BERLIN — Voting in a series of referendums on joining Russia continued on Monday in four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces.
Voting is to end on Tuesday in the four regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya in the referendums derided a “sham” by Western powers.
The result of the votes is set to be used by the Kremlin as a pretext to annex the Russian-occupied territories in the east and south of Ukraine.
According to local officials, the required minimum participation of 50% had already been reached in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, more than half of the approximately 750,000 eligible voters voted there, said the chairwoman of the electoral commission, Marina Zakharova, on Monday.
The organizers said participation in the neighboring Zaporizhzhya region is already at more than 50%. Previously, this mark is said to have been clearly exceeded in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions with more than 70%. Russia expects 80 to 90% to agree to join its territory.
It is expected that Russian President Vladimir Putin could accept the areas into the Russian Federation as early as Friday.
Putin has emphasized that Moscow would then treat attacks by Ukraine on the areas as attacks on its own territory and would defend itself with all means. The West is preparing new sanctions in response to the annexation.
In the fighting on the ground in Ukraine the tide appears to have been turning against Russian in recent weeks as Ukrainian forces launch a counter-offensive backed by Western military equipment and other aid.
Russia announced a partial mobilization of reserve troops to help stem the advance.
Earlier on Monday, however, the British Defence Ministry said the new troops are likely to “suffer a high attrition rate.”
Moscow would “face an administrative and logistical challenge to provide training for the troops,” the ministry said in its latest brief report on the war.
“The lack of military trainers, and the haste with which Russia has started the mobilization, suggests that many of the drafted troops will deploy to the front line with minimal relevant preparation,” it added.
The call-up has led thousands of Russian men to flee abroad, with flights rapidly booked out after the Wednesday announcement and queues of vehicles building at borders.
There have also been demonstrations on the streets of Russian cities to which the authorities have responded with hundreds of arrests.