KYIV, Ukraine — Voting began Friday on whether occupied regions of Ukraine should become part of Russia, in referendums that Kyiv and the West condemned as an illegitimate and rigged attempt by Moscow to annex areas in the east and south after nearly seven months of war.
Ukraine and the West have denounced the vote as a sham and an illegitimate step toward annexation of a large slice of the country from the Russian border to the Crimean Peninsula. A similar referendum took place in Crimea in 2014 before Moscow annexed it, a move that most of the world considered illegal.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, addressed the regions in an online statement, saying: “If you decide to become part of the Russian Federation, we will support you.” The voting takes place against the backdrop of incessant fighting in Ukraine, with Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanging fire as both sides refuse to concede ground.
As the referendums began, more men in Russia prepared to join the fight in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ordered a partial mobilization of reservists on Wednesday that the defense minister said could add about 300,000 troops.
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