The head of the military-civil administration in Melitopol, Galina Danilchenko, announced that the preparations for a referendum on joining Russia have begun.
We know that our future is one with Russia,” he said.
Danilchenko said that the city was also visited by the first vice-president of the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko.
According to him, Kiriyenko thanked workers in the housing and utilities sector, medicine, education and the city administration as a whole for making a peaceful life.
“We are also grateful to the Russian Federation for the help and support they have provided us,” he said.
Earlier, he said that about 500 people can get Russian passports in the coming days.
Melitopol is the second most populous city in Zaporozhye and the largest in the Russian-controlled part of the region. About 150 thousand people live in the city, which is located in the south of the Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine.
“Waiting makes sense”
Artem Sharlay, the first deputy head of the military-civil administration of the region, believes that it is not recommended to hold a referendum on the accession of the Zaporozhye region to Russia without the capital of the region coming under the control of the Russian army.
He explained that the idea of the referendum is currently being discussed at the concept level – how and when it will be done.
“There is no doubt that the Zaporozhye region is a Russian region,” he said.
“About 70% of the area has been liberated so far,” Sharlay noted. At the same time, half of the population of the region lives in the city of Zaporozhye.
“The residents of the city of Zaporizhia will not be able to vote now, because if they say “yes”, “We want to go to Russia,” the Ukrainian Security Service will immediately take them to their dungeon,” Sharlay said. .
He also stressed that there was no point in moving the capital of the Zaporozhye region to Melitopol, which was permanently under the control of the Russian army. He explained that in Zaporozhye, infrastructure better suited to serve as the main city of the region already exists.
“I think it’s reasonable to wait until the entire region is liberated, the city of Zaporozhye with all its inhabitants, then a referendum will be held in the entire region,” Sharlay said.
possibility of a referendum
During the military operation, Russian forces took control of the Kherson region in the south of Ukraine and the Azov part of the Zaporozhye region. Civil-military administrations were established in the regions. The broadcast of Russian TV channels and radio stations began there. At the same time, the military administrations of these regions announced their plans to become Russian subjects.
In particular, on June 1, the head of the Zaporozhye military-civil administration, Evgeny Balitsky, said that the regional authorities wanted Russia to join as a federal district.
“We do not see our future outside the Russian Federation,” Balitsky said. On June 7, he announced that the first trains with grain had departed from Melitopol to the Crimea.
In turn, the member of the Federation Council, Sergei Tsekov, admitted that referendums on the entry of new territories into the Russian Federation could be held this year. Then the Kremlin stated that decisions on the future of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine, as well as the DPR and LPR, will be made by the residents of these regions.
Later, the Spokesperson of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, announced that the referendum decision should not be made in the Kremlin and that is why. “Favorable conditions need to be created”Above all, ensure the safety of residents.
In mid-May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin expressed the view that the Zaporozhye region should be more integrated with Russia.
During his visit to the region, Khusnullin said, “I believe that the hope of the region is to work in our friendly Russian family,” and noted that the Zaporozhye region has the potential for the production of building materials necessary for restoration. lands.
“There is a shortage of building materials in Russia today. That is why we believe that all initiatives should be used as much as possible, including the restoration of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In Kiev, they promised to withdraw from the negotiation process with Moscow if a referendum is held in the territories occupied by Russian forces. However, there have been no negotiations between the parties since April. “We were actually blocked by Kyiv,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin.