A top Kremlin official is leading a project to hold “referendums” in Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories by Sept. 15, Bloomberg News reports, citing sources familiar with the plan. Sergei Kiriyenko, the presidential administration’s first deputy chief of staff who is widely seen as Vladimir Putin’s point man in Ukraine, is reportedly heading up the project. In addition to the territories in Donetsk and Luhansk that Russia deemed its top priority in the war, referendums are also reportedly being planned in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Kiriyenko has routinely been spotted making visits to the occupied territories, with his most recent visit, to Kherson, reported just this week. Russia has already set up its own “new” administrations in several areas, with local authorities touting the distribution of Russian passports. But the referendums—similar to the one Moscow held in occupied Crimea in 2014—would presumably give the Kremlin the chance to declare a “victory” after several months of setbacks. In a statement quoted by Bloomberg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied plotting any such votes, saying, “If they are going to make any referendums, it will be their decision.” A day earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov openly declared that the “geography” of Russia’s war in Ukraine had been expanded to include territories outside the Donbas, including Kherson and Zaporizhia.
