INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of planning to "falsify" an independence referendum in the partly occupied
southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.In a video message Thursday evening, Zelensky urged residents of areas under occupation to not
This is aimed to falsify the so-called referendum on your land, if an order comes from Moscow to stage such a show," the Ukrainian leader
said."This is the reality
Be careful."Kyiv in early March accused Moscow of planning a referendum in Kherson similar to a 2014 Crimea poll, in which an overwhelming
number of residents voted to join the Russian federation.That vote, which took place after a Russian takeover of the region, was condemned
as illegal by Ukraine's government and the West.The eastern pro-Russian territories of Donetsk and Lugansk also declared independence in the
to Russian forces after their Feb
24 invasion of Ukraine.To the north, the Russian army also controls a vast area surrounding the city of Zaporizhzhia, which remains in
