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky regime and, of course, most importantly, its American handlers do not want to accept reality, do not want to see this side of international law. On the contrary, they cynically question the procedure of the plebiscite and its results, concidering them null and void," the diplomat pointed out.
Zakharova stressed that the referendums in the DPR, the LPR, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions were held "in full compliance with the norms and principles of international law and did not contradict international practice, [they] were legal."
"Everything is questioned: both the form and the essence. They call names, stick labels, and do everything in their power to show their significance and rightness. Of course, they resort to the image of democracy, which is sacred for them," the spokeswoman continued, "These are statements of those who for many years have been flagrantly violating human rights everywhere: in Ukraine, in Western countries, on the territories of the occupied countries in different parts of the world. This is said by those who contributed to the transformation of the young Ukrainian state into a totalitarian, aggressive, neo-Nazi state. And today it encourages with money and arms orders to shell peaceful cities with artillery."
On September 23-27, the DPR and LPR, as well as the Kherson Region and the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye Region, held referendums to join Russia. In all of these regions, the overwhelming majority of voters favored becoming part of the Russian Federation. On Wednesday, the heads of the Donbass republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions sent an official appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing that their regions be admitted to Russia as subjects of the Russian Federation.