TASS, August 9. Neither Ukraine nor Western countries intend to recognize the results of the referendum on the Zaporozhye Region joining Russia, but it does not matter for the region, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the Zaporozhye region's military-civilian administration, told TASS on Tuesday.

"It is clear that this referendum will not be recognized [by Kiev], but what will be left of Ukraine at that point? And the West will not recognize it, but we are not holding it for them, we are holding it for ourselves so that there would be no doubts and the people’s voice would be heard," he said.

Rogov said that the desire to hold a referendum "is not some propaganda, but the general mood of the people." "The main task of the referendum is <...> that we want to be with Russia, in Russia and be part of Russia. Of course, this is an integral part that we can't take back," he stressed.

Earlier, Zaporozhye region head Yevgeny Balitsky announced at the ‘We are Together with Russia’ Forum that he had signed an order to hold a referendum on accession to Russia.

At the moment, about 72-73% of the Zaporozhye region has been liberated. The capital of the region, Zaporozhye, where almost half of the region's population lives, remains under the Ukrainian armed forces’ control, while Melitopol serves as the regional center.